My Mundane and Miraculous Life

Easy Peesy French Bread Recipe – Four Ingredients, ONE Hour, Fool Proof

By 390 Comments

Today, I wanted to share with you my go-to side dish that only takes four ingredients.

Do you ever have a night where you’re making something for dinner that you’re not too thrilled about?  Or maybe you don’t think there’ll be enough to go around (gosh kids eat a lot!)?

Well, when this happens to me, I bust out this nifty little recipe for french bread.Four Ingredient Easy French Bread

Wait.

Bread???

Like with yeast and kneading and rising?

I feel ya. In the past, I’ve always past over any recipe containing yeast because I was convinced I didn’t have the skills to carry it out.

This recipe is different.

No bread machine needed!

In less than an hour and with only 5 minutes of actual work, you’ll have some impressively yummy bread to feed your raving fans!

This post contains affiliate links that help support my family. Read more about that here.

4.6 from 119 reviews
Easy Peesy French Bread
 
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The easiest quickest way to have yummy fresh bread. If I can do this, YOU CAN DO THIS!
Author:
Recipe type: Bread
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoons Active Dry Yeast
  • 3½ - 4½ cups flour
Instructions
  1. Combine the water, honey, salt and yeast in a glass bowl. Let sit for 5-10 mins. until there's some bubbling, foam stuff on the top.
  2. Next, add a bunch of flour. I used just regular white organic flour. Keep kneading until it is no longer sticky. You want your dough to be sticking to itself, not your fingers. So, keep adding flour and keep kneading until that happens.
  3. Form the dough into a loaf shape. Cover with a towel and let sit on the counter for 20 mins (or on top of the preheating oven if your kitchen is cold). This is the time to set the oven to 400 degrees.
  4. After 20 mins., cut slits in the top of the dough and bake for 16-20 mins.
  5. Variations can be made by adding garlic and oregano, or cinnamon and raisins, or whatever you dream up!

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water (like baby bath water)

1 tablespoon honey (We like to use Organic Raw Honey like this.)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1  tablespoon Active Dry Yeast ( or 2 of these little packets)
3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cups flour 

UPDATE: I’ve started adding garlic powder to the dough and sprinkling the top with oregano and some small pieces of butter to melt all over during the baking. Oh. My. Word.

 

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Example of the “foam” created by the yeast.

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Before rising.

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After rising.

Adapted from BS Recipes.

This stuff is crazy good and filling. I’ve made it a ton of times and have yet to mess up despite my carelessness.

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Can’t you just envision the butter melting all over this goodness?Four Ingredient Fool Proof Easy French Bread

 

In the mood for soup to go with this delectable bread? I made a list of the best of the best soup recipes out there for ya!

Soup Recipe Sq

If you’re looking for more recipes to replace staple ingredients in your home, you should follow my Pinterest board.

Julie is a frazzled mom of three tornadoes. As a dorky second-generation homeschooler, she writes about learning and play, natural living, special needs parenting and matters of the heart. She serves an astounding God that radically saved her.

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Comments

  1. I made this! Which i am super excited about. I dont think it was a complete success nor failure. Brickish at the worst and small patches of fluffy yumness. Definitely will try it again – for the effort involved and cost its a no brainer 🙂

    Reply

    • YEA! Thanks for trying it Abi and a huge thanks for coming back and commenting! Sorry there was some “brickishness”. LOL!

      Reply

      • I came across your recipe on a New York Times easy bread recipe on my FB feed, however not so easy as it involved a twelve hour refrigeration time. I’m not an experience baker and was always looking for an easy bread recipe that didn’t involve hours of preparation. I would love to make this French bread but I’m not sure of the exact amount of flour. Your recipe says 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups of flour, that’s one cup difference. Can you tell me what is the exact amount needed?

        Reply

        • I didn’t give an exact amount because it’s more about the feel of the dough. Keep adding till the dough is no longer super sticky to your hands. For most of us, that’s a little over four cups. As you’re kneading the dough with your hands to see if there’s any pockets of extra sticky areas, you’re mixing the flour in really well. Hope that helps!

          Reply

          • Well.. you could make simple syrup. Equal parts sugar and hot water and mix until dissolved. It’s usually not as thick as honey unless you up the sugar to about 2:1, however it will give it that extra bit of sweetness and will mix as well as honey,

          • This isn’t the 12 hour bread recipe. This is bread for quick when you need it ready in about an hour.

        • I am confused about your 12 hour refridgeration comment. I had to read it again to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Can you please explain this?

          Also, I tried to give this a 5 star but for some reason it would only let me give 3. I made this bread once before a while back and it turned out really good. I have a loaf in the oven right now.

          Reply

          • Breads need to rise, the yeast has to work. I can suggest : If you need anything in an hour, make bisquick biscuits., or a box biscuit or make corn bread. Bread needs yeast and it has to rise two times.

          • Bread doesn’t *need* to rise two times, but it will always taste better if it does. A serving rise will give it a lighter texture and slighty less yeasty taste. This recipe is just fine with one rise, and is you’ve got Ann extra 20 minutes more, you can let it rise again. Just push the dough down flat, and sorta roll it up into a loaf shape. Pinch the edges shut, so it doesn’t unroll while it bakes. Still easy peasy!

        • Replying to anonymous, bread is an art, and while the writer has made an incredibly easy bread recipe for home bakers, you cannot expect fantastic bread to be as easy as a boxed cake mix. Follow the instructions. Use your judgement on the flour. As she has noted, add until the dough isn’t sticky. If this is too complicated for you, consider buying bread at your local bakery.

          Reply

      • This is my definite go-to bread recipe and I’m NOT a good baker lol in fact – I CAN cook anything, but never (ever!) bake something good. And this one really is fool-proof! I’ve made it 3 or 4 times and it disappears in under an hour at my house each and every time! Thanks!

        Reply

          • I haven’t yet tried your recipe, but I intend to try. I’ve been baking no-knead bread (and others as well) for the past two years. I never knew it would be so rewarding. Since I’m relatively new at this I’m anxious to find out what the texture and taste will be of yours. I make a no-knead bread I found on the internet (cannot remember where for the life of me) and make it into all sorts of things. Bread, buns, pizza, fried bread, cinnamon rolls, etc. It’s a TWO hour bread. Mix half the flour and all the other ingredients in a big bowl. Mix only until ti’s all wet. Sprinkle the second half of the flour on top without mixing in, cover with cloth and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove cloth and mix in the extra flour with a wooden spoon. Leave the spoon in the dough, cover and leave 10 minutes. Repeat this mixing (rather like whacking if you ask me) every ten minutes four more times. Turn out on floured board, shape into two large loaves or four smaller ones. Allow to rise about 30 minutes, cut slits and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. That’s two hours. Fantastic light French bread. Better yet if you freeze the loaves and stick in a heated oven for 10 minutes before serving. Super crusty and delicious. Let me know if you’d be interested in the recipe. I’ll try to return to tell you how your recipe turns out. Thanks for the idea.

      • Hi Julie,I haven’t tried the recipe yet but it looks fabulous, definitely going to add the garlic! I would like to prepare the dough ahead of time so can I make the dough tonight and put it in the fridge overnight to bake tomorrow? thank you

        Reply

        • I’m not sure. I’ve never tried that. I’m guessing it would keep rising overnight. Maybe freeze it? I’m not really a baker to be honest. I just know this recipe works for me. Let me know how your experiment turns out!

          Reply

        • If you use cold water, rather than warm, you can refrigerate and let sit for up to 3 days. It will begin to take on properties of Sour dough bread then. To begin your bread after refrigerating, simply llet it cone to room temperature (or close) and move on to the next step.

