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!
Table of Contents
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:
- 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.
How To Make 1 Hour Bread
***For complete recipe instructions, see the recipe card below.
- 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.
- 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.
- The dough will be puffy but not quite doubled in size.
- 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.
- Brush with egg wash mixture to get an extra crispy crust, and bake for five more minutes.
- Slice and serve.
Easy French Bread Recipe Variations:
Use this bread as the base for these recipes:
- BBQ Chicken Braid
- French bread pizza
- French-Bread Stuffing
- French Toast
- Garlic bread
- Grilled Cheese Sloppy Joes
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.
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.
More From Easy Budget Recipes
1-Hour French Bread Recipe
Recipe Cost 2.87 Serving Cost 0.18Equipment
- 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
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
Nutrition
We recently updated the pictures to this post. Here are the originals from September 2019.
Dawn says
This is a great yeast bread recipe which is quick and easy to make!
I made one loaf into garlic cheese bread. I used:
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
3 cloves fresh garlic, finely grated or minced
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
-Mix the melted butter, finely grated garlic, and garlic salt together. Let it sit for ~ 10 minutes.
-Strain out the garlic (so it’s not too strong – unless you like it that way).
-Slice the bread into slices, place on a baking sheet with parchment paper, and slather it with the garlic butter.
-Top the bread with shredded Parmesan and mozzarella.
-Broil until the cheese is bubbly. (Watch closely because it burns easily.)
-Eat with warm marinara. YUM!!
I also recalculated the nutrition facts for 1 slice of bread based on 21 slices per loaf:
French Bread. Garlic Cheese Bread
78 calories 168 calories
1g fat. 10g fat
2 g protein. 4g protein
0.6g sugar. 0.6g sugar
14 carbs. 15 carbs
Jess Jankowski says
Wow Dawn! We love it when our readers take our recipe and make it their own. Thanks for sharing all your helpful information!
Maureen says
This bread is wonderful! I made it exactly as written. I am going to turn the second loaf into garlic bread and freeze it. I will never use another French bread recipe again, this is amazing!
Maureen says
I also meant to add, please watch the video before baking. The visuals on how the dough should look will help everyone a lot. Some of us live in more or less humid environments, and even some days are more humid than others. Baking bread by touch/visual is very important for a successful bake!
Jess Jankowski says
Maureen, thank you so much for your review and added tips! So happy you love this One Hour French Bread as much as we do!
Diean says
Bread baker for many years–saved this recipe to try in a ‘bread emergency”…so impressed. Indeed an hour start to finish, the flavor is definitely not like a typical homemade loaf. But, it was very acceptable and filled a need for a fresh loaf on short notice. Guests loved it. Thanks
Jess Jankowski says
We love how quick and easy this bread is! Glad you enjoyed it too!
Drema says
Fabulous! I can’t believe we had such great bread with our dinner. Shocked that it took so little time to prepare and bake. I cut the recipe in half so that we would only have one loaf of fresh bread. I wish I had made two! We love it. Can’t wait to send this recipe to my son. He loves to bake. Thanks so much!
Jess Jankowski says
So happy you loved it as much as we do!!!
Barb says
I have made this bread several times. It’s so easy to make and delicious. I usually cut the recipe in half because if I had 2 loaves I’d eat them both. Thanks for sharing!
Melissa says
I baked this at 375 for almost 45 minutes and it was still doughy. What did I do wrong?
Jess Jankowski says
Sounds like there may not have been enough flour in the dough when kneading it.
Carey says
Can this bread be made with a bread machine?
Jess Jankowski says
Hi Carey, we have not tested it in a bread machine yet. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Holly molina says
This recipe is perfection!! A total lifesaver! There’s nothing I would change about it. It’s so fast, so easy, very little mess, and the bread is flawless! I’m so in love!
Jess Jankowski says
Holly, thank you so much for your feedback. We are thrilled that you love it as much as we do!
