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This rustic crusty French bread loaf is legit. Read on to learn the secret to the crispiest crust that crackles and crunches as you slice into it. Underneath that amazing crust, you’ll discover a soft spongy center. It’s the perfect blend of chewy and super soft. I literally ate 1/4 of the loaf in one day all by ‘ma self and buttered every slice (no regrets), and it makes a pretty large loaf!
This dough takes time but requires very little attention from you. The active time is probably 30 minutes max. If you have a free afternoon, you can make a classic upscale bakery-quality French loaf that will impress anyone who sinks their teeth into it. I first learned to make this crispy bread from Bruno’s Kitchen – Bruno is French and he sure knows his French Bread! P.S. If you’re looking for a bread you can make on the fly, check out our No knead artisan bread recipe here (also quite good!).
Ingredients for Crusty French Bread:
1 3/4 cups warm water (90˚ to 100˚F)
1/2 tsp molasses
2 1/3 cups (290 grams) unbleached bread flour, *measured correctly
2 1/2 cups (315 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, *measured correctly
1 1/4 tsp (1/2 packet) instant yeast (quick rise)
2 tsp salt (I used fine sea salt)
All-purpose Flour and semolina flour for dusting
*To measure flour correctly, fluff it up then spoon it into measuring cups and scrape off the top for an exact measure.
*Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly”
How to Make Crusty French Bread:
1. In the bowl of a mixer (or by hand), Whisk together 1 3/4 cups warm water and 1/2 tsp molasses until dissolved.
2. In a large glass or plastic bowl, whisk together 2 1/3 cups bread flour, 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast and 2 tsp salt. Add water mixture to the flour mixture and mix until you have a single mass of dough. Using a dough hook or clean hands, knead dough 4 minutes. Dough should be soft and feel sticky to the touch but should not stick to clean and dry finger tips. If your dough is too sticky after kneading, add more flour a tablespoon at a time.
3. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature (69-75˚F) for 4 hours. Every hour while it rests (3 times total), with a wet hand, punch the dough down and fold it over onto itself a few times (a wet hand will keep the dough from sticking to you without adding any unnecessary flour).
4. After rising a total of 4 hours, draw the edges into the center of the dough, turn over and place in a large well-floured bowl, sprinkle the dough with flour, cover with a tea towel and let rise 1 1/2 hours at room temp.
5. Meanwhile, place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet in the center of your oven. Place a cast iron pan on the bottom rack and preheat with both in the oven to 500˚F (for safety, don’t use glass baking dishes at those high temps).
6. Sprinkle the back of a baking sheet generously with semolina and invert your risen dough over the top of the semolina. Score the top of the dough 3 times diagonally and then three times again in the opposite direction. Slide dough onto preheated baking stone and add 1 cup of ice cubes into the preheated cast iron pan below (making sure not to drip on any glass oven surfaces).
Bake at 500˚F for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 400˚F and continue baking 30-35 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Turn oven off, crack door open with a wooden spoon and leave bread in the oven another 10 minutes. Remove bread to a wire rack to cool and let it rest at least 15 minutes before cutting into it.
Crusty French Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups warm water, 90˚ to 100˚F
- 1/2 tsp molasses
- 2 1/3 cups unbleached bread flour, measured correctly*, (290 grams)
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, measured correctly*, (315 grams)
- 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast (quick rise), (1/2 packet)
- 2 tsp salt, I used fine sea salt
- All-purpose Flour and semolina flour for dusting
Instructions
- In the bowl of a mixer (or by hand), whisk together 1 3/4 cups warm water and 1/2 tsp molasses until dissolved.
- In a large glass or plastic bowl, whisk together 2 1/3 cups bread flour, 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/4 tsp yeast and 2 tsp salt. Add water mixture to flour mixture and mix until you have a single mass of dough. Using a dough hook or clean hands, knead dough 4 minutes. Dough should be soft and feel sticky to the touch but should not stick to clean and dry finger tips. If your dough is too sticky after kneading, add more flour a tablespoon at a time.
- Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp (69-75˚F) for 4 hours. Every hour while it rests (3 times total), with a wet hand, punch the dough down and fold it over onto itself a few times (a wet hand will keep the dough from sticking to you without adding any unnecessary flour).
- After rising a total of 4 hours, draw dough edges into the center, turn over and place in a large well-floured bowl, sprinkle the dough with flour, cover with a tea towel and let rise 1 1/2 hours at room temp.
- Meanwhile, place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet in the center of your oven. Place a cast iron pan on the bottom rack and preheat with both in the oven to 500˚F (for safety, don't use glass baking dishes at those high temps).
- Sprinkle the back of a baking sheet generously with fine semolina flour and invert your risen dough over the top of the semolina. Score the top of the dough several times. Slide dough onto preheated baking stone with the help of a spatula if needed and add 1 cup of ice cubes into the preheated cast iron pan below (making sure not to drip on any glass oven surfaces). Bake at 500˚F for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 400˚F and continue baking 30-35 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Turn oven off, crack door open with a wooden spoon and leave bread in the oven another 10 minutes. Remove bread to a wire rack to cool and let it rest at least 15 minutes before cutting into it.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
I hope you have fun and relaxing weekend (which includes soft crusty buttered French bread of course!) 😉
Can I take a moment to thank you? I just appreciate you all so much. It’s been a rough week and your sweet comments and recipe reviews are always so encouraging and inspiring. I’m so thankful for you all and you bless me in so many ways every day. You just have to know it!
Love,
Natasha ❤
This bread is amazing; crispy and tender crumb. I’ve tried many other recipes and this one tops them all. No changes required to your recipe. The only question I have is that my loaf turned out huge; 10″ round and 5″ high which is hard to cut. Do you have suggestions on shaping it differently or perhaps splitting into two loaves?
Hi Anne, that’s right its a rather large loaf, we love it! We use a long bread knife to cut it – we find it works best that way. I imagine you can make two smaller loaves but without testing that I’m unable to advise.
hi Natasha! pls can i make the dough for it to rise overnight then i will bake it in the morning? what instructions would you give?
Hi Annah, I haven’t done that letting it sit 12 hours overnight so I can’t speak to that. You would probably need a very large bowl and then punch it down the next day or it would be too airy and spongy.
hi Natasha! pls can I use sugar instead of molasses, and does the flour on top help the bread to be extra crusty?
Hi Annah, I haven’t tried it with sugar but you can sub with 1 tsp honey if you don’t have molasses on hand. I hope this helps.
Hi Natasha,
Can the dough be refrigerated to make at a later date.
Thank you for your help.
Rocco
Hi Rocco, I haven’t done that letting it sit overnight so I can’t speak to that. You would probably need a very large bowl and then punch it down the next day or it would be too airy and spongy.
Hi Natasha, can I make this bread without bread flour, all I have on hand is all purpose flour and extra gluten flour? Thank you
Hi Dale, Bread flour is slightly different from all-purpose flour. It has a higher protein content, giving the loaf strength enabling the bread to rise higher; I can’t say it will work with all-purpose flour alone.
Hi Natasha! Can this be baked inside a Dutch oven or a large black cast iron pot with parchment paper?
Hi Lera, it works really well in a dutch oven in this 5-seed version. I have found the crust to be best with a pizza stone for this recipe though, but substituting would still work.
Hi Natasha, I made the French Crusty bread a couple of weeks ago, turned better than I expected ! I tried several times before with all different recipes, but with unpleasant results.
I followed exactly your instructions and the result was marvellous!
I am planning to do more baking tomorrow.
Thanks Natasha!
Sounds awesome, Elena! I’m so happy that it was a success, thanks for sharing your excellent review!
I am fairly new to baking. I have tried this recipe 3 times in the last 24 hours. My last attempt seems better but looking at the crumb of mine compared to your photo. Mine a appear more closed. Researching this I think maybe my bread over proofed. So my question is are you sure you use instant yeast vs dry? It seems instant yeast wouldn’t need to rise so many times and as often as your recipe calls for. Or is there a specific reason you use instant. I made sure I timed all of the three punch down and finally rise…and so i can’t figure out how my bread seems slight more over proofed than yours. Do you have any tips or tricks to getting the right crumb? Also I have been weighing the flour out based off the weights you give. Do you mixed this recipe by weighing or using regular measuring. Just wondering since it seems get a sticker dough and need to add more flour when mixing. Sorry for all the questions, but really trying to nail this recipe. Oh one last question. How do you get your crust so dark?