          Reply

        • This dough rises really fast because there is a lot of yeast in it. So much yeast that putting it in the refrigerator won’t slow it down much. If you want to refrigerate it, use less yeast, maybe only about 1/4 as much. The less yeast you use, the longer it will take to rise at room temperature, and the more refrigeration will slow down the rise. It will keep rising in the refrigerator, just very slowly.

          Reply

      • I was invited to a dinner party where lovely cheeses were served. With an allergy to commercial bread I needed to bring my own. I had less then an hour and a half to make the bread, a dessert I could eat dress and get across town. I made this bread, substituting sugar for the honey, another alllergy, letting the sugar desolve really well. I cooked it and ran out the door with 10 minutes to spare. I confess to using my kitchen-aide dough hook to kneed the bread while I changed cloths. Was great! Dence, but, perfect for the lovely array of cheeses that were served. Glad a made a second loaf, all of the guests ate my homemade bread over the store bought. Keeper recipe.

        Reply

    • It takes 7 minutes to knead a loaf of bread. If you don’t, your bread will be heavy. Kneading is what develops the long gluten chains that provide the elasticity to retain gas bubbles (the little air holes in good bread) IMO, you will obtain much better results if you knead until the glutens form. There are many videos on Youtubedotcom that will show you how to tell when you’re finished kneading. Also, adding flour until your fingers won’t stick will yield different results every time. We all live in different climates, with differing humidity, and weighing your ingredients is the correct way to make 1 loaf or 20. 15 minutes to rise is insufficient. Your dough needs to at least double in volume. There are many recipes for no-knead bread, and the good ones require a scant 1/4 tsp of yeast. The glutens form slowly overnight when left in the fridge. I never have space in mine for a mixing bowl so I just spend 7min kneading! 🙂 Just my $.02

      Reply

      • You are certainly a more knowledgeable bread maker than myself! I’ve never claimed to be a baker, I just know this bread is easy and yummy. At least 300,000 have read it and agreed! Happy bread making!

        Reply

      • Thanks for your experience on paper. You are absolutely correct and when it says to keep on kneading it is to make sure that the flour is all worked in. Dough is tricky and through experience you learn the texture. It is much the same using a bread maker………that dough has to be just the right texture to have a successful loaf of bread.

        Reply

      • Really we just wanted an easy recipe not someone’s 2 cents. For the time it took it was well worth it. I’ve made many recipes with and without a bread machine and this by far was the easiest and delicious.
        Thank you for posting.

        Reply

    • I was so excited to try this recipe. The reviews were great and I wanted to try a quick yeast bread recipe to make for Christmas gifts. I have made many loaves of bread over the years and this recipe sermed unique. Sadly, it failed. I don’t know what I did wrong, but the bread was tough, heavy, and tasteless. I had to pitch the whole thing. 😭

      Reply

    • I can’t fogure out how to leave a fresh comment from my phone so here goes.

      1. I love this bread, and make it at least once a week! I’ve brough it to potlucks & cookouts as well, sometimes bringing homemade butter along with it.

      2. Just before baking, I brush the top of the loaf with an egg white wash. 1 egg white + 1 Tablespoon of Water mixed well. This gives the crust something closer to the traditional French Bread crusty crust. So good!

      3. Someone asked about a substitute for honey: I sometimes substitute molasses for the honey. I would even try corn syrup in a pinch, but I’d rather not go that far.

      If your bread isn’t rising, or you want to spread the rise a bit, try covering it with a hot, damp kitchen towel. Use the hottest water your hands can stand, or dampen the towel & microwave it. Then drape over the dough. It helps so much up here in ND when it’s cold & dry in the house.

      Happy baking, everyone!

      Reply

      • For traditional French bread texture bake with a pan of water in the oven. The steam in the oven will give the outside of the bread the texture you desire.

        Reply

    • II lost 26 lbs with eating this bread and drinking sugar free drinks. I am 77 years old. So, I just ate my favorite home made bread with real salted butter. Crazy, but I never planned to lose weight at all. I do not share, so I cook 2 loaves every 2 days.

      Reply

      • Bread doesn’t supply all your dietary needs–you really NEED some fruits, veggies and good protein, like meat & fish. and eggs. Bread is not a weight loss food, and neither is butter They are high in calories. .Since you are eating bread & butter and losing weight, you really need to see your doctor. There may be something else going on. As a physician, I am concerned.

        Reply

    • I just made this awesome bread and it came out really good. Next time I think I need to add a little more salt. Super easy with Kitchen Aid mixer.

      Reply

  2. This looks great! Thank you for sharing this post at City of Creative Dream’s City of Links on Friday! I appreciate you taking the time to party with me. Hope to see you again this week 🙂

    Reply

  3. I’m sorry to hear that! Any idea what went wrong? My guess would be not enough flour. Was it still sticky when you kneaded it?

    Reply

    • Good question. I’ve never tried and I’m not a very experienced baker. My guess would be to keep the temp the same, but lessen the bake time. I rarely set the timer, once it’s browned slightly, it’s all good. I prefer a softer middle. Let me know how it turns out!

      Reply

      • I have made this several times…..one loaf, two loaves, four loaves……same temp…..just watched for the brownng…..turned out superb every time!!!! Fixing to make a batch now for breadstuffs…..absolutely love this recipe!!!

        Reply

  7. What a nice bread easy to make and delicious. Made a carrot soup today and needed some nice bread but with the snow and weather I had to make my own and I am glad I stumbled over this recipe. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  9. This is fabulous bread !!! I have been making bread a long time and this recipe has great flavor and texture. More importantly, it is quick. Thank you !!

    Reply

  11. Just made this bread. it is good, however it is dense and I am not sure I baked it long enough. I REALLY like that it is fast! The taste is really nice. Next time I will make 2 loaves and let it rise a bit longer. Might roll in some chopped fresh rosemary too, mmmm…. Thanks for this!

    Reply

  12. I made this today and it was great! The only thing I did different was that I sifted the flour into my mixer, added the water, honey and yeast (keeping the salt separate) after 10 min in a well in the center of the mixer. I used my dough hook and let the bread mix for a few minutes and then put the salt on top of the dough and let it mix in. I then shaped it and used a pan to let it rise as I wanted sliced bread. The bread was perfect with a nice grain. I kept the salt separate in order to give the yeast longer time to act. Thanks for sharing this!!

    Reply

  14. I just finished baking this bread and it turn out to come out awesome, I used the 4 1/2 cups of flour , thank you for sharing this recepie

    Reply

    • I have. The first time I tried it, it was like a brick….. But the second time I added one beaten egg and used 2 cups of water and 3 and a bit cups of flour and then just kept sprinkling more flour over it until it was a thick batter, remembering you don’t knead gluten free flours as there’s no gluten to develop. If you use a gf flour Mix make sure it has xanthan or guar gum or you will need to add Your own. Pour into loaf tin and leave to rise a little longer than recipe states…. Oven temp 400 and cook for a bit longer, say 15-to 20-mins.. When almost cooked brush with milk/egg wash/ whatever and return to oven for five mins..
      It’s more a 1hr 15 recipe. Tastes wonderful 🙂

      Reply

  16. Hello! Thanks a lot for this recipe….we love, love, love this bread! I will bake it again tomorrow…Greetings from Germany!

    Reply

      • Hi there, I’m also from Germany, and just tried the bread.
        I am a complete novice when it comes to break making, but this is just fantastic. It is so nice and fluffy on the inside and there is a crust (will probably leave it in a bit longer next time to make the crust even “crustier”.) Great easy recipe, thank you Julie.

