I love fresh bread hot from the oven. However until I got this recipe from my friend Kim, I rarely made homemade bread because it just took too long. I didn't have the patience to wait for hours while it raised. This Quick French Bread recipe takes just a little over an hour from start to finish! An hour! I have an hour!
The ingredients are basic and simple too. Here they are:
- 2 1/2 Cups Warm Water
- 2 T. Yeast
- 2 T. Sugar
- 1 t. Salt
- 3 T. Oil
- 5 1/2 -6 Cups Flour
First: Add yeast and then sprinkle the sugar over the 2 1/2 cups of water. Let it sit for about five minutes until you see the yeast get all bubbly on top.
Next: Stir in the salt, oil, and flour.
Then: Knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth and pulls away from the bowl like this...
Next: Stir in the salt, oil, and flour.
Then: Knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth and pulls away from the bowl like this...
Then cover your bowl with a warm wet towel and let the dough sit for about 15 minutes.**Update: Tip - put a bowl of water in your microwave and turn your microwave on for two minutes. Then take the bowl of water out and set your bowl of bread dough in the warm microwave for the 15 minutes. This moist, warm envirmonment makes the bread rise a lot faster.
After 15 minutes the bread dough looks like this!
Next, divide the dough into two long loaves (rolling like a jelly roll and tucking in the ends). Place both loaves side by side on a greased cookie sheet. Then take a knife and slash the tops of each loaf diagonally. Allow the loaves to sit for a few minutes while you preheat your oven to 375. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
Yum! It's soft in the middle and slightly crunchy on the outside.
{...and in real life it turned out a lot more brown than it shows in the picture below.}
**Optional: For an extra cruchy crust, mix together one egg white with 1 T. cold water and brush on cooked bread and cook for another 3 minutes.
*This would also make a great neighbor gift if you wrapped it up all nice and warm and included the recipe with it, written on a cute tag.
61 comments:
I tried making this and the dough never rose... what type of flour do you use?
Cassie, it sounds like your water may have been too hot. You want it between 100-110*F. For an easy way to check, the water should feel like a warm bath when you test it against your wrist.
Do you not have to knead this dough?
Faemystique, I typically need the dough for about a minute or two.
I made this tonight! After following your instructions (although I really only kneaded with my spoon . . . poke, poke, poke), I increased the temp to 425° and tossed some ice cubes into the bottom of my oven to create steam (ala Artisan Bread in 5 min a Day). Verdict: YUM! I totally could have kept it in longer or maybe increased the time, but the bread was wonderful!! Thank you! I'm always looking for a good, quick bread recipe!
Okay, I meant Increased the Temp!! :)
So I was wondering which yeast that you used, active or instant? It seems like it would be active since it is activated with the water, but I wanted to double check.
Jennie, I use Red Star Active Dry Yeast. It works great every time. I usually buy the 2 pound pack of it at Costco for around four dollars and it lasts forever in the freezer. Hope that helps!
This is a great recipe!
I succeeded using whole wheat flour by doing the following:
adding 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten, and letting the Bosch knead it to develop gluten for about 8 minutes. I took the temp of my water (made sure it was at 110) and also took the temp of the inside of the bread. My regular bread recipe says it isn't done until the middle of the inside reaches 200, and that was perfect for this bread as well.
I also would add another tsp of salt next time, that is just personal preference.
What a delight to find this recipe about an hour before I was going to serve lasagna, wishing hubby could pick up some french bread on his way home, but he didn't have time. It really was an hour long deal! And it is beautiful bread! The dough came away from the sides of the Bosch clean while kneading, but was still sticky to the touch. I was taught that was the perfect consistency, and it worked really well with this recipe.
Thank you!!
My dough didn't rise at all either. Any tips?
I love this recipe. It worked great for me. I use have white whole wheat and half unbleached white flour and it turned out great. I am making the recipe again today:)
I LOVE this recipe!!! I found you through pinterest, and am so grateful. One question. What happens when you use bread flour? I'm new to bread making so I have no idea how the flours vary recipes. How about wheat flour? Answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Your blog is adorable.
Hi Robin! I made this last night and it was SO good! Who knew making your own could be so easy. My husband was super impressed. I'll never buy store bought again. Thanks for sharing!
I'm going to try this recipe tonight- looking forward to it! Another tip if you don't want to run your microwave that way is to put it in your oven (off) with the light on- the light keeps it warm.
