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1-Hour Homemade French Bread Recipe

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Experience the magic of homemade bread in just one hour with this game-changing French Bread recipe. It is so easy that it always comes out perfect, even if it is your first time making yeast bread.

It makes two large loaves for about $2.87. Each loaf serves eight people each and will cost around 18¢ per serving! 

Alices of 1 hour bread on a cutting board and 1 slice is buttered.

What You’ll Love About This French Bread Recipe

  • Versatility: This is a great recipe because the bread can be enjoyed plain, used to make Garlic Bread, served as a side dish to most entrees, dipped in olive oil, made into sandwiches, or toasted for French toast.
  • Quick Rise Times: Both rises only take 15 minutes, making this a relatively fast recipe for homemade fresh bread. This will quickly become your go-to bread recipe. Your family and friends will ask you to make this chewy French bread again and again. 
  • Simple Ingredients: The recipe uses basic pantry staples, making it accessible for most home bakers. You may find that you have most of these basic ingredients on hand. 
  • Easy To Work With: Forming the dough into two long loaves is simple and doesn’t require intricate techniques or a bread machine.

1-Hour French Bread Ingredients & Estimated Cost:

Recipe Cost: $2.87
Per Serving: $0.18
  • 2 cups warm water – $0.00
  • 2 Tablespoons instant yeast – $0.96
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar – $0.06
  • 2 teaspoons salt – $0.02
  • 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil – $0.09
  • 5 ½ – 6 cups flour – $1.62
  • 1 egg white – $0.12

The cost of the recipe is calculated based on the amounts needed. To learn more about how we price our recipes, check out Budget Recipes Explained. The pricing for this recipe was updated in February 2024.

All of the ingredients needed to make this recipe.

How To Make 1 Hour Bread

***For complete recipe instructions, see the recipe card below.

  1. Whisk warm water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let it froth for 5-10 minutes before mixing it in the salt, oil, and flour. 
  2. Knead in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth and the bread dough does not stick to the sides of the bowl. Cover and rise for 15 minutes in a warm place.
  3. The dough will be puffy but not quite doubled in size. 
  4. Divide dough into two loaves on a baking sheet, cut diagonal slits across the top of the dough, and let the dough rise again before baking for 30 minutes.
  5. Brush with egg wash mixture to get an extra crispy crust, and bake for five more minutes.
  6. Slice and serve. 
A picture collage showing how to make this recipe.

Easy French Bread Recipe Variations:

 Use this bread as the base for these recipes:

How Long Does French Bread Last:

  • Serve: Leftovers can be wrapped in plastic or placed in a Ziploc bag and kept at room temperature for 2-3 days. 
  • Store: Wrap the bread in plastic wrap and store it for up to 5 days. (I like slicing the bread for pizza or garlic bread when it’s cold and slightly stiff. It’s easier to cut this way.)
  • Freeze: Wrap the bread in plastic wrap and then in foil before putting it in the freezer. It will keep for up to three months before getting freezer burn.

Quick French Bread Recipe FAQs

Why is it called French bread?

French bread, a long, crusty loaf known in France as a baguette, which means “a stick, ” is the top choice in French bakeries. 

NOTE: 

  • This recipe is an Americanized version of French bread. You know, the big, squishy French Bread loaves you find at the grocery store. This bread is nothing like a crusty baguette.

How do you make French bread crusty again?

You can try to put water on the loaf of bread and then wrap it in foil before putting it in a cold oven. Next, heat the oven to 300 degrees and heat the bread for 10-12 minutes. Then, unwrap the bread and cook it for 4-5 minutes. That’s it! You should now be able to enjoy that fantastic crusty bread once again!

Can I skip the egg wash?

Yes, you can skip this step. The egg wash helps the crust get a little extra crispy, but it is still delicious without this step. 

Can you freeze French bread?

Yes! This is one of our favorite things about this recipe. The bread will stay fresh in the freezer for up to three months. 

How to reheat French Bread?

When ready to use, remove it from the freezer and set it on the counter to defrost. Then, when ready, warm it in 30-second intervals in the microwave.

A loaf of French bread cut into slices.

Get Kids Involved With Making One Hour French Bread

Ages 2-3: Let your tiny sous-chef add the ingredients and mix them in the stand mixer for some messy, doughy fun! They’ll love watching the ingredients form into a soft dough ball. 

Ages 4-5: Time to unleash their inner scientist! They can help measure the water and yeast (with grown-up supervision) and add the dry ingredients to the mixer. 

Ages 6-8: Level up their skills! They can help measure, combine, and knead all the ingredients. Let them set the timer for the dough to rise (a great exercise in patience!) and, with proper knife safety guidance, teach them to score the dough before the second rise.