        Reply

  17. So I found this recipe last Saturday and now, 6 days later I have made it on 4 separate days. I have doubled it each time and give a loaf away to neighbors and friends. Love this recipe! I make cheese so I use leftover whey instead of water and substitute wheat for some of the white flour. I have toyed with the idea of cinnamon and raisins too. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!
    I found it to be lighter when I used my kitchen aid mixer rather than kneading it by hand…

    Reply

    • Wow! Glad you’re putting it to good use! Love the cinnamon and raisins. I’ve been toying with a similar idea myself!

      Reply

      • I often do a brown sugar cinimon swirl version or cinimon raisin brown sugar it is really yummy, I also like to add different herbs and spices for Savory ones super good

        Reply

  18. I tried this recipe per instruction and put at the proper temp. and put in bread pan on middle shelf, pulled out when top started to brown, then let cool and the entire middle was uncooked. Tasted great, don’t know what I did wrong.

    Reply

    • I’ve actually had a similar experience lately. My kitchen is super cold in the winter and I think my bread isn’t rising nearly enough. Some have suggested letting it rise in the oven with the light on, not heat. Also, try adjusting the baking temp (lower) when it appears the bread didn’t rise much. Sorry that happened to you, it JUST started happening to me too, and this is my best guess of how to fix it!

      Reply

  19. just made this for the first time , I think it turned out all right , I added focaccia spices tho and although it was a good idea I think I added to much lol , im now going to attempt another loaf

    Reply

  21. I am such a carb junkie. I was trying to think of what I wanted for dinner, I remembered your 1 hour bread. I thought “well as hungry as I am I can wait an hour”. It was worth it, I had 3 slices, my husband came home and had 2 slices. I’m going to take a loaf to the ladies night at our church, I was asked to bring a loaf of bread for a soup and bread night so here we go. I watch my 3 grand daughters week days, the oldest turned 3 last month and her twin sister turned 2 earlier this month, I need all the short cuts I can get. Oh yes and I love a rubbery crust with a soft middle, so good.
    Thank You,
    Liz

    Reply

  22. I made this bread for the first time today and it is seriously fool proof! Usually when I make new bread recipes I fail miserably the first time and have to try try again. But this one was good and easy!! I was I’ll for sure be making it again.

    Reply

      • I see on the webpage you linked with the original recipe it says to bake at 450 but you’re saying 425. Is 425 correct?

        Reply

          • Wow!! Just made this bread and it is awesome. I used bread flour instead of all purpose and did the kneading in my Kitchenaid with the dough hook; I added in Asiago cheese (1/2 cup small cubes to the dough); I have a “warm zone” on my stove, so I formed the loaf on a baking sheet, covered it and put it on top of the warm zone spot for about 1/2 hour. Then I coated the loaf with an egg wash and sprinkled it with 1/4 cup shredded Asiago. This was faster than a trip to Panera and knowing the ingredients makes it awesome!! Thank you Julie!! I’d give you 10 stars if I could!!

  23. Hello,

    I am wondering if the bread is supposed to come out dense or should it be lighter in texture inside? Mine came out dense and not sure how to make it lighter in texture.

    Reply

    • It’s certainly not as light as store bought. The more you knead it and the more it rises, the less dense. Hope that helps!

      Reply

  25. Okay this was a winner the third time around. The first was really dense, the second was better and the third was awesome. A small pie pan with water in it halfway up on the lower rack kept it softer, lowered the temp a bit and it was astounding. This is a winner with folks who do not tolerate sulfa’s ect. Don’t give up, you get the feel of it as you keep trying.

    Reply

    • Yea! So glad you kept trying! Each one will get better and better! Love your idea for the water in the oven. I’ll have to try that!

      Reply

  26. I just got done making this bread and it was a dream come true!!! All my previous non-bread-maker bread attempts turned into rocks but this one fluffed right up and came out so perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

    Reply

  31. Great bread! Used garlic powder as you recommended and it was very flavorful. Also put a small pan with water on bottom shelf as another suggested. Turned out wonderful. Will make again and again ☺

    Reply

    • I’ve used half whole wheat, half white once. it turned out fine. Different in all the ways you’d expect, but still yummy.

      Reply

  34. Can i use the same exact ingredients and use my Oster 2lb Expressbake breeadmaker ? mine is the model CKSTBRTW20
    or do i need to do this by hand?
    it has a french setting. the recipe in the manual is not the same as yours. says
    French Countryside Bread 2lb loaf-
    1 and 3/8 cups water
    1 and 1/2 tablespoons of veggie or olive oil
    1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt
    4 cups bread flour
    1 tablespoon sugar and 2 teaspoons active dry yeast.
    i never used a bread machine and i only have normal unbleached flour organic from Arthurs and normal yeast

    Reply

    • I’ve never used a bread machine either. The work by hand probably only takes 3 mins tops. Your call. Let me know how it works!

      Reply

  35. This bread is so great! I just made it. The only things I did differently, I let the dough rise for an hour and an egg wash then sprinkled some salad supreme seasoning over the top. Yowza! Thank you for Sharing!

    Reply

  36. I LOVE this recipe! I normally manage to ruin any bread i make but not this time! I tried this for the first time yesterday, instead of making a loaf i divided it up into 8 rolls – by bedtime they were all gone! Things don’t last long in a house with 3 hungry little boys aged 7 and under! I have made it again today and this time have made a loaf, it’s just finishing off in the oven now. A brilliant recipe, I’m so glad i found it – thanks so much 🙂

    Hi from England x

    Reply

    • Did you bake the rolls in a muffin pan or just put them on a flat baking pan? Do you remember how long it took to bake? I so want to do this. Love the taste of the bread.

      Reply

      • Hi there, i was randomly looking through this recipe again today and spotted your question about the rolls – sorry this probably months too late now!! Just in case though, i baked the rolls on a flat baking sheet, I’m not sure how long i baked them for i just checked them regularly until they looked done! I hope that helps, Rebecca x

        Reply

  37. I was excited that bread could be made in one hour. Sure was good. I baked the bread for 30 minutes and brushed the top with an egg wash. This is a definite remake.

    Thank you

    Reply

  38. I made this the other night, and cut the recipe in half since it was just the two of us and I didn’t know how it would keep. It came out perfectly! Can’t beat fresh bread! I ended up wrapping up a few pieces and it was still good a few days later.

    Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  39. Thanks for this! Breadmaker didn’t work today & you came to the rescue! …..an expat in Kazakhstan……

    Reply

  40. Made this for dinner tonight. Wow!! Delicious. I used King Arthur Unbleached flour and fast rise yeast. I mixed it in my stand mixer for about 5 minutes. Let it rise outside, covered (it’s warm and humid in Atlanta right now!!) Placed it on a sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkled with flour and parmesan cheese and dotted with butter like you suggested! I placed my ceramic baguette pan in the oven to heat with the oven. When it was hot, I popped the parchment and bread in the ceramic pan and poured 1 cup of water into a pan on the bottom shelf. (I’m a child of the 5 minute no knead bread!!) Anyway, it was so very good, crust had crunchy bits, interior was baked perfectly. I actually had to bake it an additional 15 minutes (which still puts it in that 1 hour limit!) I always make sure my bread interior is at least 200 degrees with an instant read thermometer. Works every time! The only thing I would change is THIS time, I would remember to add in the salt!! LOL! Not the first time I’ve accidently omitted it! This is a great bread, easy and yummy. Thank you so much! (I’m trying to give this a 5 star, but it only allows me to do a 4.

    Reply

  41. I made this tonight after a failed bread recipe earlier in the week (Yeast and I have a bad relationship) and it is SO GOOD. Excuse me while I go eat the whole loaf before anyone else gets home!

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  42. I did it and it was fantastic. Can you do the dough in the night, store it in the fridge and put it on the oven in the morning? It would be fantastic to have our bread just made for breakfast!