Hi, I made this today and it turned out beautifully! I halved the recipe and now I'm wishing I didn't. It remained soft and fluffy even after being cut and left out for a couple hours. Demolished already! Thanks so much for this fantastic recipe - will definitely be a kitchen staple from now on!
saw this on pinterest. looks great. will definitely try. New fan @ Feed Your Soul
This bread was amazing!! Thank you so much. What happens when use butter instead of oil, will it have a little more flavor? But yummy... had it for breakfast with apple butter.
Quickly, you mean tablespoon for capital T right? Teaspoon lowercase t? Newbie and not used to it lol
Yes, capital T stands for tablespoon and lowercase t stands for teaspoon. :) Thanks for asking!
I just tried your recipe and it tastes really good! My husband said it was a little dense so the second time around I let it rise for 30 minutes first, kneaded for 2 minutes, then 30 minutes again and got a lot higher breads. The second time around I also made rolls from half of the dough. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
I just finished making this and it was really great! The bottom crust was unbelievable, so next time I will definitely roll it out wider to take advantage of that great flavor and texture.
This did take me more than an hour, mostly because my dough didn't rise like your pictures. Also, it was much denser than I was hoping for and the inside remained a little too chewy...like I couldn't be certain it was cooked all the way through and I let it cook for a while! Any tips for that?
Thanks! Oh, and I found you through Pinterest. =)
Am I able to use instant dry yeast? I can't wait to try this recipe. I am just getting into baking my own breads, as store-bought breads are so full of junk! Thank you!!!
PHENOMENAL RECIPE!!! Thank you! I post your link on my facebook page with photo :) Loved Loved Loved the results!
I loved making this, and am going to try again soon. My bread rose great but it tasted really yeasty and smelled very yeasty, I used the dry quick rise instant yeast...should I be using less with this one?
This may sound crazy do you use veggie oil? New to this hole thing an wanted to try this bread. Thanks
Do I use bread or all-purpose flour?
This may be one of my new favorite bread recipes! Thanks for sharing. I linked to you from my blog:
http://lizspinspiration.blogspot.com/2012/10/pin-144.html
I just made this and it turned out great!! I'm so excited I have a simple way to make fresh bread quickly! Thank you for posting this!
I made this for dinner today with homemade gumbo..and it was a success!! It was the perfect pair..:)...its quick and easy and sooooo yummy! Thanks for sharing!!
Just made this tonight for homemade roast beef sandwiches! The bread was super soft - almost too much so for a sandwich bread, and a bit dense on the inside, but it tasted sooo good and really was amazing for a one-hour bread. I will definitely keep this in my repertoire of quick breads! Think dipped in rosemary olive oil instead...mmmmm.
Next time I think I will add a bit more flour as I really wasn't able to get a consistency that pulled from the sides of the bowl, and it was really sticky even after letting it rise that I had to add quite a bit more flour to keep it from glooping onto my hands. All in all, though, a really nice recipe. Thanks!
Hey Robin,
I tried your recipe yest...delicious... I did a little boo boo...but it still turned out nice ;) Loved it... winner in my house =)
I try new recipes and blog about them... so I have your recipe and blog linked to my blog http://lifescribblesovercoffee.blogspot.com/2012/12/french-loaf.html
Thanks for sharing your recipe
Shraddha Patel
Also, I would had a touch bit more salt. And in answer to the kneading question, you only have to knead this dough initially as she states in the recipe.
One more thing, I highly suggest using an egg and teaspoon of cold water to wash over the top of the loaves to make a crunchy crust.
This was amazing! I used the ice cube method and brushed the crust with butter after taking them out of the oven. We have already ate one loaf and it's only been out of the oven about 30 minutes! My dad made fresh bread weekly but it was a very involved process. I don't have a dough mixer so I'm glad this was a minimal-knead dough. Thank you!
This was easy, inexpensive, and relatively fast! I've never made my own loafs of bread before, but the ease of this recipe was very appealing, and it turned out perfectly. My loaves are soft and yummy on the inside with a slightly chewy crust. I tried the rise in the microwave method for the first time, and I will use that again. It works like a charm! Thank you so much for this great recipe!
Excellent recipe and idea. We shaped ours into buns and they were AWESOME as pulled pork sandwiches. Soft, but not "wonder bready and airy". They are much better if you bake them, take them out, brush with a little soft butter and put them back in the oven for 5 or 6 minutes. Beautifully browned. With regard to the rising process... put a 9x13 pan on the lowest rack in your oven. fill it with boiling water from the tea kettle. DO NOT fill and move the pan to the oven. Close oven and allow to warm up. Put your bread in to rise. You can leave the water in while it bakes too. Only remove when completely cooled.
