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Crispy sliced baguette on a white marble surface in a vertical shot.
Brianna Hughes

Easy One Hour French Bread – Soft, Crusty & Perfect Every Time

Make this easy One Hour French Bread that's soft, crusty, and perfect for any meal. A quick homemade bread recipe with no fuss—ready in just 60 minutes!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Rise Time 20 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings: 8
Course: bread
Cuisine: French
Calories: 200
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1 TBSP white sugar
  • 1 1/2 TBSP dry yeast *can use instant yeast
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 TBSP butter softened
  • 3-4 cups flour
  • 1 egg white for brushing

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. You will want to do this first so the oven is nice and hot when you put the bread in.
  2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the warm water, sugar, yeast, and salt. Make sure your water is warm, like bath water and not too hot or you will kill the yeast and your bread will not rise properly. You can feel it with your wrist to get a better idea of the warmth.
    Set the bowl on the preheating oven for a few minutes. The warmth from the oven will help activate the yeast. You should see bubbles form if the yeast is active. If you do not, you might have had the water too hot and killed your yeast. No worries though-you can start again!
  3. Add the softened butter and 1 cup of the flour. Mix together. Using the dough hook in your mixer, gradually mix in the rest of the flour. The dough will be sticky but start to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
  4. Knead in the mixer for about 6-7 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  5. Shape the dough into 2 smaller loaves or one larger loaf. I made one large loaf. Using a bread lame or sharp knife, make 3 or 4 slits on top. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for about 20 minutes or until doubled in size.
  6. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until light and foamy. Brush on all sides of the bread.
  7. Transfer the bread to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. The top of the bread should be shiny and golden brown. The longer you leave the bread in the oven, the more crispy the crust will be. Cool for a bit then slice and serve.

Notes

* you may use instant yeast in this recipe. Simply omit the yeast activation step and mix directly into all of the ingredients.