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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.
Thank you John Lee Bolton for replying, but if I wanted to just make two loaves thicker as longer doesn’t address what I’m hoping to do which is make a french bread that’s bigger and so more useable for me. Should I just follow the temp and timings as if I haven’t changed things on this side?
Anyone?
I made two loaves from the recipe and the bake time was closer to 40-45 minutes for me. The loaves were longer and fatter.
This is my go to bread. I make it in loaf stones and also on my cookie stone, tonight I tried rolls! Im excited to see how they come out!!!!
This recipe made the best tasting bread. It was so good, I plan to make it again tomorrow. We’ve been eating the bread for almost every meal. The final piece of bread will be used for french toast in the morning!!
Can dough be frozen and baked at a future time after rolling and shaping but before final rising?
Easy and delicious! Yes, It’s a soft crust but we really like it. But there are only two of us and this bakes a lot of bread. I divided the dough into 4 sections rather than three and wish I had made more even smaller ones. I discovered that it’s very easy to wrap and freeze at that point! And when we want bread for dinner just pull one out about three hours or so before we want to eat. Unwrap it, let it defrost and start to rise, egg wash and rise some more then bake!
Did you freeze the dough in a ziplock?
I wrapped it in plastic wrap that I had sprayed lightly with cooking spray, then wrapped that in foil. Took foil off when I removed from freezer, and slipped it out if the plastic wrap when it started to get softer
I should add, I let the loaves freeze in the plastic wrap on a tray before I wrap them in foil.
great idea thanks!!!!!
Forgot to mention… I cut the recipe in half and was still able to make 2 pretty foot longs =]
This is the best bread I’ve made! So perfectly soft! Thanks for sharing!
Super easy, soft crumb French bread. So happy I tried this recipe. Delicious and will be making again and again. Give it a go !
Omg!!! I just made ur bread and it is sooooooo soooooo good!!! Thank u so so much
How should I change the cook time if I only wanted to make two larger loaves instead of three?
The only bread I’ve made since covid is a Crosby’s Molasses Oatmeal Brown Bread. You simply can’t get brown bread in Ontario!
Regardless, this looks quick and easier -quicker too! I’ve not seen bread rolled out before so is this just something because it’s a French bread? French bread needs get rolled out before rolled up I guess yes? Not sure if that’s an inane question…. The pictures and videos I’ve watched have only mentioned kneading by hand or machine if you have one so I’m still a noob here making my own bread! Anyone out there just make two loaves before? Thoughts on what size to shoot for to roll out before it gets rolled up?
For my needs, attempting two loaves makes more sense is my why. So cook time does this change??
Help, thoughts anyone?
Cook time is really governed by the color of the crust. Take it out when its golden. I made two loaves. Longer loaves not thicker. So time was pretty much the same. Use your eye and let get nice and deep golden.
190 degrees on an instant read thermometer (American). Although…you probably already figured it all out!
Is tasty!
I had to add 1 more cup of flour. But then I live in south Louisiana so it’s no surprise. We’ll see how they come out.
This was a great recipe for a first timer. Once all the ingredients were gathered, measured and poured it went quite quickly from start to finish. Family loved it and I was quite impressed with myself. Definitely not buying french bread if I dont need to anymore. My bread looked and tasted great but like a previous comment mine too could be “crustier”. It actually was but when I took them out we put a towel over them to keep them warm. I think that softened the crust a bit. I am going to try the ice bath next time. Thanks!!