Hi,
This was an awesome receipe. My family loved the bread. I added a honey butter glaze and we also spread mango jelly on it. It was delicious. I made two traditional loafs and the third one I made inside a bunt pan. It looked awesome shaped in a bunt pan.
We made this and to us it was too "yeasty" tasting, so cut it to 1 TBS. Excellent as French, normal loaves, and made rolls also. Now this is our go to recipe for anything we need... Thanks much.
Would it be possible to halve this recipe?
Yay! What a winner recipe, and so easy! I made my dough in the morning but wanted warm bread with dinner so let it rise for about 4 hours, and it came out great :)
This recipe is sooo great!! It really only took an hour and turned out perfectly. I made sure my water was within the 100-110 degree range, used my Kitchen Aid dough hook just until the bread came away from the bowl, less than two minutes, and cooked it for 30 minutes at 375. I live at 5,000' elevation so most times breads and cakes sink unless I adjust the recipe but I followed the exact recipe and it was perfect. Thanks so much for posting!!!
I've never made bread before ....Do you mix the water and yeast together first and then add the sugar with out stirring? I'm letting the dough rise as I type, but it never pulled away from the bowl...??
Thanks for the great recipe! I made it tonight to go with a big pot of soup and it was so good and easy! My family was surprised because I don't have very good luck with bread. Tip for high altitude: I live at 6800 feet and had to add almost a full extra cup of flour. Thanks again!
This was fabulous!! Thanks for that recipe!!!
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH. My hat is definetly OFF TO YOU !!!
So far I have made approx. 12 loaves and all were great. Today however I had a little faux pas. While adding the last Tbsp. of oil, it splashed adding about 2 more, we skimmed off what we could, added more flour ( I use bread flour, it's not as dense a bread) and just kept going.
It raised fantastic baked fantastic AND took it out not quite cool yet BUT 1/2 loaf GONE already. Saving the rest for red beans and rice tonight.
THANK YOU AGAIN and AGAIN,
John
We have loved this bread for a year or so now. We use freshly ground soft white wheat to make it. We like to play around with the recipe since it is so versatile. Our favorite so far is pizza bread. We make the dough according to instructions then when we roll it out we make a layer of (turkey)pepperoni and mozzarella cheese, roll it into the loaf making sure no toppings are peaking out then bake per recipe. We serve it warm with marinara on the side and it is super yummy!!
Great recipe! This was my first time making bread, so easy and delicious! Thanks!
Don't forget that yeast is a living thing! If your water is too hot it'll kill the yeast, and when you mix the sugar in with the water it gives the yeast something to eat, that's why it rises. My Mom always told me to NEVER use metal with yeast, plastic or wood only. And make sure it's fully dissolved, then it'll rise really well.
So I have made this recipe several tines now, but I would recommend using melted butter in place of he oil, doubling up on the sugar and salt, and Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs advise about the water to steam the bread makes it to die for! I have also used this recipe to make dinner rolls which became sliders the next day...endless possibilities... amazing recipe, great job!!!
If you're having problems with your bad being too dense, pour the flour into your measuring cup and scrape excess off the top instead of scooping the flour. You get much more flour if you scoop and it makes the bread dense. This is an amazing recipe! It's my go to bread recipe because it's so quick and yummy
I have arm and shoulder problems. Anyway I can make this in a bread machine ?? Mshoss@comcast.net thanks !!
This is delicious! I made two loaves as suggested but could have easily made three! Thank you for a great recipe! Happy Thanksgiving!
This bread is SO great! Thank you for posting-- I reposted on my blog!
We tried this yesterday and it was amazing!!! It looked like I bought from the bakery. After reading the reviews about the bread being to dense I let it rise twice before shaping it into the loaves. It was perfect!
For those that said you bread came out dense let it rise once punch it down in the bowl and then let it rise again before shaping it into loaves. This get more air into the dough giving it a lighter texture.
Sooooo good and easy ;)
I made it last night and it was amazing! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Can u use fast acting yeast?
Can u use fast acting yeast?
My dough rose but was too sticky I tried adding flour but my loaves became one big blob. I seem to always have this happen when I make bread I follow thev recipes but I never seem to have enough flour and I'm always afraid to add too much.
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