French Bread Recipe

Nothing beats a loaf of crusty, chewy French bread at the dinner table. This recipe creates a beautifully browned and crisp crust, with a soft and chewy center that will leave you coming back for slice after slice.

Video: Watch Me Make This

Key Ingredients

This recipe comes together with just a short list of readily available ingredients. You might be surprised because of how flavorful it is, but the dough only has four ingredients plus water.

• All-purpose flour – Use your favorite all-purpose flour, no need for any bread flour in this recipe.
• Active dry yeast – A must for this dough to rise beautifully and double in size.
• Salt – A classic flavor enhancer that balances out the flavor profile.
• Sugar – Give this recipe a sweet element with granulated sugar.
• Water – Any tap water will do, but it needs to be 110°F to help the yeast rise properly.
• Cornmeal – Cornmeal prevents the bread from sticking to the pan by acting as a barrier layer.
• Egg white – A simple egg wash gives your French Bread the slightly shiny, beautifully golden exterior everyone will be hungry for.

Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Combine. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt and hand-whisk until combined. Stir in the warm water and stir until a dough forms roughly the consistency of play-dough.
2. Knead. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough 10 minutes.

3. Rise. Shape into a ball and place into a well-oiled bowl. Cover tightly with cling wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume.
4. Shape. Gently punch dough down and divide in half. Place on a floured surface, cover, and let sit 10 minutes. Roll each half into a rectangle. Roll rectangle up lengthwise, moisten edges with water, and pinch tightly to seal.

5. Slit & Brush. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal before placing loaves seam side down. Cut diagonal slits on top, about 1/4 inch deep and brush top with egg/water mixture.
6. Let rest. Lay cling wrap over loaves and place in a draft-free warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375F and place a large pan of water on lowest rack.
7. Bake: Bake 15 minutes. Brush again with egg/water mixture. Bake another 10 minutes or until bread looks done. Let loaves rest at room temp before enjoying.

What to Serve With French Bread

Soups and Stews

• Boeuf Bourguignon (French Beef Stew) – this might be our favorite way to serve up French bread, with this perfectly themed stew.
• Cioppino Recipe (Seafood Stew) – we love this hearty seafood stew, and the broth literally begs for a crusty bread to dip into it.
• Tuscan Style Beef Stew – this beef stew is absolutely scrumptious, and goes hand-in-hand with hearty homemade bread.

Pasta

• Creamy Bruschetta Pasta – this one is super easy and boasts all the flavors you love in a good family pasta meal.
• 30-Minute Spaghetti Carbonara – this quick, simple pasta dish tastes like it came from a restaurant. All it needs is some fresh-out-of-the-oven bread.
• Perfect Pasta Primavera – this pasta dish loads up on healthy vegetables. Serve your fresh bread with butter on the side.

Salads

• Caprese Pasta Salad with Basil Pesto – this pasta salad literally is asking for some warm bread to go alongside of it.
• Peach Caprese Salad – during the few months peaches are in season, we adore this peach caprese, as it’s a flavorful spin on the classic.
• Tortellini Pasta Salad with Pesto Sauce, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella – yes, that’s a mouthful… but it’s also full of big flavors.

French Bread

4.97 from 147 ratings

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Nothing beats a loaf of crusty, chewy French bread at the dinner table. This recipe creates a beautifully browned and crisp crust, with a soft and chewy center that will leave you coming back for slice after slice.

Prep Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 18

Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

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• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 packages (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast, fresh
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1 TB white sugar
• 1 ¾ cups water at 110F
• 1 TB cornmeal
• 1 egg white, beaten with 1 TB water

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Hand-whisk until well combined. Gradually stir in the warm water (test the temperature with thermometer to ensure it's right around 110F) and stir until a dough forms. The consistency should be roughly like play-dough, not too sticky but easily forms into a smooth/elastic dough ball. Add 1 TB water at a time as needed to gain that consistency.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead dough 10 minutes.
• Shape into a ball, place into a well-oiled bowl, and turn dough to lightly coat in oil. Cover bowl tightly with cling wrap and place bowl in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, 30-60 minutes, or place in a pre-warmed oven for more rapid rising.
• Gently punch dough down and divide in half. Place on lightly floured surface, cover, and let sit 10 minutes. Roll each half into approx. 14×9 inch rectangle. Roll rectangle up lengthwise, moisten edges with water, and pinch tightly to seal. Taper and seal ends.
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle evenly with cornmeal. Place loaves seam side down on sheet. Cut diagonal slits into loves on top, about 1/4 inch deep. Brush loaves with egg/water mixture.
• Gently lay cling wrap over loaves and place in a draft-free warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F with rack on lower middle position. Place a large pan of water on lowest rack.
• Bake 15 minutes. Brush again with egg/water mixture. Bake another 10 minutes or until bread looks done. Let loaves rest at room temp at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Equipment

• Cornmeal
• Active Dry Yeast

Notes

• Top this warm, delicious French Bread with butter or your favorite jam and pair it with a heavenly soup like this Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.
• If you prefer smaller French Bread loaves, you can split and shape this recipe into four smaller loaves instead of two, but you’ll need to watch them while they bake as baking time may vary depending on loaf size.
• If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating ❤️

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Nutrition (per serving)

Serving: 1g | Calories: 95kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 132mg | Potassium: 6mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin C: 0.001mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

Course: Appetizer, Bread, Dinner

Cuisine: French American

Diet: Vegetarian

Method: baking, Mixing