Hi, I would suggest making the recipe exactly per the instructions first before making any changes so you can identify where things were different. If you substituted with active dry yeast and did not activate it first in the warm water mixture but just added it to the dry ingredients, that could be the main culprit for why the texture was different. I normally spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level the top for an accurate measure, but I also weigh it to double-check. The dough should still feel sticky so make sure not to add too much flour. For the crust, I didn’t do anything beyond what I specified in the recipe which should form a lovely crust. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha
I don’t have the yeast.Can I use baking powder or baking soda? If not, can you make a bread without yeast?
Hi Sam, unfortunately, that won’t work for this recipe. You might try searching for something like a soda bread instead. Also biscuits (like this youtube recipe I found) would be a great option without yeast.
Thank you for your prompt reply.
Hola Natasha, siempre es un placer preparar tus recetas, a mi y a mi familia nos encantan, muchas gracias por darnos esas maravillosas recetas
I’m so glad you enjoyed our recipes, Clara! Thank you for sharing that with me!
I tried this recipe yesterday. I let it proof for longer than 1.5 hrs at the end and baked it for 40 minutes in a Dutch oven, plus additional time for browning and completion. I’m very satisfied with the result although I thought I would find more air bubbles. This morning it was still crunchy. Will definitely do it again. Will try leaving it to rise in the fridge overnight at the final stage (as I started the process at around 3pm and the bread was ready at around 2am!) I wish I could post a picture.
Thank you so much for your lovely recipes and videos Natasha. I made the spaghetti and meatballs in marinara sauce this week.
Thank you for sharing your ideas to make it a make-ahead bread and cooking in a dutch oven. I’m so glad you enjoyed the bread!
Hello! Are you able to add a video while making this bread, as to have a better understanding oh how to properly make it?
Hi Dina, I hope the photos in the recipe are helpful. At this time I do not have a video for this recipe, I’ll add it to the list! Thank you for sharing that with em.
Made your yummy bread, meatballs and chocolate chip cookies. My family’s favorite stuff.
Tried to add the picture but it just won’t paste. I had to improvise on the meatballs because the stores here have no ground beef, but ground turkey and sausage worked well.
Yum! That sounds delicious! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Emma!
Hello,
Unfortunately, don’t have any bread flour. Can I use all purpose flour only? How would it change proportions, bread taste and texture after baking?
Thank you!
Hi Ewa, it may work – Bread flour is slightly different from all-purpose flour. It has a higher protein content giving strength to the loaf enabling the bread to rise higher.
Hi! is there anything you can sub the semolina flour with for dusting on the bottom? would cornmeal or just regular flour work? Thanks!
oops seems like this was already asked a while ago sorry! I read your previously posted advice that cornmeal will work – just won’t blend in like semolina. Thanks!
Hello Chelsea, you can substitute with cornmeal which is what I used with my no-knead bread, but I do like the semolina because it disappears into the bread better, but the cornmeal is nice as well because it forms a more crunchy base
Hi Natasha!
Thank you for your recipes. I use them a lot! Question: can I use active dry yeast instead of quick rise? If yes, how much do I use?
Thanks
Hi Victoria, I always make this one with instant yeast but if you wanted to use active dry, the same amount should work fine, but you will have to let it proof for about 5-7 minutes in the liquid before stirring it into the flour mixture. Active dry yeast has to be activated first. I hope you love the recipe!
Hi wondering if it would be okay to use all regular all purpose flour instead part bread flour? Can’t find any flour around right now and all I have is AP? Thanks!
Hi Chelsea, yes that should still work fine. I love the texture combining both since bread flour has a little higher protein and gluten content. You may need slightly more all-purpose if using only all-purpose flour.
Hi, i wondering what is the function put a cast iron pan in the bottom.
