Perfectly crusty on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, this 5-Ingredient Homemade French Bread is just waiting for a smear of butter. And with only five ingredients, it’s surprisingly simple to make and so delicious to eat!
Practically Perfect
This bread is like the Mary Poppins of bread–practically perfect in every way. With a hard, crusty outside and a light, fluffy inside, my 5-Ingredient Homemade French Bread is simple, and far easier to make than you’d think. And so versatile. Slice it up to serve with a weekday meal or rip off a hunk to pair with some cheese for a delicious afternoon snack. And if it gets a little stale, it makes beautiful French toast! See? Practically perfect!
Give Yeast Time and Warmth!
French bread is a thing of simple beauty. Flour, salt, water, sugar and yeast. That’s it! Speaking of, do you find baking with yeast a little intimidating? Let’s fix that right now! Yeast is a living organism. In a warm, moist environment, active dry yeast feeds on sugar, producing carbon dioxide bubbles that make your bread rise. That’s what gives your French bread that light, fluffy inside. Cool, right?
A few important tips to baking with yeast. First, be sure to store yeast in a cool dry place. Second, when baking, give it adequate warmth and time to rise. Like, on a warm counter. The top of your fridge is a great place, too!
What Do I Need to Make Homemade French Bread?
(see recipe card for measurements and details)
- Active dry yeast
- Granulated sugar
- Warm water
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Baking sheet
How to Make 5-Ingredient Homemade French Bread
- Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, one cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough.
- Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk ‐ about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. Punch down dough.
- Turn out on a floured board and shape into 2 French-style loaves. Place on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 400 for 30‐35 minutes, or until well‐browned and hollow sounding when they are tapped. Enjoy!
Homemade Breads
I also love a good quick bread! Slightly sweet, dense and incredibly moist, this truly is the Perfect Pumpkin Bread. Served warm with a pat of butter, it’s a fall treat you’ll make again and again. Moist banana bread swirled with everyone’s favorite Nutella spread. I can’t think of a better way to start the day than this Nutella Swirled Banana Bread! This Flourless Chocolate Banana Bread is so fudgy and perfectly tender that you’d never believe it is made without any flour, oil, butter or granulated sugar in it. Unbelievably delicious!
More of the Best Bread, Biscuit and Roll Recipes
The bread makes the meal! And my collection of The Best Bread, Biscuit and Roll Recipes is filled with easy, delicious biscuits, breads, cornbreads, and yeast rolls to make any dinner more hearty and satisfying!
I hope you love this 5-Ingredient Homemade French Bread as much as we do! When you make it, be sure to snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @thebakermama so I can see! I just love seeing how inspired and creative y’all get with the ideas I share. Enjoy!
xoxo,
5-Ingredient Homemade French Bread
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Perfectly crusty on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, this Homemade French Bread is just waiting for a smear of butter. And with only five ingredients, it’s surprisingly simple to make and so delicious to eat!
Ingredients
- 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 5‐6 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, one cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough.
- Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk ‐ about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Heat the oven to 400°F. Punch down dough.
- Turn out on a floured board and shape into 2 French-style loaves. Place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 30‐35 minutes, or until well‐browned and hollow sounding when they are tapped.
I haven’t made bread before. How long do you let the sugar and yeast “proof” in the water?
Hi, Jen! Great question. It’s really only about 5 minutes or so, usually as long as it takes you to finish the next steps. You’ll start to see bubbles form in the mixture as the yeast begins to eat the sugar. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter? I want to try this tomorrow. Thanks
Hi, E! There’s no butter in this recipe ❤️
In step 2 , the bread is placed in a buttered bowl. Does it matter if it is salted or unsalted butter?
Hi, E! Ah, I see. It truly is a matter of taste. It won’t affect how it bakes.