French Bread 🥖 The Only Recipe You’ll Ever Need

[@dkirk930]

My wife studied in France decades ago. When she came home today she proclaimed THIS IS French bread. She is always flooded with memories of studying in France when she eats French bread. Color, texture, taste. All there. THANK YOU. I have always been taught to put a little sugar in the warm water to activate the yeast. So I did. (A teaspoon or so.) Other than that I followed your recipe precisely and my bread looked like yours and did I mention color, texture, and taste!!!!

[@doinascuisine]

I’m so grateful for your kind and encouraging words 😊 And yes you are correct, you’re supposed to add sugar to the yeast and I always do that as well. I missed to emphasize that in here but even without doing it people bake this bread successfully. I’m extremely flattered by your wife’s comment 😊 thank you, I started this channel for my girls and I didn’t expect for it to pick up 🙏🏼

[@fredernsting4256]

I just finished my third slice of this tasty bread and wanted to share feedback right away. I'm really glad I found this recipe; it's easy, the dough handled well, everyone in my family loved the bread and I will surely make it again! Here are some comments for other bakers: I used a good bread flour (King Arthur) vs. all-purpose, and that's what I will continue to use for this recipe for now because of the great results. I needed around a cup more flour to reach the proper dough consistency for two cups of water (adjusting that is easy if you've baked for a while, of course); as soon as the dough pulled away from the sides of the mixing bowl, I let the dough rise as the video suggested and it was perfect. I elected to add the salt with the flour so as to not hinder the yeast in any way, and I make sure to match water temperature with the temp range recommended on the yeast jar (I happened to use active dry yeast). Because I read at least one person here say the bread baked quickly, and with the video saying 35-40 minutes in the oven, I checked the bread after 30 minutes; the bread was plenty done already at that point (I actually used a Thermapen cooking thermometer to check for 190 degrees F, and it was closer to 200 F after 30 minutes, already cooked perfectly). One additional comment: There are several egg wash options when cooking bread (egg and water, egg and milk, egg only, etc.) I found Doina's suggestion of egg yolk and milk to work out beautifully. My two loaves, cooked on a French bread double-loaf tin, looked, smelled and tasted absolutely great! This is a very easy recipe and one to definitely keep in the "make again" section of your recipe book. Thanks Doina!

[@doinascuisine]

I’m so grateful for your kind and encouraging words ❤they mean the world to me. Thank you 😊 thank you for your suggestions also. I always look for ways to improve my cooking/baking skills. I couldn’t agree more regarding the King’s Arthur flour. I recently discovered it and now use it all the time. I buy all of their types of flour. Hope to hear from you again. I’ll be posting more bread recipes as the weather cools off 🥖 🍞

[@christinasantiago8102]

Thank you!!! Ima start doing this often because... I love bread

[@doinascuisine]

I’m so glad 😀 and thank you for your kind words. Making your own bread is so rewarding and so much healthier 🥖

[@christinasantiago8102]

@@doinascuisine exactly I don't know why I just thought it up but I just ordered a kneading machine

[@ellenwilson1690]

There’s nothing like YOUR homemade bread💕❤️😋

[@doinascuisine]

Thank you so much 😊 anytime you want some you know who to contact 😉

[@katdunn7934]

I just found your recipe several hours ago. I almost made a different recipe I found today, but yours looked better! I did it like yours, but didn't have milk so the egg wash had 1 tbsp water with 1 egg yolk. I baked both loaves on 1 Blue Diamond cookie sheet. I did diagonal slices on one and slice down center on another. Oh, I also sprinkled Sesame seeds on the one with diagonal slices after adding egg wash. These baked up perfect! Nice light golden bottom and a golden top. Crusty and chewy! These taste like bread from a restaurant! My husband was very pleased too! It's a keeper. I just wrote it into my recipe book and will add it to my daughter's family cookbook, which I'll be gifting her and her husband-to-be next year. Thanks for the recipe! Oh, I had to brag and showy sister and took photos. 😂 I promised her I'd make some more when she comes over next week.

