What is the secret of French bread, you ask? Let me show you! You will be surprised at how easy this French bread recipe is! Just follow my step-by-step instructions or watch my how-to video to make your own long loaves of this crusty bread!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Tastes better than what you can buy at the store!
- Has a golden brown, chewy, crusty crust with a light, fluffy center!
- Can be made into Bread Bowls for soup!
- Nothing better than fresh homemade bread made in your own kitchen!
Ingredient Notes
- Flour - All-purpose flour, not bread flour, and never self-rising flour.
- Yeast - Active dry yeast, rapid-rise yeast, and instant yeast are the same thing.
- Olive Oil - Canola oil, coconut oil, or vegetable oil may be substituted for the olive oil.
How to Make
- Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water in the bowl of your stand mixer. I use a 6-quart stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment to make this bread, but it can be made by hand as well.
- Let it sit for about 5 minutes to let the yeast get foamy.
- Add the olive oil, salt, and 6 cups of flour to the yeast mixture.
- As you can see in picture 8, it looks like there is too much flour, but don't worry; it will all mix in.
- After all the flour is mixed in, your dough should look like picture 9, a shaggy ball of dough that cleans the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Knead at a medium speed for 5 minutes or by hand for 10 minutes. The dough should end up like pictures 10 and 11, very smooth and elastic-y, and the sides of the bowl should be completely clean.
- Remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel to rise to room temperature.
- Over the next hour, about every 10 minutes or so, knead the dough in the bowl about 3 times. This is going to create that chewy crust. It doesn't have to be exactly every ten minutes, but you need to have kneaded the dough at least 4 times over that hour.
- After the hour, just let the dough rise until doubled. This should take about 30 minutes.
- Once the dough has risen to double its size, dump it out on a lightly floured surface.
- Divide it in half.
- Shape each half of the bread dough into a long loaf, being sure to pinch the seams shut.
- Each loaf of bread should be about 12 inches long log.
- Place each loaf on a French bread pan seam side down if you have one or a baking sheet lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cover to let rise until doubled.
- While the loaves are rising, place an empty aluminum (never glass) baking sheet on the very bottom rack of your oven.
- Make sure the other rack is in the center of your oven.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Slash each loaf with a sharp knife before baking.
- After placing the bread on the center oven rack to bake, before closing the oven door, throw a ½ cup of water onto the now super hot baking sheet you placed on the bottom oven rack and quickly close the oven door.
- This creates steam that sets that crusty, chewy, crispy crust you want.
- Bake the loaves of bread at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
- Loaves should be golden brown and sound hollow when thumped.
- Cool for at least ten minutes before eating.
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
How long will this bread stay fresh?
It's best the first 24 hours after it's baked and still good the second day. After that, it starts to go a little dry.
What can I do with leftover French bread before it goes stale?
You can make some Garlic Bread! Or you can make some fantastic French Bread Pizza! You can even make this amazing S'more French Bread Casserole!
Can I freeze this bread?
Yes, just make sure it's completely cool before preparing and placing it in the freezer.
What's the difference between French bread and a baguette?
A baguette is much longer and thinner than the average loaf of French bread. The outer crust is usually a bit tougher as well.
Recipes to Serve with French Bread
Have you tried this recipe? If so, leave me a rating and a comment below! And don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get my latest recipes sent right to your email! You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram
Homemade French Bread Recipe
What is the secret of French bread, you ask? Let me show you! You will be surprised at how easy this French bread recipe is! Just follow my step-by-step instructions or watch my how-to video to make your own long loaves of this crusty bread!
Ingredients
- 2 ½ Cups Warm Water
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- 2 Tbs Active Dry Yeast
- ¼ Cup Olive Oil
- 3 teaspoon Salt
- 6 Cups All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. (You can make this bread by hand, too, it will just take some muscle).
- Let stand for about 5 minutes until foamy.
- Mix in the oil, salt, and flour using a dough hook.
- Once all the flour is mixed in, and it may take a minute to work all the flour in, knead at a medium speed for 5 minutes (10 minutes by hand).
- Cover dough with a dish towel and set in a warm place.
- Over the next hour, knead the dough about 3 times approximately every 10 minutes. It doesn't have to be exactly every 10 minutes; just make sure to have kneaded the dough at least 4 times over the next hour.
- After that hour, let the dough rise until doubled. This will take about 30 minutes.
- Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half.
- Shape each half into a long loaf, pinching the seams shut. Each loaf should end up about 12 inches long.
- Place each loaf on a French bread pan or on a lightly greased baking sheet or French bread pan.
- Cover the French bread loaves and set in a warm place to rise until doubled.
- Cover to let rise until doubled.
- While the loaves are rising, place an empty aluminum (never glass) baking sheet on the very bottom rack of your oven.
- Make sure the other rack is in the center of your oven.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Slash each loaf before baking.
- After placing the bread on the center oven rack to bake, before closing the oven door, throw a ½ cup of water onto the now super hot baking sheet you placed on the bottom oven rack and quickly close the oven door.
- This creates steam that sets that crusty, chewy crust you want.
- Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
- Loaves should be golden brown and sound hollow when thumped.
- Cool for at least ten minutes before eating.
Notes
- I use a 6-quart stand mixer to make this bread, but you can make it by hand as well.
- Click HERE to see how to make Bread Bowls with this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 1734kcalCarbohydrates: 313gProtein: 45gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 545mgPotassium: 548mgFiber: 11gSugar: 26gVitamin A: 10IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 79mgIron: 18mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Virginia Edwards
I have searched for a french bread recipe for a while. Your kneading every 10 minutes the first hour made all the difference. My thing is wanting a chewy crust. Some recipes call for an eggwhite wash which I noticed wasn't included here. But my loaves turned out light and fluffy which was perfect. I shared your recipe with another bread enthusiast and she replied "GIRL!!" which is code for I LIKE IT! I don't get random nillywilly from her, so it impressed her. Making another 2 loaves now. Might make a bread pudding with it later. Thank you for the recipe and extra steps! Well worth it!
Deena
I don't have a stand up mixer I'm doing it by hand.
The dough is very dry.
And kinda crumbley
It workable
Is this normal? How do I correct it
Mindee
Yes, that's very normal. It's going to take a bit of muscle to knead in all the flour.
Sara Welch
This was such a light and fluffy bread and much easier than I expected! Definitely a new favorite and way better than the store bought version!
Angela
The BEST recipe for French bread! I am obsessed with how easy this was and it turned out so delicious. My go-to recipe from now on. Thanks so much for sharing!
EA Stewart
I love how easy this recipe is! Perfect with an end-of-summer salad right now, and a warm bowl of soup in the fall!