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.
- 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
- 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.
Happy Baking, my friends! I can’t wait to hear what you think about this quick and easy homemade french bread.
Hello I’m guessing you use a stand mixer? I don’t have one so will kneading by hand produce the same pulling away from the sides results?
Hi Cindy! If you don’t have a stand mixer and will be kneading it yourself (hello, muscles), you will be able to feel when it isn’t so sticky anymore. You don’t want it completely dry but you don’t want it to be so wet that you can feel the liquid on your hands. I hope that makes sense. Good luck and let me know how it turns out! -Melissa
Do you bake one pan at a time or both pans at the same time?
If I’m using instant yeast, I’m assuming I don’t need to use warm water. It can be cool or room temperature? Also, would you use the same amount of yeast if using instant yeast? Would it work to even do the dough in a bread maker?
Great recipe!
Making them weekly!
Makes three so give two away.
I just made it for our dinner. It was soo good. My husband said no more buying french bread 😀
Thank you for the recipe.
I have never made homemade bread before, this was a first attempt. The recipe is so easy to follow and faster than I expected! It was a huge hit with our family and I will be making it often! thank you for sharing it.
This is my second time making this yummy bread. I think we won’t be buying french bread from the market anymore! Thank you for the recipe
OMG , just finished my first batch of this yummy French bread. It was so easy and it makes three nice large loaves, wow. The most important thing though is that it tastes every bit as it looks. I can see myself making this bread often. Thank you so much!!
Really stupid question… Are you rolling it to make it 9″ loaf or 12″ loaf?
It states to roll up lengthwise so that would mean a 12” loaf. ☺️
Hi!.. Thanks for this recipe. Have you ever attempted to freeze a loaf? (family of 4….so we can’t eat it all at once). Thanks again =)
I was wondering the same thing as well! Did you hear back whether you can freeze the dough prior to baking?
Did anyone find out about freezing?
Hi Brooke! You can absolutely freeze this bread. I place it in two gallon size Ziploc bags (one on each end) and freeze the baked French bread. It lasts for awhile in the freezer. I hope that helps!
Phenomenal bread..used wooden spoon and hands..So yummy and easy..
Thanks so much 🍞😊
Hi Gail! I love to hear it. Thank you for sharing and for trying my recipe!
Just made this and I could seriously eat a whole loaf myself! It’s so perfectly fluffy and delicious slathered in butter. Was such an easy recipe and came together really quick!
New to bread making… so do you use regular flour or self-rising?
I would probably use bread flour.
I’m wondering what a good vegan substitute would be for the egg brushed on top. What is it’s purpose?
Do you have a suggestion?
Hi Barbara! Great question. The egg wash adds a nice shine to the bread but you can use a vegan butter substitute instead if you want to add some shine. Have a great day!
I’m sure I won’t get a reply, but has anyone tried halving the recipe and baking it in the Lekue?
I’ve cut the recipe in half and baked it on a tradition metal making pan. Came out great!
Girlfriend, I have hit the jackpot! I’m a 1st time bread baker. My family of 5 LOVED IT! I feel like Mrs. Baird! THANK YOU for such an easy recipe! This will be my Thanksgiving “Brag Bread”. Can I tweak it by adding garlic/herbs? Is it possible to make this perfect bread even MORE perfect?! LOL
Hi LaTrel! Your comment just made my day! Thank you! I am so happy you loved it and I am so glad that you tried my recipe, being a first-time bread baker. You are awesome! You can absolutely add garlic and herbs and cheese and whatever you want. That sounds heavenly. Have a blessed day! — Melissa
Hi, I was wondering what kind of flour you have used to make the bread. Bread flour ? AP flour ? Pastry flour ( the bread on that picture seems very soft , not like the” regular “ French baguette) If you used AP , did you use bleached or unbleached ? I know , it sounds crazy asking about flour but you being a culinary teacher you understand that the “ main” ingredient which is flour makes all the difference on the final product . Thx 🙂
I made this with bleached, all purpose flour and it was delicious. I have been baking bread for 60 years and this was probably the easiest bread I have ever baked. Since it was a little chilly in my kitchen, winter in Nebraska, I did something I’ve never done before. I heated water in a small ceramic bowl to heat up the bowl, poured it out and then put the warm water, yeast and a little sugar to feed the yeast and it really bubbled up.
Ooooh my gosh!!! Thank you so very much for sharing that awesome bread recipe. I made it today and we had it for dinner with some home made butternut squash soup. My sister told me that it was a nice way to end the day 😁 My granddaughter said I should make that bread every day. We had our first snow storm and the weather also made the soup and bread extra!!! Can you imagine if we ate it every day 🤣🤣 thank you again for sharing 😁😁😁
Awww this makes me so happy to hear! I love to hear when someone is making a cozy meal of soup and homemade bread. There’s nothing better than that to warm the body on a snowy day. Thank you for taking the time to write a comment and for trying my recipe. I appreciate it!
Can this be rolled up and sized to be baked in loaf pans?
This was my first time attempting French Bread and it came out amazing!! Such a quick easy recipe and went well with the soup I had simmering for dinner. Thank you!
Mine came out amazing. I’m wondering if there are any tips for making a crispier crust. Mine came out a bit soft. The inside was perfect and my family loved it.
Just made your bread and it is delicious and it looks great too. I put a cake pan with about 1 inch of water on the bottom shelf while I was preheating the oven and while baking the bread so it would give it a crunchy crust. I will be making this again.
I made theses! They’re about to come out of the oven! Looks like you have a lot of other recipes I will be making! Thank you!
I have been trying bread recipes for over a decade but it never turned out good! This bread was amazing!!! I’ve never tried rolling it out and up like this before but it worked!!
Can you freeze the dough? If I yes, how long does it stay good? Three loaves at one time is a bit much for me.
This bread is SO good! I baked all three loaves, then froze one and gave the other to my son. Later, thawed the frozen loaf and reheated in foil. Worked beautifully. BTW, I have a stand mixer and used that to mix up the dough. I will be making this bread in a regular basis. Would be great for French toast and grilled cheese sandwiches in addition to dipping in olive oil/spices or simply with butter and jam. Yum!
Our first try with this recipe and my family loves it! We cut it right away after baking but it came out wet. We were wondering if my bread was undercooked or I need to let it sit? I took it out at 20 mins because it looks brown already.
Tried this recipe today my goodness..I cut the recipe in half so i made 2 small loafs and they came out perfect so delicious and better yet so easy!! Thank you Melissa😍
Hi there! I’m looking forward to making this bread this week, but I have a question before I can start. Can this be made with instant yeast, and if so, what changes need to be made to the recipe? Would I skip the step of putting the yeast in the warm water and just go straight to adding it to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients? Do I only use the “hot water” measured amount of water in the recipe? I only ever buy instant yeast, and I would really love to know what changes need to be made in order for me to be able to use the instant yeast in this recipe. I don’t want to have an epic fail! Haha, so I’m looking forward to hopefully hearing back soon with an answer, so that I can make this sometime this week! Thanks so much!!