Quick French Bread Recipe (2024)

Fresh, crusty French bread is so wonderful and when you make this Quick French bread Recipe you'll see just how easy it is to enjoy this treat more often!

( If I don't spend half a day or refrigerate the dough to rise overnight, then I consider it to be a quick recipe 🙂 )

In this latest batch (as shown here) I did a one hour rise before shaping the baguettes, then another half hour rise before baking. The flavor was very good, as always...and a very close second in flavor to my regular french bread!

When it comes to bread making, I almost always use the stand mixer but mixing by hand in a large bowl works equally well.

So, for this recipe you will need water, active dry yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil and bread flour.

How To Make French Bread

1. In your stand mixer bowl, add yeast and sugar to warm water (110 degrees F/43 degrees C) and allow the yeast to activate for 10 minutes.
2. When you come back to the yeast, it should be frothy. If it is not, the yeast is no longer good and/or your water temperature was either too low or too high.
3. Add salt, olive oil, and the remaining three cups of bread flour and mix to combine, stirring by hand or mixing at medium speed for about 2 minutes.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for 3 minutes, allow the dough to rest for about 5 minutes, then continue to knead an additional 4-5 minutes. The dough should slap against the sides of the mixing bowl when using a stand mixer, and be smooth and elastic when done.
5. Coat a large bowl with olive oil and leave a small pool of the oil at the bottom of the bowl to coat the dough with.
6. Roll the dough ball through the oil when placing it into the bowl and then cover it with oiled plastic or a damp towel.
7. Allow the dough to rise for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
8. Punch down the dough less than halfway, and divide into equal portions for either two loaves or the four baguettes shown here.
9. Shape dough into long slender loaves or baguettes and place onto a greased and cornmeal coated baking sheet. You can use scissors to cut or a knife to slice diagonally to score the tops of the loaves, then cover with a damp towel and allow to rise again (this is where I cut the second rise in half, even though I would usually allow for the full hour) for an hour, or until doubled in size.
10. Bake your french bread loaves or baguettes at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the internal temperature is 205 degrees F (96 degrees C).
11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.
12. Cool completely before storing.
13. Enjoy!

*For an extra crunchy crust, use a spray bottle to spritz the loaves intermittently during the baking time.

Try this great French Bread with my Chicken Spaghetti with Rotel

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