Easy French Bread

This super easy French bread is a family favorite for sure!

It may look like this easy French bread takes a long time, but most of it is rising time.. haha!

easy French bread

Easy French Bread

Super easy recipe, makes perfect French bread every single time!!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Rise time 2 hours
Course Breads

Equipment

  • 1 mixing bow
  • 1 baking sheet

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Tbsp active dry yeast (or one of the little packets, just dump the whole thing in)
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 cups hot water
  • 1 Tbsp salt (this doesn't have to be exact, can use a bit less, I usually just eyeball it lol)
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (can use veggie oil or some other oil as well) - also need a bit extra for rising bowl
  • 5 cups flour (I use bread flour, but you don't have to) - sometimes 5 cups seems like too much and I end up with closer to 4.5

Instructions
 

  • In the mixing bowl, put the yeast, sugar, and water. Let it sit until the yeast bubbles, about 5-10 minutes.
  • Add the 2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and 2 cups of flour. Mix together. This can be done using a stand mixer with a dough hook, or just by hand.
  • Continue adding flour and mixing until the dough doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl anymore. This is usually around the 4 cups or so mark.
  • Cover a surface with flour - countertop, cutting board, bread bowl, etc. - and dump the dough onto it. Knead by hand for about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed if the dough is too sticky.
  • Once the bread is nice and smooth, form a ball.
  • Coat the mixing bowl with a very small amount of the olive oil - this will help ensure the bread doesn't stick to the bowl as it rises. Put the ball of bread in the bowl, cover with a towel, and place somewhere warm.
  • Let the dough rise. It should at least double in size. This could take an hour, it could take two hours.
  • Once it's doubled in size, punch it down, then dump it out of the bowl back onto the floured surface. Knead any air bubbles out, then decide how many loaves you'd like. You can do one big one, two medium ones (perfect for garlic bread later), four loaves (perfect for subs/hoagies), or some big, some little.
  • Pull the dough apart into the number of loaves you're making. For each one, knead a bit again and flatten the dough some into a thick rectangle. Then roll it to make your loaf. Put the seam side down on your baking sheet (I use parchment paper mostly, but I have done it without and it's just fine). Do this for all your loaves.
  • Slice gashes into each loaf, then cover with a towel and let rise again. They should almost double again, usually takes about 45 minutes or so.
  • Once they're done with second rise, preheat oven to 375F.
  • Put the baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. If you bake on the 30 minute end of the time, the outer crust will be more crunchy.
  • Remove from oven and enjoy hot, or let cool and eat later. Use a serrated bread knife to cut them.

Notes

This bread freezes really well, so if you don't want to be baking bread constantly, make a double or triple batch and freeze a bunch!
When kneading the dough, putting flour on your hands first can help it stick to them less. 

Check out our quick videos of the stages of making this bread 🙂