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  43. Mine didn’t turn out that great. I found it a tad bit salty and it flattened out a bit. So it is much wider and thin. Don’t know…

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  44. Thanks for the quick recipe! I used whole wheat flour instead of white and added a little more raw honey. It came our fine! I’m thankful to have a one hour bread recipe!!! 🙂

    Reply

  45. i just made it now with a twist of cinnamon. it really is so fantastic.so easy to make. thanks julie.
    yang from taiwan

    Reply

  46. I about to make this bread, looks yummy. I’m just curious about how much minced garlic or garlic powder did you use?

    Reply

    • Good question. I’m gonna guess and say 1 tablespoon of powder??? Fresh I’d probably do two-three cloves. Depends on your taste!

      Reply

  48. OMG just made this and added the garlic powder and also put butter with a little oregano and rosemary on top, my whole house smells delicious!

    Reply

  49. I have had the worst luck with bread, but this recipe was wonderful! Instead of kneading by hand, I did it with my Kitchen-aid Mixer and dough hook. I added a bit of flour, and kneaded until the dough was all clumped on the hook while I was mixing.
    Seriously, girl. This bread is my new “jam.” 😉 (Sorry I’m all about the puns!)
    Also, I heated my water to 125-135 degrees. I don’t know if that helps anyone else, but that has been a huge key to success for me!

    Reply

      • wow have just made this for the first time and we both loved it, so much better with the honey instead of sugar.. have sliced it and frozen some to see how it does as my husband is on a no bread diet at the moment lol so just saved a few slices and froze the rest..

        Reply

  50. I have made this three times now. Turns out great every time. Today I used one cup wholemeal flour and two and a half cups white flour……fabulous. Going to try adding cinnamon and raisins next time. I also substitute one teaspoon raw sugar for the honey and it doesn’t spoil the bread. So cheap to make too.
    Thank you sooooooooooo much for sharing, Julie. From Anne, Perth, Western Australia.

    Reply

  51. I made this recipe for the first time a few weeks ago and my family of five ate it up! They LOVED it! I am making it again today, and have it in the oven right now. Last time I dove in with my hands and mixed/kneaded it in the bowl. This time I used the kneading hook on my stand mixer, with the full 4.5 cups, and if there is any difference I will let you know. I’ve made French bread the “proper” way before, with a different recipe, 8 minutes of kneading and tons more rising time, and I’ve got to say– your recipe is better and easier and less time-consuming. That’s a win in my book! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

      • And now, more than a year after baking this bread for the very first time, I tried it with 1.5 cups whole wheat flour and 3 cups white flour. Yummmmmmmmm! Slather some butter on there while it’s still hot….. extra yummy! I can’t stop eating it! My husband can’t stop eating it either. I should whip up some honey butter and try it on a slice!

        Reply

  52. I only have the Active Dry Yeast packets. How many do I use, as the recipe says tablespoons? Excited to make today. THANK YOU

    Reply

      • I am trying this bread. Recipe calls for 1 Tbsp or 2 packs. But my packet contained very close to 1 Tbsp. Should I add the 2nd packet? I’ll be tryingbit tonight with just the one but for next time what would you suggest?

        Reply

  53. I just successfully made this bread and I am by no means any kind of wizard in the kitchen! I cut the recipe in half and it turned out great. Next time I make it, I will definitely spice it up with your suggestion of garlic and herbs and who knows what else! Thank you for sharing =)

    Reply

  54. I found your recipe on Pinterest and just had to test my bread making skills even though I own (and love!) a bread machine. Admittedly I was a bit skeptical I could have yeast bread in an hour, let alone fantastic tasting yeast bread, but I did. I used bread machine yeast as it was all I had and I kneaded only a few times to incorporate all the flour. This recipe yielded a huge loaf of bread but I can’t wait to eat the leftovers. Thank you!

    Reply

  55. ive made before so I will give this a go, Ive put 2x honey (by mistake) 4 cups of flour & I’ve needed it for 10 mins, I left it to rise for as long as possible. I will update you with the results 🙂

    Reply

  56. I came across this recipe and was intrigued by the one hour from start to finish. My grandson (11) and I like to cook together so we decided to try this. I set out all the ingredients and he did the rest. The bread came out perfect — crunchy crust and soft, yeasty tasting middle. I have since made it twice and both times were just as good. Next, I’m going to experiment making it into individual rolls. I probably will never make bread any other way again. So fast, so tasty!!!

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  57. Already made this bread twice this week! So yummy with the garlic salt and butter too. I’m not sure if I’ll ever try a more involved recipe again, this one’s just so easy. 🙂 thanks!

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  58. I was 100% prepared for this not to work…I am used to spending hours making bread…kneading for 10 minutes, letting it raise twice and cooking for a half hour. So I didn’t think that there was any way this was going to work. But I made some delicious tomato soup and I really wanted some bread to go with it. So I gave this a shot. I followed the recipe exactly (using 4 cups of flour) and it was PERFECT. I was very, very impressed. I can’t wait to play around with different additions. Thank you so much!

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  59. This was great!!! I am a skilled cook and baker; but, I hate making bread!! I do not like to knead. Well, I got a new Cuisinart hand mixer with dough hooks and wanted to try my hand at some home baked bread.I had my doubts about only one rise. but, what the heck, I have it a try. I halved the dough and put the other half in a oiled Ziploc for tomorrow. I was interested in seeing if there is a difference between the one rise and one that has risen twice. I can testify the one rise loaf turned out nice and light and very yummy.
    Can’t wait to taste tomorrow’s loaf. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.

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  60. Holy crap. I’ve baked a lot of bread in my life and this is by far the best. I didn’t have honey so I used molasses and used half wheat and half white flour. I needed some home made bread to make carmalized pumpkin French toast sticks for a brunch party tomorrow and this will be perfect. I’m going to have to make another load because my husband might eat all of this one!

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  61. Great recipe, made bread lots of times and this is one of the best, I kneaded it longer than called for because I had the time, but other than that followed the recipe, good stuff, thanks

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  62. Great bread!

    Another way to help it rise in really cold weather is half fill your kitchen sink with hot tap water, and place baking sheet across the top with bread on it to rise (covered with towel)… the steam and warmth underneath helps… but make sure no one comes in to wash up while its sitting there!!!!

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  64. I am a long time bread baker since my kids were little. Now I’m a “Nana” and i have to tell you, I’m Hooked. This is the easiest, best tasting bread I have made to date. Just made another loaf for pasta I made tonight. It is DELICIOUS! Fast and easy. Thank you.

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  65. I’m letting the dough rise right now! I decided to knead it twice since I had the time. And I’m going to rub it down with some olive oil before it bakes to try and get a yummy crust. Super excited to try!! ?

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  66. I don’t usually leave comments but I had to come back to tell you how wonderful this bread is!! I whipped it up during lunch while my kids ate and it was quick & easy. Did I mention delicious!? I added garlic powder like you suggested along with butter & oregano before baking. Oh goodness, this will become a weekly recipe! Thank you for sharing!!

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  67. I am an avid baker but gotta tell ya I love this bread! I double the recipe every time I make it and freeze one (freezes well by the way) I’ve added everything from spices herbs to cheese and jalapeños. We make everything from garlic bread to French Toast with it and it holds up beautifully! I give it as thank you gifts and it always gets rave reviews. I’ve shared it many times on Facebook and pintrest. Thanks for sharing it!

