Easy French Bread Recipe
Learn how to make this Easy French Bread Recipe with step by step photo instructions!
I am a bread eater.
I can distinctly remember craving the biscuits more than the bacon when breakfast was served while visiting my grandparents as a kid. I would opt for an extra dinner roll - the plain old brown 'n' serve kind - instead of more of my mom's broccoli and rice casserole or my favorite sliced turkey at our holiday meals.
Bread with my salad in a restaurant? Bonus points. A bit of crusty loaf to dip in my soup? Even better.
Don't even get me started on bagels.
Somewhere along the way I decided I should learn how to make bread, and it's honestly one of my favorite things to bake. It's also REALLY EASY and requires just a few ingredients. so if you have never tried your hand at bread baking, NOW IS THE TIME!
This Easy French Bread Recipe is great for beginners, and will become a solid favorite whenever you think a homemade loaf is needed. If you're looking to make a REALLY easy beginner-yeast-bread recipe, I recommend trying my One Hour Bread before attenpting to make French Bread.
It's not fussy and there IS kneading. But I am going to walk you through it step by step, and you'll be a pro by the time we get to the end here.
Ingredients for Making French Bread
You'll be blown away by the simplicity of this ingredient list. Are you ready?
- active dry yeast
- water
- flour
- salt
- olive oil
- egg
Easy French Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 1 ½ cups warm water* (see note)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus a little extra for kneading
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk together active dry yeast and warm water. Let stand for about a minute - it will look a little cloudy / foamy. In another large bowl, whisk together 4 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons salt. Add the flour mixture to the water and yeast, and stir everything together with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
- Use your hands to scrape the bits of dough off the spoon and begin to press the stray bits together. Then dump the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes. Add flour just a tiny bit at a time, as needed.
- The kneaded dough will be smooth and will bounce back slightly when you press on it. ** I only typically have to add flour twice; this dough is soft and pliable, but shouldn't stick to your hands. Work the dough into a ball.
- In a large clean bowl, add the tablespoon of olive oil. Place the ball of dough into the oiled bowl, and turn it so that all sides are coated. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and then cover with a clean towel. Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch the dough down in the center and then pull the sides in towards the middle. When you’ve pressed the air out of the risen dough, turn it out onto a cutting board, and use a sharp knife to cut it in half.
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour, and roll each half into a log. Place the shaped dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for another 40 minutes.
- While the dough is rising for the second time, preheat the oven to 400°F. Pour a cup of hot water into a shallow pan and place it on the bottom rack (you’ll be baking on the top) of the oven. This creates moisture in the oven.
- After the second rise, use kitchen shears to score the loaves diagonally just before baking.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until the bread starts to look a little golden brown, and then brush the loaves all over with the egg wash (see note). Bake for another 5-7 minutes, just until the egg wash is baked on, golden, and a bit shiny looking. Let the bread cool just a little before cutting.
Notes
You can bake this bread on a pizza stone! Just be sure to preheat the stone with the oven to prevent breaking.
You can brush the loaves with melted butter instead of egg wash if you prefer. The egg wash gives the finished loaves a shinier golden brown appearance, but both ways are delicious!
Recommended Products
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The Ultimate 16" Round Pizza & Bread Stone for Cooking & Baking on Oven & Grill. Exclusive ThermaShock Protection & Core Convection Technology for the Perfect Crispy Crust. Patented No-Spill Stopper
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 84Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 180mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 2g
Yes, I love homemade bread too! The delicious smell of bread baking gets me EVERY time! Your loaf looks like a professional baker made it! Yum. I hear the p90x is a great workout. Congrats to you for your dedication! Wonderful weightless success too! Way to go!
I love bread. White toast. Baguette with oil. Baguette with tomato. Baguette with marmite. Baguette with pate. Baguette with ham. Baguette with baguette. Garlid bread. Pitta bread. Naan bread. Wraps. Warm bread. Olive bread. Ciabatta. Bread, bread, bread.... Although, since living here I've had top be much more bread-aware! Here, everyone eats bread with everything! I love it, but somethings just don't seem to call for bread. That doesn't matter here, bread anyway. Lots of it. With every meal. So, I've had to make myself stop just taking it because it's there! Can't beat soup with warm, fresh, crusty white baguette though...mmmmm! Congrats on kicking the smoking! And I'm with you - it's all about moderation! If I tried to give up entirely on the good stuff (cookies, cake, beer...) I'd be the most miserable grump going!
I am sooo with you, Rachael! I love bread. I might be in trouble if it were served with everything. Maybe I would tire of it? Probably not, though. Bread and waterparks... hmmmm. Maybe we should visit Spain?
Quitting smoking was so freaking hard and I was so freaking mean (MEAN. I'm serious.)... I cannot imagine how unbearable I'd be if I quit bread and goodies like cookies or wine or ice cream. Moderation is totally key.