Hi Mila, adding the hot water to the cast iron pan on the bottom, creates steam in the oven which helps the crust form and helps the dough expand as it bakes.
I had the same question. Mine is in the oven now…. I can’t wait!!!
Hi,
I tried the “Artisan no-knead bread today” and it was “French quality” already
I want to bake this one next, but don’t have molasses. Can I replace with a mix of water and brown sugar?
Your recipes are a significant part of what keeps us sane through these difficult times, cause we cook more and find it relaxing.
Many thanks, God bless you and your family. Stay safe!
Kr,
Adrian
Hi Adrian, you can sub with 1 tsp honey if you don’t have molasses on hand. I hope this helps.
This came out amazing! I appreciate all of your recipes! Every recipe you share gets a ***** rating from my family and friends!
Thank you so much for your great comments and feedback, Heidi. I appreciate it!
Natasha, may I please ask a couple of “stupid” questions? How exactly do you slide the dough to the red hot baking sheet (which has been heating up in the oven)? I only have 1 baking sheet so I had to sort of dump the dough out of the bowl onto it and I could not manage so I had to take the baking sheet out from the oven completely…
Second, what happens if you forget to punch down the dough while it is rising? Third – can you follow the process you described but then let the dough sit longer and rise overnight (like 12 hrs total as opposed to 5,5 hrs only regularly punching it down etc)? Thank you.
Hi Elina, those are great questions – if you only have 1 baking sheet, you can also use a small cutting board or pizza peel. Once you dust the top of your cutting board generously with semolina, the dough should slide off onto the hot baking sheet. See the photo after step 6 which shows this process. I hope that helps! Punching down the dough helps with the rising process, it will rise more evenly and won’t have as large of holes in the center. I haven’t done that letting it sit 12 hours overnight so I can’t speak to that. You would probably need a very large bowl and then punch it down the next day or it would be too airy and spongy.
Hi Natasha !!
This is now my 3 rd recipe from you and WOW!!Every recipe I follow is amazing and easy!!This French bread was my first attempt to making bread and it was DELISH!!Everyone loved it!!It will most probably become a staple in my household!!Thank you for sharing all these amazing ,easy and yummy recipes with us!!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite Pina!
Thank you for the recipe. My wife and I made it twice and it came out great! Is there any way to make a good whole wheat version?
Hi Randy, I haven’t experimented with making this whole wheat so I can’t advise on that or what modifications would need to be made.
I’m confused on the preheating of the pans. The recipe says to do it right after you start your first rise, before the second rise. But then the pans would be in the oven for over 5 hours. Is the point just to have the oven and pans at 500 before you put the bread in? If that’s the case I would just start my oven up the last half hour of the second rise.
Hi Jeremy, I only preheat while the oven is preheating (my oven takes about 10 minutes to preheat). I’m re-reading the recipe and don’t see anywhere that says to preheat 5 hours. Did you maybe misread that step?
Ok that makes sense! I read through the other comments and it sounds like some other people were confused as well. I think the confusion is because the recipe has step 3: first rise of four hours, step 4: MEANWHILE preheat your oven, then step 5: second rise of an hour and a half. I read that as do your first rise, meanwhile (while it’s rising) preheat your oven, then do the second rise.
YOu are absolutely correct. It makes more sense to flip steps 4 and 5 in the process. The idea is to have a fully preheated oven and pizza stone. I have updated the recipe.
Hi Natasha, by mistake, I used active yeast. I used the hook to knead mine and it came out super rubbery. Waiting to see if it will rise. Should I scrap it and start over or wait and see what happens?
Hi Anna, it is difficult to say without seeing the dough. With active yeast, it would be a good idea to let it proof in the molasses/water mixture for 7 minutes or so before adding that liquid to the rest of the dry ingredients. That’s the primary difference between the two yeasts – the active dry needs an initial proofing to activate it. Since it’s Thanksgiving, I would probably suggest starting with a fresh batch and use instant yeast for the best results (it also seems to rise a little faster with instant yeast since instant yeast has additives included to make the dough rise faster). If all you have is active dry, you may need a little more rising time in each step.