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  68. Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I made this bread last night with ZERO bread baking experience (I’d never even seen a yeast packet), and it turned out AMAZING, even though I forgot to cut slits in the top and just generally had no idea what I was doing 🙂 I added the garlic powder and oregano as you suggested and baked for 21 mins at 425 degrees. No idea how much flour I used haha. PERFECT bread!
    Thanks so much!
    -Katie

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  70. Just made this for the first time. 2 things I changed: 1. I used bread flour for the higher gluten content. 2, I let it rise for an hour, as it is a bit cool and dry in the house (The oven was otherwise occupied, else I would have created a makeshift proofer.). The bead is tasty, with a mild sweetness from the honey. The crumb was soft, with a good structure. Going to toast up slices later to go with the roasted cauliflower soup I’m making. Keeping this recipe; and may add some herbs or spices later on, to create different flavors. Highly recommended.

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  71. Not only was this bread easy but it was really good too! I would have sent you a picture but it was gone in a matter of seconds!

    The only thing i did differently was to put water in a shallow dish to give it steam but next time i wont. Also i let it rise a little longer.

    Thanks for the recipe!

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  72. Just made this bread today. I doubled the recipe to make two loaves as we are big bread lovers! I can’t believe how easy it was!! Sooo yummy. Great warm from the oven with a bit of butter and jam. Heaven.
    Thanks for the recipe, Rebecca.

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  74. Just made this in two loafs, one plain for my husband and one flavored with the garlic, onion, oregano and rosemary for me. We both love our loafs, so quick and easy, thank you for sharing this recipe.

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  75. I’m curious if my loaf will turn out, I forgot the first part where you wait 10 minutes till some kindof foam appears. I guess we’ll see 😀

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  76. Just made this today and it was the BEST bread I ever made. Read through the comments and used Fast Rise yeast, Bread Flour, and used my Kitchen Aide to knead for about 7 minutes I divided into 2 loaves, used cornmeal on the bottom of the cookie sheet, and covered with butter once it came out of the oven (20 minutes). Can’t wait to try some of the other ingredients (rosemary, cinnamon, etc) So easy and went perfect with my homemade soup. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  77. Looks easy and delicious. I used to make bread a lot, but haven’t for years. This inspires me to try again. But there are 5 ingredients. Water is the ingredient that I assume you missed counting. Since many people in the world don’t have easy access to water, especially clean water, often having to buy it you need to include it in your ingredient count.

    Thank you

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    • Not sure how the number of ingredients listed in an obscure bread recipe on some blog effects the world’s greatest health crisis. Pretty sure if they don’t have access to water they don’t have access to my blog. I am acutely aware of the dire need for safe drinking water as my brother has dedicated his life to bringing it to some of the most danger situations on earth. You can read more about that here and feel free to donate!

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  78. Found this recipe on Pinterest, and it’s just perfect for all those days I forget to start yeast bread early enough in the day! Everyone I serve it to can’t get enough of it. I’ve substituted organic maple syrup or molasses for the honey and it always turns out great!

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  81. I made this bread last night and it turned out perfect! I like to dabble in baking all sorts of things, including bread, and this is a great bread when you don’t have all day to bake. My husband isn’t a bread eater (what on earth is WRONG with him??), but he tried it and couldn’t get enough! I can’t wait to try it with different herbs and maybe some shredded cheese. Thanks for sharing.

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  82. Well, I managed to mess this up! I forgot the salt (oops!) and decided to get fancy with the shape, making a round loaf with decorative scoring on top. Changing the shape threw the cooking time way off and I had to cut it open to see if it was done. In the end, it was delicious, but I will be sticking to your recipe/method in the future!!

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    • Oh no! Yeah, that is veering a bit far off from the plan! Give it another try and I’m sure it’ll work out!

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  84. Thank you for this recipe. I used it as inspiration and adjusted it to the type of flour I use and my oven (fan-forced, but still baked it at 200 degrees Celsius). I kneaded by hand/with a kneading spoon and added the full 4 1/2 cups of flour. Baked it in a Dutch oven w/o lid and added an extra ten minutes to the suggested baking time. It came out perfectly – crusty enough on the outside and soft inside. You just have to play around a little with the recipe. Thanks!!

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  85. This recipe totally works for me at the high altitude of Albuquerque! I use the minimum amount of flour and let it rise and bake a few extra minutes, each. Thanks for sharing!

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  86. I used Fleischmann’s Instant Dry Yeast. The Package says 2 1/4 tsp = 1 packet highly active dry yeast.
    I used 1 tablespoon as per your recipe but it did not rise well. I saw in the comments that you need to knead it for 7 minutes – I did not see that until it was in the oven.

    There was quite a bit of foam before I added the flour. Maybe I waited too long to add the flour?
    Any thoughts?
    Thanks,

    Reply

    • Hmm. Maybe there’s a difference between the highly active and the regular yeast? No idea. I definitely don’t knead it for 7 minutes. I just work the flour in and I’m done messing with it once it’s all mixed in. (Maybe two minutes?) I have found I have trouble with it rising if it’s chilly in my kitchen. Try letting it rise in a warming spot perhaps. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!

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  88. First of all, this bread is soooo easy to make. I usually make my bread the “old fashioned” way with kneading and letting it rise twice. None of that with this bread. Second of all, it is so good it is addicting!! Try it once and you will never stop making it.

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  89. Oh my goodness! This bread was amazing! I used bread flour because I had some, and also covered the top with olive oil and rosemary. I could have eaten the entire loaf! It paired so well with the vegetable barley soup we regularly have and I know that this bread will be made often! It was easy enough for my 2-year old to help! Thank you for sharing!

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  90. I was starving and only has olives and cheese but no bread in the house so I looked up an ez bread recipe. I’ve never made bread in my life and as I put the dough in the oven I was thinking I better order pizza but to my surprise The most beautiful bread came out of my oven. Actually best bread I ever ate. Thank you for the recipe and I will never buy bread again this was so easy and tasty. I’m still so shocked that I made it. ??????????

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  91. I made this last night and it was delicious! I added some roasted garlic I had left over from another recipe and sprinkled graded Parmesan over the top. I’m now thinking of other additions! Thanks so much for this great recipe!

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  92. OMG! This bread was sooo tastey! much better then alot of other bread I tried to make, its so easy and fool proof!

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  93. I used this recipe with my class of 30, 9 year olds, and every single child produced a lovely-looking (and tasting!) loaf of bread to take home. Perfect, and so, so easy – thank you! x

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  94. Lovely bread and a nice quick recipe thank you. I put too much yeast in it, and it still turned out okay.

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  95. Oh. My. Word. I made a loaf last night for the first time, as an accompaniment to dinner, adding garlic powder to the dough and chunks of butter and oregano on top as you suggested and I just cannot believe how amazing it tasted. It was perfect. My husband and I could have just skipped dinner and eaten the bread! It was that fantastic. And it looked and smelled so beautiful — wish I could post a picture! Even when I thought I’d messed it up, it still worked — talk about foolproof! Thank you. Can’t wait to try some other variations — I’m thinking sun-dried tomato and olive bread. Have you ever made it with wholemeal flour? Hubby thinks we should just stop buying bread and have me bake this all the time instead!

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  96. Made this last night. Was amazing! Sprinkled olive oil, garlic and sesame seeds on top before baking and was delicious. Seriously the best! And so easy too! Thank you!!

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  98. I just want to tell you that finding this recipe has greatly improved my love of making bread! I’ve always liked to bake but making bread always seemed so daunting and most recipes out there take hours or all day to make. Honestly with 2 little ones at home that is almost impossible for me. I’ve made this recipe every morning for the past 3 days! I have some huge bread lovers in the house and they are thrilled. It feels amazing to finally have a reliable bread recipe. I can get up in the morning and have it made for breakfast it’s so easy! The only things I’ve changed are adding a Tbsp of sugar instead of honey because I’m out of honey and I’ve used instant yeast instead of active dry but the bread has been great anyway. Thank you so much for posting this!

