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Perfectly soft homemade French bread is easy to make at home!
the best homemade French bread!
We love Homemade Bread and after my mom mastered this homemade French Bread recipe, we now love it too! We’ve officially added it to our go-to bread recipes because it’s amazing.
Why we love this recipe:
- It’s simple! With simple ingredients and easy steps, this recipe is no-fail!
- Made with pantry staples. All of the ingredients are ones you should have in the pantry or fridge, which means you can make it any time.
- Versatile. This French bread can be used to eat on its own, or use it to make Croutons, French Toast Casserole or serve it with your favorite soup recipe.
- Easy to store and freeze. Like most breads, this is easy to make ahead of time and freeze which is always a bonus!
Ingredients
PREP TIME: 55 minutes
COOK TIME: 20 minutes
- 2 tablespoons rapid rise yeast – Active dry yeast, instant yeast, and rapid-rise yeast all work for this bread recipe.
- ½ cup warm water – This is used to activate the yeast. And should be between 110-115 °F
- 2 cups hot water – adding hot water helps keep the dough warm which helps it rise better
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil – canola oil or olive oil
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar – helps the yeast rise as well
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 6 cups all-purpose flour – bread flour can also be used for this recipe. Either way, be sure to Measure the Flour Correctly
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup cornmeal – is used to help keep the bread from sticking to the pan and it adds a delicious texture to the bottom. You can also use vegetable oil instead.
How to Make French Bread
- PREP. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle evenly with ¼ cup cornmeal. (Greased baking sheets work too, but we prefer the cornmeal method.)
- YEAST. In a small bowl, dissolve 2 tablespoons yeast in ½ cup warm water.
- DOUGH. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 cups hot water, 5 tablespoons oil, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 3 cups of flour. Mix with the paddle attachment.
- Add yeast mixture and mix to combine.
- Add the remaining 3 cups of flour 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Once all of the flour is added, cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
- SHAPE. Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into three pieces. Roll each piece into a 9-x-12-inch rectangle. Roll each rectangle up from the long edge like a jelly roll.
- Place each dough roll on a prepared baking sheet, seam side down.
- Score the bread across the top 3 or 4 times. Beat 1 egg and brush each loaf with the egg wash for a crisp and shiny crust. Let dough rise, uncovered, for 30 minutes in a warm place.
- BAKE. Toward the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Make it extra crusty
You’re going to need to simulate a baker’s oven to create a crispy crust:
- Place a baking stone on the center rack. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Put a metal broiler pan on the rack at the bottom of the oven (at least 4 inches below the baking stone).
- Once risen, transfer the bread to a baking peel sprinkled with flour. Slash slits on the tops of the loaves and lightly spray the loaves with water.
- Slide the loaves onto the preheated baking stone and add 1 cup of HOT water to the broiler tray. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for 20 minutes.
- After 10 minutes use the water bottle to spray the bread every 3 minutes for the remainder of the bake time.
- Use the baking peel to remove the bread from the oven and cool. The result – crusty French bread which is to die for!!
Complete the Meal
- MAIN DISHES: Spaghetti, Chicken Alfredo, Cheesy Potato Soup
- DESSERTS: Chocolate Cheesecake, Fresh Peach Cobbler, Boston Cream Pie, Panna Cotta, Chocolate Lasagna
- Ways to eat French bread: Buffalo Chicken French Bread, Barbecue Chicken French Bread, Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Bread
More collections: Dinner Rolls and Biscuits, Yeast Bread Recipes, Quick Bread Recipes
French Bread Recipe
This is the BEST homemade French bread and is so easy to make! It's soft, tasty, and comes out perfect every time.
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons rapid rise yeast
- ½ cup warm water, 110–115°F
- 2 cups hot water
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle evenly with cornmeal. (Greased baking sheets work too, but we prefer the cornmeal method.)
