Published Date: October 23, 2020 | Last Updated: March 17, 2023
Attention bread lovers:
Did you know that you can make really delicious, soft and chewy French bread from home? And it’s way better than from a grocery store bakery! I gave the full recipe demo on my Insta-stories .😊
Attention bread lovers:
Did you know that you can make really delicious, soft and chewy French bread from home? And it’s way better than from a grocery store bakery! I gave the full recipe demo on my Insta-stories .😊
Recipe from my sister, @erinhead.
Soft and Chewy French Bread
If you're anything like me... the hardest part of making this bread will be trying not to eat the entire loaf in one sitting!
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Servings: 2 loaves
Ingredients
- 4 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 cups warm water
- 1/4 cup` sugar
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 T salt
- 4-5 cups flour (I prefer to use Lehi Roller Mills Turkey Flour)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with the sugar. Wait 5-10 minutes.
- Add oil, and salt. Mix well. Add flour one cup at a time, kneading well in between. Knead until smooth and elastic but don’t add too much flour so the dough becomes dry.
- Cover the dough with a dish towel and let rise until doubled in size, about one hour.
- Punch dough down and cover to rise again for 30 minutes.
- Remove dough from bowl and put onto countertop lightly dusted with flour. Separate dough in half and gently roll each half into a long skinny loaf. Lay carefully onto French bread loaf pan, or onto a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. With a sharp knife, cut 3-4 diagonal skits into the top of each dough loaf.
- Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise a 3rd time, for 25 minutes. Then lightly brush with a mixture of egg white and 1 teaspoon water.
- Bake at 375° F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
I’ve made several different French bread recipes. I always seem to have flat bread. I do the appropriate risings and follow all directions. I think someone once told me it’s was because I didn’t have enough flour. I don’t think it’s the yeast, I just bought this yeast. I do store my yeast in the freezer, but I never h ave problems with baking nice fluffy rolls. Any suggestions ?
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Tami, when you dissolve the yeast in water, does it get foamy? If so, the yeast is fine but if not it’s not dissolving properly. Also, it could just come down to the rise time. Maybe the yeast is being stubborn and you need to let it rise a little longer.
Amber,
Have you ever tried freezing your french bread? Wondering if I could make it ahead of time!
Hi Ally, you can absolutely bake this, let it cool, and stick in the freezer. To heat it up again run the bread under a splash of hot water and place in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Can you use any oil or just avocado?
My preference is avocado oil, but melted coconut oil or vegetable oil will work too.
Delicious! It’s like a foot long dinner roll is what my guys said! 😄 Soft and delicious!
I’m so glad that you like it! Thank you for coming back to tell me!
So easy and made perfect loaves for garlic bread!
This is my go to recipe for French bread every time. I use it almost weekly! Thank you for sharing it with us!
I’m a novice at bread making and was wondering if someone might be able to help me. This bread was delicious but it was so soft after raising and kneading that I couldn’t form a loaf, it was just flat. My first thought was that my yeast was no longer good but checked the expiration date, it was good. I did a test to make sure it would bubble after disolving it in warm water, it worked great. I was wondering if using a metal pan that might not be warm enuf would cause the yeast to not work. My next thought was that I hadn’t kneaded it long enuf or didn’t add enuf flour. The dough was elastic and I thought I’d finally figured it out but was so soft, it just fell flat. Love the bread, tho. Any suggestions??
To me that sounds like it was overprooved. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the ambient temperature you may not need to let is rise for as long as the recipe says! You may not have used enough flour to begin with either. After kneading you may need to add more flour. The dough should be tacky but not overly soft and sticky. I like to check at various intervals throughout the kneading process to check on the texture and add more flour as needed. Hope that helps!
This is our FAVORITE French bread!! I made it last week to go with soup and my whole family was freaking out how good it was. And it’s so easy! Obsessed.
Thanks Sydney!
Best French bread recipe I’ve tried. Delish
Thank you so much Sadie I am so glad that you love this recipe!
I find that I use more flour than called for, but wow, this is a foolproof recipe. Seriously. It creates a nice and airy loaf that is perfect for just eating or for toasting (although it can fall apart if you aren’t careful and make thin slices like I do). Makes two huge loaves. I’ve tried a lot of recipes and this is a keeper. If I forget to watch the rise, the bread doesn’t care. Turns out just fine. I love that it isn’t dense like a lot of loaves can turn into if you aren’t a perfect baker. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much Angela, I’m so glad that you love this recipe!