French Bread Recipe

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4.98 from 231 votes

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.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Rest & Rise Time40

Total Time1 15

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American, French

Servings: loaves

Author: Lil' Luna

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