Really Easy, Really Good French Bread

"A dear friend gave me this recipe, swearing that it is too easy to mess up- and she was right! It was delicous, better than anything fresh from the bakery!"
 
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photo by sandra05 photo by sandra05
photo by sandra05
photo by cookiemed photo by cookiemed
photo by Lainey68 photo by Lainey68
photo by Nicole T. photo by Nicole T.
photo by the3ncs photo by the3ncs
Ready In:
2hrs
Ingredients:
8
Serves:
10-12
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ingredients

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directions

  • Dissolve yeast, warm water, and sugar in a small bowl.
  • In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine hot water, granulated sugar, salt, and oil. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour to the mixture in the large bowl/mixer and mix well. Stir in yeast mixture.
  • Add 1 – 1 1/2 cups more flour and mix until well blended. (At this point your dough will still be quite sticky). Leave in bowl and let rise for 1 hour, mixing a few strokes a couple of times during the hour.
  • Divide dough into 2 (or 3 if you want smaller loaves) pieces. Roll out each piece on a floured surface into the length desired then roll up length wise like a jelly roll.
  • Put on a greased cookie sheet, sealed side down, and tuck the ends under. Slash the top diagonally across the top every couple of inches with a sharp knife. Brush with egg white. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Let loaves rise 30 more minutes.
  • Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

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Reviews

  1. This recipe is amazing. I have made it multiple times, adding poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or garlic/Parmesan toppings and/or herbs, depending on the evening’s menu. The recipe easily makes two or three loaves as stated and I generally make 3 as this bread freezes remarkedly well. Definitely a go to recipe for beginners or experienced bakers and easily “tweakable”. Fun to experiment with this recipe.
     
  2. The perfect recipe for beginner bread makers. I also add fresh herbs and garlic powder. I also substitute half and half for the water.
     
    • Review photo by cookiemed
  3. This is a great recipe! It's easy to mix and the taste is amazing. I added rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, thyme, and basil to the mix and it was scrumptious. My kids and husband loved it and wanted more. I make an olive oil mixture with these herbs, pepper, and roasted garlic for dipping. It went together perfectly. I can't say enough good things about this recipe.
     
  4. I was looking for a quick recipe and I was surprised how well it turned out, since I'm a little bit of a bread snob. I usually do an overnight sponge, or an artisan bread that takes over an hour longer from start to finish. This is a very wet dough (as is my artisan recipe). It is quite sticky, but if you work on a floured surface it works out well. I use the same technique I use with my artisan recipe, which involves a "gluten cloak"... a little flour dump on top just while you shape it. If you aren't familiar with that technique but want to try it, I recommend reading about the master recipe in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I will definitely use this recipe whenever I'm in a time pinch. Thanks a bunch!
     
  5. These loaves only took 20 minutes in the oven, so make sure that you watch the bread carefully. I wasn't sure how this recipe was going to turn out because they were sorry looking loves of dough when I put them in the oven. But they browned up very nice and were VERY delicious. Next time I will probably double the recipe, because the two loaves were very small. Thanks for sharing!
     
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Tweaks

  1. Just didn't work for me.
     
  2. I used a cup of bread flour instead of 2.5 cups of all purpose flour
     
  3. To double I added almost 2 cups more flour. Other ingredients were dbld.
     
  4. Substituted half and half for the water and added fresh herbs
     
  5. This bread is GOOD and is still soft and delicious the next day. I did as other reviewers mentioned and baked it for slightly less time and brushed it with milk instead of egg whites. The recipe is so easy that after making it, I have decided to get rid of my bread machine. Also, the dough really is quite sticky (as mentioned in the recipe) so don't worry that it isn't a consistency that you are used to.
     

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