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Home ยป Recipes ยป Bread Recipes

Homemade French Bread

Updated: Sep 29, 2023 by Mindee ยท This post may contain affiliate links ยท 23 Comments

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!

Loaf of french bread sliced up.
Fresh loaf of French Bread!
Jump to:
  • Why You'll Love This Recipe
  • Ingredient Notes
  • How to Make
  • Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
  • Recipes to Serve with French Bread
  • Homemade French Bread Recipe

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.
Ingredients for french bread.
What you'll need for this easy homemade French bread recipe!

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.  
Sugar, yeast and water added to a mixer bowl to get foamy.
Sugar, yeast, and water are added to a mixer bowl to 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.
Olive Oil, salt and flour added to the mixing bowl.
Olive Oil, salt, and flour are added to the mixing bowl.
  • 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.
what dough looks like before kneading compared to after.
What dough looks like before, then after kneading.
  • 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.
risen dough dumped out, divided in two and shaped into loaves.
Dump dough and shape into loaves.
  • 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 ยฝ 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.
Loaves placed on a french bread pan, allowed to rise and then slashed before baking.
Place dough loaves on a French bread pan and slash the tops with a sharp knife before baking.

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.ย  After that, it starts to go a little dry.ย 

What can I do with leftover French bread before it goes stale?

You can make some Garlic Bread!ย  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

  • Best Clam Chowder
  • Best Potato Bacon Soup
  • Chicken Cordon Bleu Soup
  • Hearty Homemade Corn Chowder
  • Beer Cheese Soup

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

Mindee
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!
5 from 11 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Total Time 2 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
Course Bread
Cuisine French
Servings 2 Loaves
Calories 1734 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 ยฝ Cups Warm Water
  • ยผ Cup Sugar
  • 2 Tbs Active Dry Yeast
  • ยผ 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.ย  Each loaf should end up about 12 inches long.
  • Place each loaf on a French bread pan or on a lightly greased baking sheet orย French bread pan.
  • Cover the French bread loaves and set in a warm place to rise until doubled.ย 
  • Cover to let rise until doubled.
  • While the loaves are rising, place an empty aluminum (never glass)ย baking sheetย 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.
  • Slashย each loaf before baking.
  • After placing the bread on the center oven rack to bake, before closing the oven door, throw a ยฝ 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
Keyword crusty french bread, french bread, homemade french bread, soft french bread
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jessica Formicola

    September 01, 2021 at 10:47 am

    French bread is my absolute favorite and this recipe is so easy to follow. Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply
  2. Jen

    September 01, 2021 at 10:13 am

    I love French bread with a chewy crust and I was finally able to make loaves with a crust that turned out. Thanks for the helpful recipe and photos!

    Reply
  3. Nancy Harvey

    July 28, 2021 at 3:13 am

    I love making this recipe. There are only 2 of us and I make it about every 10 days. I slice it when done and split it in four bags, then freeze 3 of them.

    Reply
    • Mindee

      July 28, 2021 at 1:42 pm

      Thank you!!!

      Reply
  4. Debbie Grantham

    May 31, 2021 at 7:52 am

    Great recipe. It is now my go to recipe for making bread. Going to try to make hot dog buns using this recipe. Made it for the first time for a family dinner. Had 11 people and served 2 huge loaves. Not 1 piece left.

    Reply
    • Mindee

      June 01, 2021 at 6:50 am

      Thank You!

      Reply
  5. judith judge

    February 03, 2021 at 2:19 am

    how do i keep the bread from sticking to the baggette pan .do i spray it?

    Reply
    • Mindee

      February 03, 2021 at 9:46 am

      If you're using a french bread type pan that's not non-stick I would spray it lightly with non-stick cooking spray. If your pan is coated with non-stick coating it won't stick at all.

      Reply
  6. Michelle Singleton

    January 28, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    What is the estimated time for the second/proofing rise?

    Reply
    • Mindee

      January 29, 2021 at 6:25 am

      Around 20 minutes.

      Reply
  7. Chrissy

    December 06, 2020 at 10:06 am

    This was such an easy recipe and very tasty! Iโ€™m glad I used this recipe. We ended up two huge loaves. Looks and tastes better than any store bought recipe. Used the first log for French bread and using the second for a deli style sandwich we get at our local bakery.

    Reply
    • Mindee

      December 07, 2020 at 2:20 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  8. Judi

    January 30, 2020 at 2:59 pm

    What temp to bake the bred

    Reply
    • mindeescookingobsession

      January 30, 2020 at 3:13 pm

      375 degrees.

      Reply
  9. Corrie

    January 26, 2020 at 8:41 am

    So yummy!!!

    Reply
  10. judith judge

    January 13, 2020 at 4:45 pm

    can you use instant yeast

    Reply
    • mindeescookingobsession

      January 14, 2020 at 4:30 pm

      Yes you can!

      Reply
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