Have you always wondered how to make the perfect homemade French bread loaf from home, by hand, but easily? Well, that is what we are sharing with you today. I love the smell of bread baking in my oven and filling my home with that homemade comfort goodness, not matter the time of year, but especially in the cooler months. It is crazy how those bread smells put you in a good mood. You know what I mean….
Homemade breads are like the ultimate comfort food and the ultimate treat, especially in the cooler months! We also love to make bread in a crockpot as well as the classic fluffy white bread recipe. All of these are amazing and a great way to enjoy homemade bread.
My friend Faith is like a baked bread queen and pulls together some amazing creations, this being one of them. So she has shared her homemade French Bread loaf and you’re going to LOVE it. Make it once and you will be hooked.
Also, you can make this gluten-free for gluten-free French Bread Loaf, but you will want to use the best gluten-free flour HERE to be perfect! It is a wonderful treat and solution for those that have to eat gluten-free!
How to make Homemade French Bread Loaf
Ingredients for Homemade French Bread Loaf:
- 3 1/2 Cups Flour
- 1 T yeast
- 2 t sugar
- 1 t salt
- 1 1/4 Cups of hot (to the touch) tap water
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
- Preheat to 350 degrees
- Add yeast, sugar, salt and water in a bowl.
- Let rest, try not to move it around, for 5 minutes. It will look cloudy and gross, but gather the kids, you’re about to see nature at its best.
- Once the yeast “blooms”, meaning it has bubbled up to the top of the water and “grown” in size, add the olive oil
- Now you add the flour. and mix with a spatula until flakey, not totally combined.
- Time to get your hands dirty, take off the wedding rings. Mix the rest of the floor in with your hands and knead the dough until it feels soft, like Play-Dough.
- After you have kneaded the dough until soft. Cover with plastic wrap and place on top of stove. Since the stove is preheated, it will be a nice warm spot for the yeast to do it’s thing. Set a timer for 30 minutes and go enjoy a cup of tea.
- Whoa, see what we did there. You’re dough is doubled. Now give it a nice punch in the gut. This will feel really good.
- You’re going to knead the dough again, this time for about 10 minutes, or until it is soft like Play-dough again.
- Note, this dough can make two loaves. Just divide if you want. We’re a big family and chose to leave it whole for today.
- You can shape the dough out however you want. Put it in a bread pan if you like. You can even roll it out flat and then roll it up into a french style loaf. That’s too much work for me, so I left it round. I do cut a few slits in the top to help with the rise.
- Once you have your dough the shape you want, set the timer again for 30 minutes and don’t touch it.
- See what happened?
- Now, scramble up an egg and paint the surface of your bread lightly.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes. I’m at a higher altitude, so I can get by with just 20 minutes of baking time. You also don’t want to bake more than 25 for two loaves.
- Once baked, let rest for 10 or so minutes. This will make it soft and easy to cut.
- Enjoy
Feel free to print the recipe for Homemade French Bread Loaf too!
| How To Make Homemade Amish Bread | | Print |
Recipe type: Breads
Author: Cassie from The Thrifty Couple
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
You will love this homemade Amish Bread recipe. It is easy, but an amazing treat and comfort food to share with anyone you love!
Ingredients
- 3½ Cups Flour
- 1 T yeast
- 2 t sugar
- 1 t salt
- 1¼ Cups of hot (to the touch) tap water
- ¼ c olive oil
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
Instructions
- Preheat to 350 degrees
- Mix yeast, sugar, salt and water in a bowl.
- Let rest, try not to move it around, for 5 minutes. It will look cloudy and gross, but gather the kids, you're about to see nature at its best.
- Once the yeast "blooms", meaning it has bubbled up to the top of the water and "grown" in size, add the olive oil (not pictured in pic 1, sorry)
- Now you add the flour. and mix with a spatula until flakey, not totally combined.
- Time to get your hands dirty, take off the wedding rings. Mix the rest of the floor in with your hands and knead the dough until it feels soft, like Play-Dough.
- After you have kneaded the dough until soft. Cover with plastic wrap and place on top of stove. Since the stove is preheated, it will be a nice warm spot for the yeast to do it's thing. Set a timer for 30 minutes and go enjoy a cup of tea.
- Whoa, see what we did there. You're dough is doubled. Now give it a nice punch in the gut. This will feel really good.
- You're going to knead the dough again, this time for about 10 minutes, or until it is soft like Play-dough again.
- Note, this dough can make two loaves. Just divide if you want. We're a big family and chose to leave it whole for today.
- You can shape the dough out however you want. Put it in a bread pan if you like. You can even roll it out flat and then roll it up into a french style loaf. That's too much work for me, so I left it round. I do cut a few slits in the top to help with the rise.
- Once you have your dough the shape you want, set the timer again for 30 minutes and don't touch it.
- See what happened
- Now, scramble up an egg and paint the surface of your bread lightly.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes. I'm at a higher altitude, so I can get by with just 20 minutes of baking time. You also don't want to bake more than 25 for two loaves.
- Once baked, let rest for 10 or so minutes. This will make it soft and easy to cut.
- Enjoy
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Cindy
Hi Cassie.
Will you please advise what the internal temperature is best for the baked loaf? Jill from onegoodthingbyJillee.com posted 200 degrees sandwich bread. Is your French loaf the same? I too live in a high altitude town in Colorado. I was searching for the comments section for this posting to find out if other readers had any suggestions; but there is no comment section. I’m really looking forward to preparing this loaf!!
Thanks so much!
Cindy
Nikole
Hello,
My dough seemed a little tough during the first kneading. Im thinking a smidge too much flour? Should I just add a bit more water and continue kneading? the dough ball is currently in it’s first rising, and my dough ball doesnt look as smooth as the one you have pictured. Any advice for future batches? Im just going to see this batch through and see how it tastes.
thanks
Nikole
Marie Marceau
Hi,
Thanks for your recipe.
You are saying : 1/4 c of Olive oil. Is the small c, the same as the capital C, meaning cup here? It seems like a lot of oil for baking bread… I am missing something?
Gina
My dough will not rise what am I doing wrong I followed all the directions
Cassie
How old is the yeast?
Ilene Pipes
Made this for last night to go with Pasta very good and easy. May next time put some spices are even parmesan cheese.
Heather
Hi! On the second rise, do you cover the load or keep it uncovered? Thanks!