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Homemade French Bread
Simple, quick, and easy homemade French bread recipe.
Kids can even make this bread. For real. It’s that easy. Making any bread from scratch can be a daunting task and it’s easy to be intimidated by the whole process. I am going to break it down and hopefully ease any worries. You may even become a master bread maker!
This Homemade Bakery French Bread can be done in a little more than one hour which means you can have hot, fresh bread straight out of the oven when the kids get home from school even if you don’t start baking until afternoon. You won’t need to run to the bakery for your french bread anymore when you can make better bread at home….in no time flat.
I taught a culinary class for kids in both Texas and Arizona and I’ve watched 7-year-olds tackle this homemade French bread recipe. I loved seeing the pictures those kids sent me showing the french bread masterpieces they made for their families.
As a child, I remember riding my bike home from school and opening the back door to the smells of homemade bread baking in the oven. My Mom always said that she could live on bread alone so bread was always essential in our home. There’s nothing more comforting than a hot piece of bread straight from the oven covered in churned butter and homemade strawberry jam.
Let’s get down to the basics so you can start baking.
How to make quick and easy homemade bakery french bread:
- Making sure the yeast proofs is essential. Using fresh yeast is important and mixing with warm water (not too hot, not too cold) will ensure success. Yeast loves sugar so add a pinch of sugar to the mixture. Let it work for about 10 minutes.
- Adding flour one cup at a time is important so you can see when the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. That’s when you know it’s ready. Put flour down on the counter so the dough doesn’t stick. That isn’t fun. I love my Bosch mixer and can find a great deal on one below.
- Using rolling pin, roll out into a 9 x 12 rectangle. Roll up lengthwise and mold into french loaf. I love this marble rolling pin.
- The loaves don’t have to look perfect. I rolled these babies in 7 1/2 minutes flat before I sprinted to my little girl’s performance. Don’t forget to make 3-4 diagonal cuts with a sharp knife before placing on silpat or greased cookie sheet. These silicone baking sheets make it so easy to remove the bread from the baking sheet. Let rise for 30-40 minutes.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes until lightly golden brown. Watch it carefully to turn a light golden brown color.
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Homemade Bakery French Bread
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Yeast
- 1/2 cup Warm Water
- 2 cups Hot Water
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Salt
- 1/3 cup Oil
- 6 1/2 cups Flour
- 1 Egg for brushing on bread
Instructions
- In a small bowl, dissolve your yeast in ½ cup warm water. Make sure that your water is warm (not too cold, not too hot). Let proof for 10 minutes.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine hot water, sugar, salt, oil and 3 cups of the flour and mix together. Add the yeast mixture to a bowl.
- Add the remaining 3 1/2 cups of flour, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Watch for it to start pulling away from the bowl to know it's ready. Once all of the flour is added, let sit for 10 minutes.
- Separate your dough into 3 pieces. On a floured surface roll each piece into a 9x12 rectangle. Roll it up like a jelly roll. Shape into a french bread loaf and smooth out edges.
- Place the dough on a greased baking pan or a Silpat, seam side down. Using a knife, make 3-4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch thick in bread. Brush with your beaten egg.
- Let dough rise uncovered for 30-40 minutes in a warm place.
- Bake at 375 for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
Video
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Happy Baking, my friends! I can’t wait to hear what you think about this quick and easy homemade french bread.
I love the ease the recipe and the bread is delicious. Both times I made it though I have needed to add additional flour, enough that it concerned me how it would turn out. First time I thought maybe I miscounted. Second time I was careful not to miscount, same thing. I’m using instant yeast. Maybe I don’t need the 1/2 water that the yeast proofs in? I’m not sure why this happening. Nobody else seems to have this problem. Any suggestions?
This was very easy, and with minimal ingredients, good for you too! We will definitely be making this again:)
hi. Thanks for this easy recipe. While I would not call it french bread, because the real french bread is just flour, yeast, salt and water… But its an easy to make bread and it its delicious. I’m a fan of using small amount of yeast and long time proofing, but I was delight to find a fast way to make bread for a change. it is a wet dough, and I do not recommend to add much more flour.(I live an a dessert, with no humidity and it was a wet dough). But thats why the bread is soft at the end….
Absolutely delicious bread!!! On Covid19 lockdown and making this has become a regular part of my days. Bread really is the staff of life and this recipe brings it home.
thank you so much for this easy recipe i just made the dough and made 6 equal parts for sandwich size loafs and it turned out super good . my wife is vietnamese and loves the bread to make bahn mi
super excited to make more !
So tasty!! I used instant yeast instead of active dry yeast like the recipe calls for but you can just use 1.5 tbs instant yeast (and same amount of warm/hot water) and it works perfectly! My bread rose amazingly and I used the same times as the recipe.
I made two large loaves instead of 3 smaller ones, rolled it out to 7×15 (like another comment mentioned) and put one in a bread pan and one just on a baking sheet. Cooked the baking sheet one for 22 minutes and the bread pan one for closer to 30. I personally prefer the one cooked on the baking sheet but bread pan one is shaped more closely to sandwich bread so up to you!!
That’s all the substitution info I needed all one place. Thank you!
This is the PERFECT COVID-19 quarantine recipe! We’ve already made it a few times and we will be making it weekly! Thanks for this recipe.
We are going to now use this recipe as a challenge for everyone in our house to modify it -quarantine baking challenge.
I haven’t made yeast bread by hand in 20+ years because bread machines became a thing. Here we are, social distancing, working or schooling from home (not me, I am retired), avoiding all unnecessary contact in this time of CoViD19. Why not pass some time making bread? Like Becky above, I cannot have a recipe dictate my life, so one section is a baguette, one is a cinnamon raisin loaf, and one is in a plastic bag in the fridge waiting to become pizza crust next week. It’s done, the two loaves are beautiful, and I already know they are delicious because so many of you have already told me so! Well, I also tasted the dough when it was raw. I am a rebel like that!
Easy to follow directions that are not needlessly wordy. Nice, flexible, crusty dough that my grandma would approve.
Oooh pizza dough!
Can you sub milk for water and butter for oil…..?!
Our daughter just made this for us. With staying home lately she got her math, science and home Economics lesson all in one. The bread is delicious!!
may name is molly allen and i love bakeing and cooking too