This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
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.
Disclaimer! I am brand new to making bread! This is only the second time I’ve attempted. My loaves came out very heavy and also they were so dense! I followed the recipe as Far as I know, correctly. Where did I go wrong?
Rosina
I’ve not made this recipe but I know with other bread recipes that you need to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and scrape the top level with a knife. If you dip the measuring cup in the flour, you get too much flour and the bread is dense and heavy. Hopefully this helps.
The dough probably needed to rise longer. A good general rule is to let it rise until doubled in bulk. Maybe you added too much flour too?
Great recipe! I’ve never made bread before.It was simple and I don’t have a mixer so everything is done by hand. It was great!
ive made this recipe before and it was amazing!
i want to make it for tomorrow morning, can i let the dough proof over night rather than the ten minutes? will that make a difference at all?
I do this recipe today, with fresh yeast, totally love it
Hi. How much fresh yeast did you use to mix it with warm water? It
am confused by that part. Thanks!
I couldn’t find the response anywhere for fresh yeast. I made this yesterday and it turned out great. I made half of the recipe so just used 1 cube of fresh yeast (17 grams). That doesn’t quite equal 1 TB but the bread turned out just fine. And I halved the total amount of water for the recipe INCLUDING the amount needed to proof the yeast. I proofed it in 1/2 cup of water but next time I’ll proof it in 1/4 cup. The dough and (then) the bread turned out so soft. While I agree with other posters that this isn’t necessarily french bread, it is delicious. Will definitely make again!!
WOw! We’re stuck home and I was making spaghetti for the kids and I’m trying to stay out of the stores a much as possible. I’ve NEVER made bread before, but found this recipe that didn’t need a Dutch Oven or any other fancy tool. My kids, who are pretty picky, LOVED it! I will definitely make it again because they already told me I should never buy the bakery bread again, and I should become a bread maker! So thank you, from this quarantined mama!
I’ve never ever made bread before… but lock down gives us that little extra time! This was so easy and 100% successful. I used a dough hook on a Kenwood I’ve just been given. It was absolutely delicious and very easy to make. I read somewhere to put a bowl of hot water in the bottom of the oven to make the edges crispy and after 22 mins, it looked great. Thank you so much!
Made this tonight it was amazing. My kids loved it ❤️! Thank you
2T yeast?
How many GRAMS of fresh yeast?!?!?!?!?!??!?
OH MY GOODNESS WHAT A PANIC!!!!
I GOOGLED IT FOR YOU.
1T active dry yeast = 8.50 grams.
8.50 x 2 = 17.
GOOGLE IS WONDERFUL.
Took less than one second to get the answer, then some basic math.
Hahaha love this comment ????
This bread turned out amazing!!! It reminds me of my grandmothers recipe, she was an amazing cook, but always kept the recipe in her head so when she passed we didn’t know it. This is the closest I have found to it. I am going to use the same recipe and make them into dinner rolls for tonight. Thanks so much!!!
Love this bread – thank you for the recipe!!!