Ages 9-11: Prepare to be impressed! With your gentle guidance, they can follow a recipe from start to finish. Encourage them to read the recipe twice beforehand for a sense of accomplishment. 

Ages 12+: Step back and watch your little chef work their magic! Let them handle the entire recipe, from gathering ingredients to baking delicious golden loaves. You can do the happy dance in the corner knowing you’ve raised a master baker!

Remember, baking is about creating memories together, so have fun, make a mess, and enjoy the delicious reward!

Homemade French Bread Budget Tips

This French Bread freezes well, so we love freezing one of the loaves to always have one on hand. We also love using the leftover bread to make other recipes, such as croutons, breadcrumbs, French toast, etc. Making homemade bread rather than buying it at the grocery store trims some of the grocery budget.

A piece of one hour bread with butter on it.

More From Easy Budget Recipes

1-Hour French Bread Recipe

Recipe Cost 2.87
Serving Cost 0.18
Author Jess Jankowski
Course Bread, Side Dish
Cuisine American, French
This French Bread recipe takes just one hour from start to finish. It makes 2 large loaves that serve 8 people each and will cost just 0.18¢ per serving! 
Servings: 16 people
Prep Time 9 minutes
Cook Time 28 minutes
Total Time 1 hour


Equipment

  • stand mixer
  • standard-size baking sheet
  • parchment paper or silicone baking mat

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups warm water 90-100 degrees
  • 2 Tablespoons instant yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 5 ½ – 6 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 large egg white mixed with 1 Tablespoon water optional
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
  • First, add the water, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Whisk the mixture together and let it sit for 3 minutes, or until it’s bubbly and frothy.
  • Next, add in the oil, salt, and 5 ½ cups of flour.
  • Attach a dough hook and mix on low until the dough comes together.
  • Increase the speed to medium-high and knead. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it doesn’t, add more flour, 2 Tablespoons at a time, until it does.
  • Then, knead the dough for 2 minutes on medium-high.
  • Remove the dough hook and cover the work bowl with a warm damp towel. Let the dough rise for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the towel and punch the dough down.
  • Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and shape each piece into a long, thick dough that measures 16-17 inches long.
  • Place the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, and cut 5-6 slits diagonally on each loaf.
  • Move the oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 375 degrees.
  • Let the dough rise for a second time while the ​oven preheats.
  • As soon as the oven is done preheating, pop the pan into the oven (don’t let the dough sit out too long because it will over-proof). Bake for 23-25 minutes.
  • Then, remove the bread from the oven and brush the loaves with 1 egg white mixed with 1 Tablespoon of water.
  • Bake for another 3-5 minutes.
  • Move the pan to a wire rack and cool the bread for 5 minutes before slicing and serving!

Video

Notes

This dough rises super fast! Do not let it rise longer than 15 minutes on the first rise, and no longer than it takes for your oven to preheat on the second rise! If you let the dough rise for too long, then it will over-proof! 

Nutrition

Serving: 1large slice | Calories: 187kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 297mg | Potassium: 54mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin C: 0.001mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 2mg
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We recently updated the pictures to this post. Here are the originals from September 2019.

Finished loaves of bread with text overlay for Pinterest.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michelle says

    5 stars
    Made for the first time last night – AMAZING! My hubby and daughter both thought it was great. This is so easy and makes the house smell sooo good on a cold MN winter night. This will definitely become a staple. Thank you so much for sharing!!

    Reply

  2. Denise Laws says

    5 stars
    Tried a different recipe yesterday it was a flop. Did this one this morning. Turned out perfectly. Thank you for sharing it.

    Reply

  11. Tracy says

    5 stars
    I love your new website! It’s perfect for busy people who still want to provide homemade, budget-friendly meals to their family, make the dinner process an inclusive one and, best of all, have time to eat dinner together as a family! What could be better than that?

    Reply

  14. Tonje says

    5 stars
    One of the reasons why I shy away from making bread is how long the process takes. This recipe makes me want to give it a go again! It looks super easy, and I love the budget breakdown. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Laura Gonzales says

      In the written dire tion it says 2 1/2 cups water but in the recipe directions it says 2 cups. I made this recipe and it didn’t come out quite right. I’m guessing it needed the extra 1/2 cup of water?

      Reply

      • Jess Jankowski says

        Hi Laura, we apologize for the confusion. Thank you for catching the typo in the written directions. We have corrected it to read 2 cups of water which is the correct amount for this recipe. We hope you will try the recipe again using 2 cups of water and enjoy this delicious recipe!

        Reply

  18. georgann says

    The recipe states after the egg wash to bake another 3-55 minutes. Is that supposed to be 3-5? Is it just to brown the top or does it need another hour to truly bake?

    Reply
4.92 from 89 votes

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