Fabulous French Bread

Thanks to Brandy @ Gluesticks for this one!

Time Needed: 2 1/2 hours
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: 1 1/2 cups warm water, 1 tablespoon active dry yeast, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 4=5 cups flour, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon butterDirections: Combine water, yeast, and sugar and let the mixture get creamy. Depending on your yeast, it'll take between 2-10 minutes. Meanwhile, but the oil, salt and 2 cups of flour in your mixer and mix to combine. When it's done, add your yeast mixture and mix again. Then add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have enough flour that when it is mixed together, the dough pulls away from the sides. The original recipe called for 4 cups of flour, but it took about 5 cups for my dough to get to that stage. Oh, bread dough! You're so picky! Put in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let ruse until doubled, about 1 hour. (I just let it rise in the mixing bowl because I didn't want to dirty another bowl). Punch down and shape into a loaf or, if you'd rather, small loaves or rolls. If you do a loaf, you'll get one large one. If you do rolls, you should get 16 cuties. Regardless, shape your dough as desired and place on a greased baking sheet. Don't put this anywhere else or you'll regret it later! Cover with the damp towel again and let rise 40 minutes, or until doubled again. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine egg and water and brush over the top of the dough - this will give it a crispy brown crust (yay for egg washes). Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove, and use the butter to brush the top of the bread. I used an entire tablespoon, and I'd highly recommend that because it was fabulous, but you can use less if you'd like. This gives the bread a great flavor in the crust and a pretty sheen as well. If you can stand it, let it cool and then dive in. But if you can't, slice away. Oooh baby, is it amazing or what! Seriously, I'm gonna be making this all the time now!