Leona says
I made this French bread recipe again today. It always comes out really well. My husband and I went to a farmers market where they were selling bread that was shipped in from New York. Everyone raves about it so we purchased a loaf and we compared it to my bread today. I think this recipe was every bit as good as that. This recipe is a recipe that will be made very often.Thank you for sharing.
Jess Jankowski says
Leona, you made our day with your comment and review of our bread. Thank you so much!
Sandy Wickham says
Awesome Bread … just as described… quick and delicious
Jess Jankowski says
Sandy, so happy to hear that you love it as much as we do! Thank you for letting us know!
Kate says
I looked up this recipe when I found myself at 5pm with no bread for a dinner that really needed bread. I thought it was so delicious! After the first rise it was very very sticky and stuck to everything while trying to make the two loaves, but I managed to get it on the pan and cooked it anyways and it was still really good and a good texture. Next time I might let it knead a few more minutes in the mixer and add a little more flour to try to fix the stickiness level. But I plan to make this many more times and I’m thankful you shared this recipe!!
Jess Jankowski says
Kate, so happy it worked out for you. Definitely add a little more flour and knead it a little longer and you should be good to go!
Ann says
I love this recipe! Today I cut it in half to make smaller sandwich loaves and used mostly bread flower with some AP. The bread was moist, fluffy, and delicious!
Jess Jankowski says
Ann, we love this! Thank you so much for your review!
Susan Dippold says
As a novice at bread making, this turned out Terrific! My husband said 3 times how great it was–he even had some for breakfast this morning! Easiest and most successful bread recipe I have ever tried. Can’t wait to make again! Appreciate the reviews and suggestions to some questions.
Jess Jankowski says
Susan, this is great news! Thank you so much for sharing your review with us!
Angelie says
This looks so good! Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast?
Jess Jankowski says
Hi Angelie, yes they can be used interchangeably.
Isabelle Day says
Recipe is clear and gets the job done.
I search in desperation when I realized I ran out of my artisan bread dough and was planning on serving a tray of cheese for snacks. So I when searching. I was grateful to find this recipe.
The texture of the bread is crumbly, the crust is not “crusty”, and the flavor is disappointing. The only thing “French” about it is the shape.
Jess Jankowski says
Hi Isabelle, we are sorry it turned out crumbly. This is often a result of too much flour and not enough water. We hope you will try it again! Regarding this not being “French” we agree! Our recipe notes state, “This recipe is an Americanized version of French bread. You know, the big, squishy loaves you find at the grocery store. This bread is nothing like a baguette.”
Jensfun says
This recipe turned out beautifully. I put granulated garlic on one after egg wash. The taste is delish!
Jess Jankowski says
That sounds delicious!
Kristin says
Delicious and easy!
Jess Jankowski says
Thanks, Kristin! So happy you love it as much as we do!
Leah Burnett says
I loved the bread! My mind is furiously contemplating variations…ie onion garlic bread, sesame bread..
One question/point though…I have a high powered garlic stove that reaches temp in about 3 minutes for 375. It would be helpful to have a time for second rise since all ovens are different. Thank you for a delicious recipe.
Jess Jankowski says
Hi Lean, those variations all sound amazing! I love making it into garlic bread. Great point, that rise times may vary per location and ovens. Definitely adjust as needed.
Debbie says
What temperature should the bread be at when done? (Using a tempature probe)
Jess Jankowski says
Hi Debbie. Typically French Bread is about 190-200 degrees internally when done baking.
Gail says
This is the first time I ever made French bread and it turned out awesome. Next time, next week end when I make it again I will take a picture to show how good it turned out. My family went Ape coo coo over it. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I really appreciated it. YUMMY.Stay safe from covid and keep on baking. I love to cook, just about anything.
Jess Jankowski says
Gail this is amazing! We would love to see a picture of it. You can always tag us on Instagram @easybudgetrecipes Thank you so much for your kind words!