The BEST homemade french bread recipe made in just 90 minutes! So easy to make and comes out golden and crispy on the outside, while remaining soft and chewy on the inside.
Homemade bread is one of my favorite things to make. It can seem a bit intimidating at first, but this easy french bread recipe is a great place to start. It has a quick rising time and takes only 90 minutes from start to finish. If you’re a beginner to bread baking, make sure to check out my 3 ingredient artisan bread and my 45-minute breadsticks. Both are so simple along with my favorite dinner rolls and french bread rolls!
Easiest French Bread Recipe
If you’re looking for an easy french bread recipe, this is it! You’ll have 2 beautiful loaves in 90 minutes. The actual time you’ll be working will only be about 15 minutes, the rest of the time will be patiently waiting for the dough to rest/rise. This homemade french bread is golden and crispy on the outside, while remaining soft and slightly chewy on the inside. We love to serve it with a bowl of warm soup and the first time I made it, my husband said “this bread is SO good, where did you get it?” He thought I picked it up from our local bakery. It is just that good and really so easy to make. You’ll never want to buy store bought french bread again.
I absolutely love making bread and rolls of all kinds. There’s something so satisfying about making them in your own kitchen. The smell is unbelievable. We love to serve this homemade french bread with softened butter, honey and/or strawberry jam. So so good. Trust me when I say, this is the best french bread recipe!
How To Make Homemade French Bread
- Proof the yeast. In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until it has begin to foam.
- Mix and let rest. Place 2 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl with the salt. Stir in the yeast mixture and begin to knead by hand or using a dough hook and stand mixer. Add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour at a time until the dough is smooth but not sticky. Rub the olive oil around the dough ball and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Shape and let rise again. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide it in half. Roll one half into a rectangle. Starting from the long side, roll the dough into a cylinder. Turn both ends in and pinch the seams closed. Round the edges and place onto a baking sheet. Repeat with the second dough ball. Let rise for 30-45 minutes. Make three diagonal cuts across the top of each loaf.
- Bake in oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Brush the top of the homemade french bread with melted butter if desired. Slice and enjoy! :)
Baking Tips
- The key to the perfect consistency is to knead in flour a little at a time, until the dough becomes soft and not sticky.
- If using a bread dough hook to knead the dough, knead the last couple of minutes by hand.
- Let the dough rest a minute during the mixing process (this allows the gluten to relax).
- Let the dough rise in a warm spot by the window or on top of the stove.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and then press down with your finger tips to remove any air pockets.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough and any extra bubbles.
- Roll the dough into a loaf and then make sure to tuck the ends under and pinch all the seams together tightly to create a nice seal.
- For a crispier/shinier crust, brush on egg wash (1 egg white (whisked) with a teaspoon of water) before baking.
- For a softer and more flavorful crust, brush with melted butter right when it comes out of the oven.
Favorite Ways To Enjoy
- Top with butter, garlic herb butter, honey, cinnamon butter, jam or apple butter
- Dip in olive oil bread dip as an appetizer
- Use it to make classic bruschetta or bruschetta caprese
- Serve with all types of soup, like lasagna soup, corn chowder and hearty vegetable soup
- My family loves to make french bread pizza, stuffed french bread or garlic bread
- We also like to make spaghetti boats using leftovers of my easy spaghetti recipe.
- Make a french dip sandwich
- Once it’s a few days old, make french bread french toast, bread pudding or croutons
- Cut into cubes and serve with this cold Knorr spinach dip.
Freezer Instructions
Since this recipe makes two loaves, sometimes we freeze one of them for later. To freeze, wrap the bread tightly in foil or saran wrap (make sure it has cooled completely). Then place in a zip top bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
More Homemade Bread Recipes To Try:
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Homemade French Bread Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water , about 105°F
- 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
- 2 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 5 cups (650 g) all-purpose flour , or bread flour (add more as needed)
- 2 ½ teaspoons table salt or fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Melted salted butter , optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit 5 minutes, or until it begins to foam.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups flour and salt. Stir in the yeast mixture on medium-low speed or by hand. Knead in 1/2 cup of the remaining flour in increments until the dough is smooth but not sticky (depending on climate you could use more or less than 5 cups). Add more flour as needed.