I LOVE bread and butter. ugh, my favorite! I could eat it every day. And hey, congrats on the hard work!! Honestly, feeling healthy in the end makes it so worth it, right? And ps, your bread with basil butter sounds too delicious!
Thanks! I love bread. Butter is fine but it's the bread I'm after! The basil butter needs to find a way to be in your life. It is completely amazing. And the hard work DOES feel good! I need the scale to move faster, but the workouts are paying off. I can do pushups!
Yes, my waistline reflects my unwavering love of bread and chocolate cake, sans the killer workout! If you slit the baguette when putting on the baking sheet for the second proofing it won't deflate...just cut deeply so the cracks don't fill back in:-)
Ohhhh girl. Don't even get me started on the chocolate cake. My proofed bread looked deflatey because I desperately need new kitchen knives. Mine are dull and dangerous, and not worth sharpening. BUT! I will edit the recipe to include your suggestion! Thanks, Susan!
Knives dull? When is the last time you ran them over a steel? I steel my knives every time I use them and it restores the edge sweetly - I slice tomatoes with my chef's knife (no serrated edge required!). If you don't have a steel, it's totally worth the $20 to get one. They work, even on cheaper knives.
P90X and Insanity? Whoa.
Bread hates me. I hardly ever eat sandwiches or bagels anymore. When I do, I only eat the sandwich thins. I do occasionally make exceptions of muffins and coffee cake.
Bread hates me, too. But I love bread. We have a sick and codependent relationship. And I really only do the bananas killer workouts because I need things like muffins and coffee cake in my life. That's right. I said NEED.
First of all congratulations on being smoke free for a year!!! YAY!!! I know how hard it is to quit smoking (I myself quit cold turkey 4 years ago!) but you did it and eating an extra roll at dinner or slice of toast in the morning is much better than sucking down packs of cigarettes any day. It's an adjustment, emotionally and physically because you're learning to deal with your emotions in other ways and learning to readjust your oral fixation isn't easy, so I commend you for making up your mind to do it and doing it!!!!! That being said the key is moderation! If I want bread...oh I'm having bread haha Just not a whole loaf like before. And you're right move over Wonder Bread YUCK!!! I'll take fresh baked bread any day!!! There's nothing better to me than fresh baked french bread...yum!!! And I LOVE those pillsbury biscuits during the holidays...I always eat two haha I look forward to that every year!!! haha That soup and bread combo looks absolutely delicious!!! And your bread looks warm and squishy, just the way I like it!!! I love soft pillowy bread, mmmm!!!! You work hard as sh*t for those calories so enjoy them!!! If I did P90X I'd be able to eat a lot more myself lol Too bad I hate working out haha 6 days a week, an hour a day? My mind would be gone haha You are brave my friend!!! Congrats again on those 21 pounds and being smoke free!!! Your body will thank you for it later!!!
Thanks, Michelle! I totally quit cold turkey. I was the meanest person EVER for a few weeks. It's a wonder Chad didn't kill me. Or run away from home. I was a total monster. It is a total adjustment ... especially emotionally because even after all this time, when I'm super pissed or super stressed or having super road rage the first thing that pops in my head is "Where are my cigarettes?" So glad we are on the same page with the puffy white sandwich bread. What IS that crap!? I really hated working out. Like HATE. But I managed to finish the Insanity DVD's and I was so proud of myself and I felt SO good and it has really become a habit for me. I love my rest days, but if I don't exercise on the regular I miss it. Never ever thought I could be that kind of person. P-90 is not as unmanageable as it seems. I'm doing the lean version, so I only use 5 pound weights. The women in the videos that are built like men really freak me out. It's still an hour a day, 6 days a week, but I actually really like it. Go figure. I don't think I can eat as many cookies with this workout though cause the cardio isn't that intense. Gotta cut back. Damn.
Women that are jacked like men freak me out!!! That's like my #1 fear of using weights because I don't want to look like a guy...even though I know you'd really have to be lifting like a man to do it...I still don't want to take that chance haha I want to be completely muscleless and feminine hahaha Anyhow, there are days where I too think about smoking...but I don't crave it anymore, its more like a reflection. But that's also the biggest reason I don't drink really. Every time I drank I chain smoked...bad combination right there so I stopped both!! Worked out!!! I find life to be completely exhausting haha Mostly I just want to sleep when I get time to myself...but hopefully I can at least establish dedicated workout days. I wish I could do DVD's but I'm the girl that does it for five seconds then turns on something else haha I need to transfer my addiction to exercise though!!! I want that to be routine like yours!!
So proud of your health commitment.. you look amazing and moderation is so the answer to everything. Life without bread isn't the same! I need this in my kitchen now.
Awww thanks, Lindsey. You are right; life without bread totally isn't the same. I will make this and put some in your kitchen! Just let me know when I'll see you next !
I hear you my friend, there is just something to good to miss about bread 😀
Your French baguettes look store bought!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Can't give up on the good stuff! Thanks!