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    • Amy, that’s wonderful! I love giving my readers ways to make life more simple. Who needs complicated!?! You enjoy those little ones. I totally know how much work they are!

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  99. This is a fail proof recepie! The dough is perfect and it really doesn’t take note the an hour to make! I love it. Thank you for sharing.

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  101. This was indeed very quick and easy but I found the taste to be too yeast-y. I would like to cut the yeast in half but I’m afraid it would end up even denser.

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  102. help – what happens if the yeast/water/salt/honey mixture doesn’t get bubbly on top? Does that mean the water wasn’t warm enough by the time I got all the ingredients in there? And is there anything I can do to save it?

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  103. Tried this recipe today and it turned out great. I think i may have needed to mix it a little more though. I only used 3 1/2 cups of flour. I am a very novice bread maker so it might be good to let people know its ok to stir the yeast. I wasn’t sure if i needed to do that or not, but was able to easily Google it. Other then not putting enough oil on the baking pan it turned out great and will make a nice addition to our spaghetti dinner tonight! Thanks for the recipe 🙂

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  104. Thank you! This is the first bread I’ve successfully made, my second attempt. I made it with my 5-year old boy and he had fun. We have a crappy oven that doesn’t close properly and doesn’t always do recipe timing very well – but I just opened the oven and it looks great!

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  107. Not being in a hurry, I halved the yeast to the standard ratio and gave it more time to rise. I also substituted part of the flour with fine whole wheat. The bread turned out perfectly, and I will definitely be using this as a base recipe for further experiments! Thank you for sharing it.

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  110. I bake bread ALOT. NO MACHINE. I love my recipe and will always use it but have forever wanted something that was quick and didnt take all day. I tried this tonight and (as I feared) my dough disnt rise in time. It is cold today but I’m going to bake it anyway. Just for kicks. And get again tomorrow. Questiins is. When you say combine the qaywr and etc. Sonypu actually stir or mix the yeast and watwr miztire. Then wait. Or do you just put it all on top of the water. Maybe that is where I went wrong. Its drivinf me crazy because I am a baker and my kids are razing me right now. Lol. Thanks

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    • Great recipe! I modified it a bit and used it as a birthday party activity for my 9-year-old and her scout troop! Tasted great and easy enough for the kids to do with minimal supervision. Thanks for sharing!

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  111. When you are trying to live a wheat and carb free life and suddenly you come across this recipe. I came across this blog about a month ago and in the process discovered this bread. This bread definitely ranks amongst some of the best bread I have had, so delicious, stores well and so easy and quick to make, people can’t believe that I make it myself in less than an hour. Such a treat and soooooo yummy. Thank you for sharing this. to personalize it, I put blocks of garlic and herb butter in the middle before I braid it and the result is yummy-buttery-garlicky goodness.

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  112. Oh em gee!! This was sooo delicious. I came across this recipe as I was looking for a quick dinner bread. It certainly did deliver. I made this for my in-laws and there was not one morsel left. I doubled the recommended amount of honey so it would have a more sweet flavor. It was an absolute hit! I will make this again.

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  113. So, I felt I should tell you. This bread, from this blog, was the first thing I have ever baked. Ever. Got up this morning, looked at my kitchen, and looked up a recipe. Found this page. Made this bread. It likely isn’t anywhere as good as would have been made any of the other people who have commented on this page, but the nerd-herd of bachelors I live with have declared they like it. It survived about 20 minutes from leaving the oven to last crumb eaten.
    So, thank you. If it means anything at all, where ever my bread-making journey takes me in the coming years, it started here. With you and your page.

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  114. This was amazing! I’ve tried other recipes and this one wins by far. I did not kneed nearly as long as I should have, after reading other comments, and it tasted awesome! It was easy, fast, and tasted great. I don’t like that yeasty tasted, and this recipe didn’t have it. Thank you!

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  115. We made this bread with an elementary cooking class I run at our church. Most mixed in 1 tablespoon of garlic powder, however that did not seem to make much difference. How much do you suggest?
    The kids were eating it before going home and several parents asked for the recipe to use at home with their child. Very successful. Used fresh chopped oregano top after buttering the crust as soon as it came out of the oven.

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  116. Thank you for sharing! I just made this and it is so good. My husband and son and I ate half the loaf before it was even cooled down! This will be my go-to bread from now on.

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  117. I am a very, very novice bread baker. Just getting into it. I didn’t see anywhere in the recipe what kind of vessel you use to bake this bread in. I tried it for the first time and used an oval stone pot, which I’ve used for the “No Knead” bread, and it totally stuck to the bottom. What is the best pan to bake this in?

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  119. Made this last night. Gave it a 30 minute prove in the heating control cupboard. It rose well in proving and ballooned when baking. I gave it the full 20 minutes baking time and it came out a little doughy and under done. I will try again tonight and and make sure the oven is at temperature before putting the bread in and waiting for it to brown a little

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  120. Just made this for the first time. First tip, use a nice wide bowl. I used my Pampered Chef batter bowl and ended up wearing dough gloves as it was not wide enough to knead properly! When I got the bread out, I left it for 10 mins then couldn’t get it off the baking tray. Eventually I praised it off, it was still soft in the middle, so I put it in the oven upside down for another 10 mins. Still a bit doughy in the middle but the taste and crust are fab! I don’t have a stand mixer, but my hand mixer has dough hooks so I might use that for mixing next time.

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  121. I made this bread tonight, it was my first loaf of bread and I did ok, but it needs help. Can someone tell me why my bread tasted like it needed more salt, it was bland? I also found it to be a bit heavy. It did rise and baked perfectly but when I tasted it, it was a little heavy and there was a bland taste. I added only 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, as the recipe calls for, but I must have done something wrong. I used all-purpose flour, maybe that is the problem. Any help is appreciated, as I will try to make this again this week. Two things I wasn’t sure about, how do you know when the yeast mixture is done? I had bubbles on top but how many bubbles should be on the top? Also, how do you know when it is done rising? Does it double in size? I think I didn’t let it rise long enough.

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  122. This was so easy and came out great!! I halved the recipe. I did add about a tablespoon of garlic powder, some pepper, herbs de province, and nutritional yeast. Also brushed the top with some egg wash before baking. Will definitely use this recipe again!!

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  124. Caramel rolls. Soft, perfect FAST, ooey gooey caramel pecan rolls. I use this recipe a lot, but this was a whole new level. Thank you!

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  125. HI there – thanks for posting this recipe! My daughter (11yo) and I made this for thanksgiving, liked it so much that my daughter (on her own!) made two loaves yesterday to share at her Girl Scouts Christmas party! Thanks again 🙂

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  126. Was expecting guests for supper and thought I needed bread. Found your recipe, made it, loved it….thanks for sharing. I followed as is and will do again.

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    • I believe some of the commentors tried it and it worked, but I can’t vouch for it! (I’m not about to read all the comments either! 😉 )

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  129. I found this on Pinterest and have made it a few times. Sometimes with the garlic powder, sometimes without. It’s delicious either way. Today is a snow day and I have a loaf in the oven, I used some egg wash on top and added sesame seeds. It smells delicious. Thank you for the recipe.

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  130. Just took this out of the oven. The actual printed recipe didn’t say anything about shaping the loaf before baking so I put the rounded blob of dough on my pizza stone and stuck it in the oven. Will try this for dinner tonight. Next time I will know to shape the dough before baking

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  131. Add 1/4 cup of powdered buttermilk or milk to the flour for a richer bread.
    I let this rise 2x instead of once for a better product in the end… and it only adds a bit more time.

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  132. Came across this recipe a few months ago and haven’t bought bread from the store since! Thank you! Awesome, awesome bread!