[@doinascuisine]

Omg my heart just grew 🥹❤️ You have no idea how much this means to me. I’ll be rereading your message every time I don’t have a good day. I’m so grateful for your words. I started this channel to collect the best recipes so when my girls grow they can have this legacy from their mommy. I never expected other people to like it too. Thank you immensely 🥰 if you took pictures and are on Instagram I’ll be happy if you follow me and tag me (only if you want to of course), but let’s definitely connect. I’m always happy to meet people with bright and kind personalities ❤️

[@katdunn7934]

@doinascuisine I'm happy to hear my words made you feel good. You deserve it! Unfortunately, I don't have Instagram. I did take photos, and I had to share on Facebook. I got loads of compliments on it! I shared the recipe with one of my friends. I will share the link to your channel as well. I typed up the recipe to share it, but you deserve the credit for this amazing bread!

[@ActionCookingLaraKim]

This french bread looks absolutely delicious, thank you for recipe and have a nice evening❤👍🙏

[@doinascuisine]

Thank you for your encouraging words ❤️🫶🏻 let me know when you try it 😀

[@estelalopez74]

Muchas gracias por la receta 😊😊😊🙏, lo haré mañana mismo.

[@doinascuisine]

El gusto es mío 😀 si tienes preguntas en español le puede ayudar con mucho gusto 🥰

[@ryanblystone5153]

Thank you

[@doinascuisine]

My pleasure 😀 and thank you for stopping by 👋🏼

[@j.jcevering5117]

My daughter sent me ❤😋thank you 😘

[@doinascuisine]

My pleasure 😊 enjoy 🥖

[@raihhaloyalteayaahla9843]

I’d add some sugar. This looks so yummy thanks and so easy.

[@doinascuisine]

Yes definitely the recipe has sugar and it’s best to add it with the yeast 😊 thank you for watching and let me know what other recipes you would like to see 😉💛

[@falsedragon33]

Why would you add sugar for French Bread? You want big bubbles in French bread, that's why its 80%+ hydration. Adding sugar is only going to slow down the fermentation. The starch in the flour is more than enough sugar for 100% of the yeast. Addition sugar doesn't speed things up, it actually slows it down as the sugar competes for water. I would not add any sugars or fats to this bread.

[@Charlie2019xx]

I tried this recipe but the bread was overcooked and too crunchy. I lowered the time to 20 minutes and it was perfect. Also, I found that you can use water instead of egg wash for the top. The more water you put on the top, the softer the crust will be. :)

[@doinascuisine]

My grandma used to add a pot with water next to her wall oven and it did the trick. The bread was fluffy and super soft. Yes, ovens are different so anytime you bake something for the first you need to keep an eye on it as your oven may require less or more time. I’m glad you found the golden middle and it worked out perfectly 😀🥖 I hope you enjoy this recipe and I’m currently working on another bread recipe and more fun projects coming soon 🙌🏼😉 thank you for stopping by. Hope to hear from you again 😀❤️

[@Charlie2019xx]

I am addicted to this recipe! I make it once a week.

[@Natalien06]

Do you ever put sugar in to feed the yeast?

[@doinascuisine]

Yes I do. That’s a good way to proof your yeast to make sure it’s fresh. If you know your yeast is high quality then you can skip this step.

[@falsedragon33]

I doubt many people will be able to use this recipe. 4.5 cups of flour to 2 cups of water is a 88% hydration level. If you used 5 cups of flour, you are at 80% hydration. That dough is going to be very sticky and beyond most people's ability to handle. They will most likely keep adding flour until the point they can handle it, changing the underlying recipe. They will keep adding until the moisture level reaches about 65%, and in the end they will have a completely different dough. Don't add the salt until the bread has been through its first fermentation. That way the salt doesn't slow down the gluten production.

[@doinascuisine]

Thank you for your expertise. It looks like you’re very educated on the subject and I always like learning from people like you 😀 However, I’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback on this video alone. People who used this recipe and they loved it. I’ve also shared this recipe with dozens of people for years way before I posted it and everyone loved it. Baking bread doesn’t have to be that complicated. Some people enjoy the science behind it and good for them. I’m certain they bake amazing bread. But a lot of people just want to enjoy a loaf of delicious bread they baked at home, that doesn’t include 50 ingredients like the ones from the store. They don’t care about percentage or what happens at a microscopic level. I am not here to convince anyone this is the right way to bake bread. If you found that this recipe works for you, then wonderful, it makes me happy 😊 if it doesn’t, then I genuinely wish you find what works for you. I encourage you to try it first before you make any assumptions 😉❤️ Have a wonderful day!