- In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine hot water, oil, sugar, salt, and 3 cups of the flour. Mix with the paddle attachment.
- Add yeast mixture and mix to combine.
- Add the remaining 3 cups of flour 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Once all of the flour is added, let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into three pieces. Roll each piece into a 9-x-12-inch rectangle. Roll each rectangle up from the long edge like a jelly roll.
- Place each dough roll on a prepared baking sheet, seam side down.
- Score the bread across the top 3 or 4 times and brush each loaf with beaten egg for a crisp and shiny crust. Let dough rise, uncovered, for 30 minutes in a warm place.
- Toward the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Video
Notes
Make ahead of time. To freeze baked loaves, let the bread cool and wrap in parchment paper, then aluminum foil. It can last for up to 3 months in the freezer. When you are ready to eat, remove from the freezer and thaw at room temperature. To reheat, preheated the oven to 400°F and bake for 4–5 minutes, or until warm.
Use it up. This recipe is great to serve as a slice of bread but you can use it to make other recipes, including Bruschetta, French Toast Casserole, French Toast, and Cheesy Garlic Bread.
Nutrition
Serving: 1loaf, Calories: 1037kcal, Carbohydrates: 214g, Protein: 30g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 55mg, Sodium: 2363mg, Potassium: 357mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 79IU, Vitamin C: 0.01mg, Calcium: 55mg, Iron: 12mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Why do I Score the Top of French Bread?
- Scoring bread simply means using a sharp knife or razor blade to make slashes on top of the dough that is ready for the oven. The slashes help control the way the bread will expand while it bakes, otherwise, it will expand anywhere that the dough is weak, creating an odd shape.
Do I Need to Knead the Dough?
- You won’t need to hand knead this bread, but be sure to mix each cup of flour sufficiently. Use the paddle or dough hook attachment on a stand mixer and mix at medium speed. Mixing well will help activate the gluten to make an elastic dough which will then create a better structure to the bread.
Do I Need a Special Pan?
- Some recipes call for baking in French bread pans, but I simply use a regular cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.
How to Store French Bread?
- Store baked bread inside a plastic bag, bread box, or aluminum foil. The bread should last 2-3 days.
- Freeze cooled chewy bread by wrapping it in parchment paper, and then foil. This easy French bread recipe can last for up to 3 months in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, remove from the freezer and thaw.
- To reheat place in oven, preheated to 400°F, for 4-5 minutes or until warm.
I made this today. It was surprisingly easy to make! My has smells awesome!
This is absolutely delicious!! The instructions were easy to follow and it turned out just like the picture (which doesn’t always happen when I’m cooking). Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!
I haven’t made it yet, but having made various yeast breads, this one looks closest to the Albertson’s bread I was looking for. There are several sites with an alleged copycat recipe for the bread, but I think they all copied from each other, because they all have sesame seeds included, and the Albertson’s bread does not. So this is promising. 🙂
Excellent recipe. I used bread flour and whole wheat flour and a second rise to get some awesome flavor
Very good recipe but not a traditional crusty french loaf. This recipe makes a very soft bread. Going to try it as hoagie buns for cheese steaks.
The perfect French bread recipe. It is always a hit in our family
What Temperature is Hot Water?
105-110 degrees Fahrenheit
I hate giving low stars for this because I assume I must have done something wrong based on the overwhelming positive reviews.
I’m giving this a four to not pull down the rating in case I screwed up. However, I have made a fair amount of breads and this to me was not a French loaf. It was dense and did not have that crunch I expected from a French loaf. This was far more like a classic American roll in tubular form.
Made this today and it was fantastic! I halved the recipe and made one large loaf. More dense than many french breads, which is exactly how I like my breads. I brushed mine with two egg yolks mixed with a little half & half and water because I had yolks leftover from making a French Silk Pie. The only thing I would change is that I would add a touch more salt next time. So easy to make with excellent results!
I love how quick this bread recipe comes together. Yummy!