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    • I made this bread for my wife tonight and it was EPIC! Added 1 T pampered chef Italian spice, 1 T garlic powder, buttered top and sprinkled on oregano. For the future will consider jelly-rolling the dough with slices of sharp cheddar and adding chopped garlic inside. Used fast rising yeast and it works perfectly. Really, use this recipe then tell your guests it took half a day. They don’t need to know.

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  133. I just tried this – this is my third attempt at bread in general. I used 107F water for the liquid step (I boiled water, let it sit for a few minutes, and poured 1/2 cup into a liquid measuring cup… checked water temp and it was 170F. poured 1/2 cup room temperature water in, and checked again… still too high… poured 1/2 cup more in and it was 107F. exact amount of water needed, perfect yeast temperature) and covered it for about 15-20 mins while the yeast did its magic (covered it mainly because my kitchen was 65F and I didn’t want it getting too cold and taking longer to work). By the end there was a kind of round brick of yeast sitting on top of the water.

    I only used 3 cups of flour, not even the 3-1/2 minimum suggested, because the way I mixed it the dough was not sticky at all. I poured the flour slowly on top of the water in the bowl (same size glass bowl as in the pictures) and then started poking down at a corner with a spoon and getting some flour wet, and going around and around like that (kind of like setting the egg in an omelette if it’s too runny on top) and eventually using the spoon to turn it all over and scrape the flour off the bottom into the mixture. It was broken up into different clumps, so I used the spoon to press it all down into one big mound.

    I was only going to let it rise for about 25 minutes – and it definitely did rise almost 2x in that time – but I had to go to dinner, so I left the dough for a total of about an hour and 40 minutes, and it ended up rising over 3x in volume. So definitely let the dough sit for as long as you can afford to for more yeasty magic! I would use lots of tinfoil or plastic though, as the lid I had on top of the bowl definitely was pushed off with dough spilling over the rim.

    I kind of wish I had put the whole 3-1/2 cups of flour in so I had more bread, but I certainly didn’t need it. I pulled out two pyrex bread pans, floured the bottoms of the pans, cut the dough in half, plopped each half into a pan, and patted the dough all around with extra flour. Scored ’em and popped ’em into the preheated 400F oven (you shouldn’t put pyrex into an oven unless it’s preheated).

    They both rose upwards a bit more than they did outwards, and I definitely gave them as much time as I could to see if they would get brown, but they really don’t develop much color (similar to the pics). And they seemed to still not be fully cooked even after 20 mins, but I’m chalking that up to the lack of flour (which means they had more water than usual). Next time I’ll try 425 to see if I get the same result with a darker crust. And I’d also like to try it in a sealed container like other no-knead bread.

    I don’t need to tell you how it turned out, there’s plenty of commenters here attesting to it. I just feel like I learned a whole new skill! Bread in an hour!!!

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  134. Only the second bread I have ever made….easy, smells good and the whole household is waiting for it to cool so they can get stuck in! Will post a picture on my pinterest link to here…thank you…amazing! xx

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  136. I admit, I really didn’t think it would work, but I wanted bread to go with my soup dinner, and I didn’t have much time. So I dug the dough hooks to my mixer out (I’d never used them), and got to work. I made one large loaf to keep, them I made another batch into 2 smaller loaves for others. I did put a pan of water on rack under bread as it was baking, and when it was done I rubbed butter over the top.
    OH. MY. GOODNESS!! This bread is amazing. Fabulous. Wonderful!! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.

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  138. this was my first time making bread by hand and it turned out! a bit of a learning curve as i initially set it to rise, and realized it was still too sticky. i added more flour and kneaded it for about 5 more minutes and i let it rise a while on the stove while i was baking something else. i love that we can have fresh baked bread whenever we would like at a fraction of the cost of buying it!!
    thank you so much!

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  139. I have yet still to make my own French bread by hand, I have a bread machine and that’s why I always end up just being lazy but I am definitely going to try yours Julie, after all it’s easy peesy! Thanks!

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  140. Great bread, haven’t had a bite yet but smells good, nice crumb. Only problem – my Pyrex plate is not big enough for it to expand properly… Maybe next time I will separate it into two loaves. Btw, I didn’t bother measuring the flour, just stir flour spoonful by spoonful until the dough is manageable.

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  141. I just tried this recipe and my bread came out so perfect. It’s so delicious. Half way through baking I brush the top of the bread with a little melted butter. My family ate it all up in one meal it was so good. Thank you for such a perfect foolproof recipe.
    Sandy 😀

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  142. Just wanted to let you know that I make this bread ALL the time and love it! I have a super thin husband that decides when he wants dinner that it needs to be ready pretty quick and this is the key! One thing I always do is add a few ice cubes when I am baking it to make the crust a little bit crunchier. Awesome recipe!!

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  143. I’ve made this my go-to recipe, the speed is fantastic. My non-cooking 14 year old is making this right now. Easy ingredients and instructions, she’s going to be excited when it’s done. Thank you for a basic, simple, delicious recipe!

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  144. This is my first time making bread and I have now made this recipe three times (in the same week haha). I learned that I get better results when I knead the dough for a good ten minutes at least and that the bread looks more like yours when I sprinkle extra flour on top before it rests for 20 minutes (gives a much nicer crust). Not sure if it is my fault or if it is just our oven but I need to bake the bread for 45 minutes or so, otherwise it’s still moist inside and the crust is not much to speak of. Probably just the oven! Sprinkling butter on top gave me the bread more like a spotty giraffe look and I have settled on not adding the butter. So interesting how it’s different for everybody! A great recipe though. Bread is always gone in a day.

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  145. This was awesome!! My son said it’s the best bread I have ever made. I have to agree. Looking forward to trying different variations. This is now my go-to bread recipe. Thanks!

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  146. This is my go-to recipe when I need to bring something to a dinner and want it to look fancy! It’s so delicious and you can add so many different things to it to make different flavour variations! I recommend this recipe to everyone I know!

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  147. This is my first time baking bread and it turned out lovely! Thank you for sharing a simple and delicious recipe that wasn’t too daunting for a new baker like me.

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    • I’m new to baking too. I recently purchased a bread machine but wanted to try baking bread in the oven. This recipe looked perfect. I decided to halve the recipe and tried using just one teaspoon of active dry yeast since we live at 8000 feet. The bread came out perhaps a little underdone after 18 minutes at 400 degrees. I think I might try a higher temperature next time. It tastes great!

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    • Same here! We turned ours into garlic and herb bread and it turned out AMAZING!! Thanks so much! We will definitely be making this again 🙌🏻

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  148. I’m just wondering if bread machine yeast will work. It’s all I have right now and would I use the same amount?

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  149. Wow! It was super easy and quick! Baked at 195C in fan forced (next time will lower to 190C and maybe bake for 25min not 20min (it was 95% perfect!) just the middle was a touch wet only when you compress with fingers. So really it was almost perfect! Thank you will bake again!

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  152. Excellent bread I made it and I cooked it outside in my Green Mountain Grill giving it some smoke flavor and add shredded parmesan cheese on top the last 5 minutes.

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  153. This is my first time baking bread and I’m so excited about it! This is a good recipe for a first time bread maker. Very tasty and easily customizable if you desire. I’m definitely jazzed to try more bread recipes after having made this one!

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  154. This is my go-to bread recipe! I change it up by using agave instead of honey and it’s perfect every time.

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  155. Julie thank you so much! This recipe has blown away all the bread making myths; I have unsuccessfully tried full on baguette recipes but this one worked first time! And no honey added either. Great accompaniment to griddled provolone .

