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French Bread

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This French bread is so easy to make, it’s the perfect recipe for a beginner bread baker. You’ll be surprised at how simple it is, but tastes like it’s fresh from the bakery.

  • Author: Heather Thomas, That Bread Lady
  • Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
  • Yield: 1 large French loaf 1x
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: French

Ingredients

Scale

Dough

  • 1 & 1/2 cup (341g) warm water (110°F)
  • 1 Tablespoon instant yeast
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 4–5 cups (480-600g) bread flour

Egg wash

  • 1 egg,  plus 2 Tablespoons of water

Instructions

  1. Make the dough: Attach the dough hook to your electric mixer. Add the water, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil and 4 cups of the bread flour to your mixing bowl. Combine on low speed until the dough comes together in one large mass (about one minute). Stop mixer and check dough with finger. If it’s excessively sticky or wet, add 1/4 cup of flour and mix until combined. Check with finger again and repeat if needed. Dough should be soft but not wet. Knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Dough should clean the sides of the bowl and form a soft ball. Let it rest in the mixer for 5 minutes after kneading.
  2. First rise: Spray the inside of a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put the dough in the bowl and turn so all sides are coated with the spray. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.
  3. Prepare your baking pans: If using a baking sheet, line with parchment paper. If using a french loaf pan, spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
  4. Shape the loaves: Sprinkle work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Take the dough ball and with your fingers, spread it out into a rectangle, about 8 inches by 15 inches. Roll the dough up lengthwise, pushing any air bubbles. Pinch the seam to the loaf to seal it shut. Put the loaf seam side down on your prepared pan. With a sharp knife, make 3-4 slashes in the dough. This will allow it to expand in the oven.
  5. Second rise: Cover the loaf with the kitchen towel and let rise again until doubled in size, about 30-60 minutes. The second rise should be about half of the first rise time.  
  6. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  7. In a small bowl, crack one egg and add 2 Tablespoons of water. Whisk together and brush onto the loaf. This will give the bread a shiny, golden crust. 
  8. Put the bread in the oven on the center rack. Before closing the oven door, put a handful of ice in a metal pan and position on the bottom rack. This will create steam in the oven, yielding a crispy outer crust. 
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden. When tapping on the bread, it should have a hollow sound. 
  10. Allow bread to cool completely on a wire rack. The bread will continue to bake on the inside as it cools. Slicing when too warm may result in a doughy, smashed loaf.

Notes

  1. There are many factors that can change the results of a yeast bread dough. Heat, humidity, altitude, flour types can all yield slightly different results. When I’m adding flour to a bread recipe, I always check my dough before adding the last cup of flour. I touch the dough with my finger and gauge how much more flour it needs. If the dough is still very sticky and wet, I add 1/4 cup flour at a time, mixing for about 30 seconds and checking again. Bread dough should be soft to the touch, but not sticking excessively to your fingers. It’s always best to go lighter on flour, because you can always add more during the shaping process. Mixing in too much flour will yield a dry loaf. The more you practice, the better you’ll get at knowing how the dough should feel.
  2. I’ve made this bread substituting two of the cups of flour for wheat flour. This gives it a great flavor and adds extra nutrition!
  3. Make bread bowls by dividing the dough into 4 equal pieces. Round them out into smooth round dough balls. Put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or sprayed with nonstick spray. Make a small slash with a sharp knife on the top of the bread ball. Follow recipe steps 5-10. To serve, cut off tops and hallow out the middle, making a bowl shape. Fill with your favorite soup. See my post for making pumpkin bread bowls!

Find it online: https://thatbreadlady.com/french-bread/