[@falsedragon33]

@@doinascuisineFirst, thanks for the video. They are really enjoyable. I have made this recipe thousands of times. It's a 80% hydrated recipe. Sometimes I do 100%. Sometimes 70%. Just depends on what mood I'm in. They produce slightly different doughs. The more hydration the bigger the bubbles will be. Braead is good at all hydration levels. I'm not questioning that. But when flour is added for handling, everyone is making a different bread. All good, but all different. Learning to handle wet dough is one of the first skills somone should learn to do, that way you get to choose the dough, not your ability.

[@kamranki]

Wouldn't this bread have yeasty flavor? Since there is no pre-ferment or long cold ferment in this recipe.

[@doinascuisine]

I promise you it will not 😉 I’ve been baking it for more than 10 years. Try it one time and let me know 🥖😀

[@noemiespinosacabrerapadro7815]

Do you use Bread Flour or All Purpose Flour?

[@doinascuisine]

Either one will work just fine 😉 I’ve tried both and you get amazing homemade bread each time 🥖😀

[@falsedragon33]

You want bread flour for sure. The reason is, this is a 80%+ hydration dough. Its going to be runny and sticky. Bread flour will have 13-14% protein, where all purpose is going to be around 9%. This means bread flour will produce more gluten and the dough will behave a lot better.

[@georgejones3526]

The baking pan was about the only thing that you didn’t link in the description.

[@doinascuisine]

Sorry about that! I just linked it. Enjoy baking and let me know if you have any questions and how it turns out 😉

[@georgejones3526]

@@doinascuisine Thanks. I found the link on the recipe page.

[@fischleinklein2954]

Schade,nicht auf deutsch.

[@doinascuisine]

Hallo, vielen Dank fürs Zuschauen aus Deutschland. Bei Interesse kann ich versuchen, das Rezept für Sie auf Deutsch zu übersetzen. Lass es mich wissen :)

[@fischleinklein2954]

@@doinascuisine Das wäre wirklich sehr nett. Ich habe gerade angefangen mit dem Brotbacken und probiere gerne neue Rezepte aus.♥️

[@leanncrittendon3673]

I thought it wasn’t best to add salt directly to yeast…

[@doinascuisine]

Correct 👍🏼 however I added the salt after I’ve let the yeast bloom for 5-10 minutes and then added the flour right after the salt. If you add salt together with the yeast, then the growth of the yeast will be inhibited. Try to avoid adding them together and letting them sit. They’re not friends.

[@joinobms1944]

​@@doinascuisine😂😂😂😂😂u must be so funny 😆 🤣 😂 u said yeast and salt are not friends 😅😅😅ur comment had me on the floor rolling 🤣

[@kamranki]

Salt in very minor quantities (as is commonly used in bread recipes) does not have any negative effect on yeast. Mix as you desire and don't worry too much. It's more of a myth.

[@falsedragon33]

This is correct in dough that is > 65% hydration. This recipe is 80%+. Leaving out the salt means you will hydrate faster and produce more glutens, so the dough will be more manageable. Add the salt after the first fermentation.

[@edelealexander2789]

You never add salt at the same time as the yeast, salt will kill the yeast. You put the salt on top of the flower once you start blending it.

[@doinascuisine]

You are correct and I know that. It was a filming error and I didn’t correct/emphasize that when I edited it 😉 The dough was still successful, but the salt can ruin the yeast. With practice now I just proof the yeast first before I proceed with baking. Thank you for watching 😊 Happy Baking ❤️

[@falsedragon33]

I don't know that salt kills yeast. It does block the formation of glutens (as does fats and sugars). It also competes for the water. So is not that one fights the other, they just compete for the same resources. It does strengthen the gluten bond, so you need it. Just add it after hydration or the first fermentation.