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  156. Julie, that’s the perfect French bread recipe for every beginner. And the quantities are perfect, everyone in my family adores bread just as much as I do. I’m always thrilled with simple recipes that even a newbie can nail from the first time. Thanks!

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  157. I just made two batches of this. Both times my dough came out stringy, i used the 1 1/2 cups of warm water, and 3 cups of flour the first time, and the 2nd time i used 4 cups to see if there was a difference. Maybe i used too much flour? It did not combine all to well. I put it together the best i could and baked them. They came out crusty and delicious, so i’m happy 🙂 I would rather eat this than the stuff at the store that has 25+ ingredients 🙂 Thanks! It’s a keeper.

    Reply

  158. I can’t wait to try this recipe. I saw Suzanna’s comment that she makes a 2 hour bread recipe. If she sends you that I would love to try it also. Thank you for your recipe!

    Reply

  159. I’ve made this before, but recently I’ve switched to whole wheat flour. Has anyone tried with whole wheat all purpose flour? Wondering on the amount needed

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  160. This is my new favorite bread recipe – and VERY easy and QUICK to make! Thank you!

    I did a GLUTEN Free version the first time with Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 flour (supposed to be a 1-1 substitute for regular flour). It was yummy, but dense- I won’t say brickish because it was delicious, but the texture was almost like bagels. yum!

    The 2nd time I made the breads, I used 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill flour but ran out of that flour so I used Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix for the other 2 to 2.5 and a half cups. Great discovery! This made the bread rise more because this particular Pamela’s mix has baking soda in it. The resulting loaves were soft and moist on the inside. Not exactly like French bread, but like a very delicious home baked moist bread.

    A note about varying toppings — After I formed 2 separate loaves and before rising, I coated one loaf in olive oil and then lavishly covered it with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic powder, salt and pepper. The other loaf I coated with melted butter and then rolled it in brown sugar and cinnamon. Then I let them rise and bake for the 20 min. These toppings really made these breads amazing.

    Also, I subbed 1 tbsp maple syrup for the honey the 2nd time I made the bread and it worked well too.

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  161. Hi, I love this recipe and my bread was amazing so thank you! How do I calculate it for a smaller loaf though? Say half the size?

    Thanks,

    Al

    Reply

  162. This was my first time making bread and it turned out amazing!!! I put butter, garlic salt and oregano on top before I put it in the over. Oh my goodness it’s amazing!! I’m trying to not eat the whole thing before my husband gets home!! I definitely will use this reciepe more!!

    Reply

  165. Hi and thank you! I am a disaster in the kitchen and miss Brad came out they really well for me the very first time! I have a question though. It says 1 tablespoon of yeast and then it says two packets. Are used one packet because it was close to a tablespoon and I was afraid to use too much. Would you error on the lower side or the higher side ? Thank you! Lori ( I am not dependably on email but I will leave it as requested below .)

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  166. Amazingly easy and quick! I’ve made it several times and each time changed up the ingredients. I’ve been baking bread for a while, but his is by far my favorite. Baking it today, and going to add an egg wash to brown it up nicely.

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  168. This is a good bread recipe for any beginner. I am fairly new to bread making and by no means an expert but I have learned a few things that have improved my bread making skills so I thought I’d share. First, add the salt to the flour, not the yeast/water/honey mixture. Second, make sure your yeast blooms. This is very important. If your yeast doesn’t look like her pic, pitch it and start over. Your yeast was either bad/expired or your water was too hot or too cold. Third, the more you knead, the better the result. When the dough gets to the consistency she describes, let you mixer keep kneading while you prepare your pan/oven. Place your pan (in my case I use a cast iron pizza pan) in the oven and set the temp at 425. Next lay a piece of parchment paper on your work surface then stop your mixer. Place the dough on the parchment paper and shape into a loaf. Cover and let rise on top of your stovetop for 20 minutes or so (this is also the minimum amount of time to let your oven/pan preheat). It should be double in size after 20 mins. Once it has risen place the dough on the pan…just lift the parchment paper onto the pan. Now take 3-4 ice cubes and place them in the bottom of the oven. This will create the steam neccessary to achieve that beautiful crust. Cook for 15-20 mins and viola, good french bread an about an hour. If you did something that affected the texture but the taste is good, don’t pitch it! Make bread pudding, or cut into cubes for croutons or stuffing mix. You can also slice and make french toast, or my personal favorite, mix melted butter and minced garlic together, brush the mixture on the sliced bread then grate some fresh parm over the slices then bake/broil…makes awesome garlic bread. My family can attest as they have eaten a lot of garlic bread due to all of my bread making blunders. If all else fails make bread crumbs. Yes, I have had my fair share of flops but I learned what to do and not do. I also learned how to turn many a failure into much success!

    This particular loaf was a great accompaniment to my beef and barley soup. Yum! Thanks for sharing!

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  169. I have made this with chopped olives and feta cheese, TO DIE FOR! I have made this with pepperoni and mozzarella, OMG!!! I have made this with chopped dates, makes awesome breakfast toast. I have made this with many other combinations of spices, fruits, meats, veggies. This the most amazing recipe ever, and the fact that start to finish is one hour, it’s great for last minute get togethers!!!! Thank you for bringing this recipe into my life!!!!

    Reply

      • Hi Julie,

        I am curious about what is listed for the nutritional info. It says 540 calories? But 4 cups of flour is like 1700 calories alone… Can you clarify? Am I reading it wrong?

        Thanks!

        Reply

    • Great ideas! Ive made this bread dozens of times now but have only played with variance in flour. Thanks for sharing these add-ins Kenn! Can’t wait to try the feta and olives

      Reply

  170. I’ve never made bread before– Needed a starch for dinner and gave this a try- SO easy and my family of 5 gobbled up the whole loaf in one night! Thank you!!!

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  171. I’ll admit I was skeptical. But this recipe is everything you would hope it would be. The crust was crisp but not hard, the inside chewy and soft. I will make this again (and again). And yes, it was THAT fast 🙂 Thank you!

    Reply

  172. I made this last night to go with some pasta, I used my kitchen aid, and let it knead the dough for about 5mins.
    I let it rise for about 40mins, because I wasn’t in a rush.
    It turned out very well. My husband (and toddler) loved it. He said it was the best quick load I’d made in a while. It wasn’t as yeasty as some of the other ones that I have tried. Last night was my first night making the recipe, but I will definitely make it again.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  174. I made this last night to go with some soup and it was pretty good for bread made in an hour. I’m hoping next time I make it I have two hours (or at least an hour and a half) because IMHO it could use a second rise. Mine still tasted a bit “floury”, but I think an additional rise would take care of that. Thank you for a quick option for yeast bread!

    Reply

  175. Questions
    Is it okay to use stand mixer as opposed to hand kneading?
    And I am down to seven teeth(not a toddler..way the heck the other end of the age spectrum)
    Will this bread be soft enough to chew,or rather gum?
    Looks delicious

    Reply

  176. Ok like a lot of the other bakers I was very intimidated about making bread, tried many times in the past, I even used a bread maker but still no success 😕, until now, OMG! I couldn’t believe it, I actually made bread, it’s so good and so easy I’m making it every 2 -3 days my husband can not get enough of it. So Success at last . My only problem is that I am finding the bottom is sticking to the tray I’ve tried fouring the tray but still ni luck what am I doing wrong? .any advice

    Reply

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  41. […] And then came the first part of the solution I needed. As we were doing a bit of house and pet-sitting over winter, we took the opportunity of having access to an oven to make our own bread. One day as I was late to prepare dinner before Tobi would come home late from work, I looked online for a quick and easy bread recipe and was lucky enough to find this amazing recipe: https://www.mymundaneandmiraculouslife.com/foodie-fridays-easy-peesy-french-bread/ […]

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