- Rub the olive oil around the dough ball, cover the bowl with a towel and let rest 15 to 30 minutes. If you have more time, let rise up to 1 hour.
- Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and divide it in half. Set one half aside. Roll the other half into a rectangle (about 15 inches). Starting from the long side, roll the dough into a cylinder.
- Turn both ends in and pinch the seams closed. Round the edges and place onto a baking sheet. Repeat with the second dough ball. Make three diagonal cuts across the top of each loaf. Cover loaves lightly with a towel. Let rise 30 to 60 minutes (the longer the better, if you have the time).
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Bake 17 to 23 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. When you knock on it, it should sound hollow. If it's browning too fast, lightly cover with foil and lower the temperature to 375°F.
- Brush the top with melted butter, if desired. Slice and serve while warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: Bread, Dairy-Free, Reader Favorites, Vegetarian, Yeast Bread
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
My loaf was flat. What am I doing wrong? The taste is amazing though!
It’s hard to say without being there, but if it fell flat I’m guessing it didn’t have enough time to rise or that the yeast was expired. I’m glad you still enjoyed the bread :)
Went 2/3 Bread flour, 1/3 AP flour mix for total recipe weight. Fantastic bread. Dense and soft on the inside. Prefer the chewier crust myself. Butter over top the only way to go. Perfect base recipe.
Great suggestions Jim! I am so glad you loved the French bread :)
Excellent texture and flavor
Just made this recipe for the first time. OMG. Will never buy French bread again. So yummy and delicious. Had 1/2 the loaf with pasta dinner. Then made French bread French toast in the morning with the rest of the loaf. This is a wonderful find. So delicious. Yummy!!
I’m so glad you loved the recipe Russ! :)
Made this recipe and it was delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the French bread Joy!
Delicious!!!!! So easy to make. It did not brown so I did eggwash for last 5 min. Perfect taste and consistency. Will never buy french bread again…
I have been making this bread for about 4 or 5 years, I think. It is great moist bread😋😋 Thank you for this great recipe. 😊
Easy and delicious.
This was so easy, and it was amazing! The outside was crispy but not hard and the inside was so soft. the 2 loaves were gone in 20 minutes everyone loved it.
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed the french bread! It’s one of my favorites as well :)
Best bread ever!! I make it every time we have soup. My husband and I can never use the second loaf, so we give it to our neighbours and they love fresh bread.
I’ve shared with a friend and she received raves about her bread too!!
I’ve been baking bread for several years. My normal French loaf is a baguette that requires several hours, multiple steps, and 4 separate rises…but it’s so good that it’s totally worth the effort! I tried this recipe because my wife wanted regular French bread to make French toast. It’s very simple and very quick. We were definitely surprised by how good it tastes, and it made outstanding French toast. I am adding this to my list of bread recipes I use on a regular basis. Note: I followed the recipe exactly. I let the dough rise the full 60 minutes each time to develop maximum flavor. I did not brush the loaves with butter (before or after baking), and the finished bread was golden brown with a nice crust.
Great recipe !!!- changed it up a bit though but was still perfect.
Instead of 5 cups of all-purpose flour. Tweaked it by only doing 4 cups of flour – which was 2 cups of bread flour, and 2 cups of self-rising, added olive oil to mixture as well. Sprinkled herbs and spritzed olive oil on top.
Perfect, couldn’t stop eating!!! 😋
I have been trying out different bread recipes. This is my favorite!
I put sesame seeds on mine.
Easy and delicious!
This is THE bread recipe everyone needs. It is so easy I make it 1-2 times a month, sometimes more, and it never fails. If I don’t need both loaves, I freeze the other one after baking and it thaws and reheats beautifully! Or I set it aside and make French Toast the next day. Make this bread!!
This is my go to recipe for French bread! Everytime I make it I get asked for the recipe. I love how quickly it can come together and I can have fresh bread on the table for dinner!
Great bread recipe! I added 1/2 C wheat flour for 1/2 C white. Really good. Made great toast as well.
So easy, turns out every time