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Home » Breads » Crusty French Bread (Bread Machine)

Crusty French Bread (Bread Machine)

By Chula King · July 8, 2017 · Updated April 9, 2021 22 Comments

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Crusty French Bread

The awesome aroma of freshly baked bread by itself will inspire you make this Crusty French Bread time and time again. However, once you taste it, you’ll definitely be hooked. It only has five ingredients, and the bread machine does most of the work!

Crusty French Bread

Generally, Saturdays at my house are focused, in part, on making bread. Susan asked if I would make some sandwich size French bread for Jambon et Fromage. I said absolutely! I’m making lasagna for dinner. Therefore, the timing was perfect. I used this versatile dough for not only the smaller loaves of bread for Susan, but also a larger loaf for dinner!

Making the Dough for the Crusty French Bread:

I used the following five ingredients: Filtered water, Kosher salt, granulated sugar, bread flour, and instant yeast. I’ve learned through the years that the way to ensure perfect bread every time is to weigh the ingredients.

Ingredients for Crusty French Bread

I added the five ingredients in the order listed to the pan of my bread machine, and set the bread machine on the dough cycle. After the dough cycle finished, I removed the dough to a floured piece of wax paper. The dough weighed a little over 24 ounces. I cut it into four equal sized pieces that were roughly 4 ounces each for the smaller baguettes. I was left with an 8 ounce piece for the larger baguette.

Cutting the dough for the Crusty French Bread

Forming the Dough into Baguette Shapes:

Working with one piece at a time, I patted the dough into a rough rectangle on a well floured piece of wax paper. Then I folded the long end toward me, and pinched the two sides together. I patted the dough again into a rough rectangle, and repeated the folding and pinching. Next, I rolled the dough back and forth on the floured surface to ensure that all edges were sealed. I repeated this with the remaining dough.

Then, I placed the four pieces that were 8-inches long for the sandwich size baguettes into the wells of my baguette pan. I placed the 12-inch piece onto parchment lined perforated French bread pan.

Dough ready for rise

Finishing Steps for Crusty French Bread:

I consistently follow Julia Child’s advice for the perfect environment for the bread to rise. Specifically, I turn on my electric oven for exactly 1 minute and 45 seconds. After I turned the oven off, I placed the dough into the oven for about one hour to allow it to rise. Before baking the baguettes, I misted them with water and slashed each one three times with a sharp knife to allow further rise in the oven.

Update: There have been some comments that when the bread is slashed, it deflates. This will occur if you’re not ultra fast with the slashing. Laterally, what I do is to slash the dough once the baguettes are formed. It pretty much serves the same purpose and no deflating!

Slashing the Crusty French Bread prior to baking

I popped the Crusty French Bread into a preheated 400° F oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, the bread was golden brown and perfectly cooked. I placed the bread on a wire rack to allow it to cool completely.

Crusty French Bread cooling on wire rack

I don’t think that there has been a time when I made the French Bread that I didn’t marvel at the result. This was no exception! I ended up with four baguettes that were the perfect size for Susan’s Jambon et Fromage, and one larger one for dinner. Yum!

Crusty French Bread

Crusty French Bread

Crusty French Bread (Bread Machine)

The awesome aroma of freshly baked bread by itself will inspire you make this Crusty French Bread time and time again. However, once you taste it, you’ll definitely be hooked. It only has five ingredients, and the bread machine does most of the work!
4.93 from 14 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American, French
Prep Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 115kcal
Author: Chula King

Ingredients

  • 1 cup plus 3 1/2 Tablespoons 9.75 ounces, 276 grams filtered water
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 Tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 3 cups (15 ounces, 425 grams) bread flour
  • 1/2 Tablespoon instant yeast

Instructions

  • Add ingredients to bread machine pan in the order listed. Select Dough cycle, and press start.
  • When the Dough cycle has completed, place dough on floured surface. Pat down, and cut dough into pieces. The weight depends on what you're making. For this recipe, cut into four 4-ounce pieces, and one 8-ounce piece. With each piece, pat dough onto a rectangle. Roll the long side, forming a cylinder. Press edges together, and continue to shape into loaf with tapered ends. Place on baguette pan. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.
  • Heat electric oven for exactly 1 minute, 45 seconds. Place baguettes into oven for 1 hour, or until double in size. Mist with water and make 2 to 3 make deep diagonal slashes across loaves with a sharp knife of razor blade. (See Tip 1)
  • Preheat oven to 400° F. When oven has reached temperature, place in oven; bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
  • Yield: 4 individual baguettes, and 1 large baguette.

Chula's Expert Tips

  1. To avoid the deflating that often occurs when the bread is slashed right before putting it in the oven, I often go ahead and slash it once the baguettes have been formed. This way - no deflating!

Nutrition

Calories: 115kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Sodium: 291mg | Potassium: 31mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment below and/or give this recipe a rating. On Instagram? Take a picture and tag @pudgefactor or #pudgefactor.

Filed Under: Breads

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    April 30, 2020 at 3:10 pm

    5 stars
    Turned out perfect!!

  2. Chula King says

    April 30, 2020 at 3:33 pm

    Outstanding! I make this bread several times a month. It’s always amazing.

  3. Jeju Green says

    May 28, 2020 at 10:22 am

    I made this bread it did not come out the way I would have liked because the instructions are a little confusing. When it suggest to turn on the oven for 1 min and 45 mins but does not say at what temp???? This is before the raising.

    (Heat electric oven for exactly 1 minute, 45 seconds. Place baguettes into oven for 1 hour, or until double in size. Mist with water and make 2 to 3 make deep diagonal slashes across loaves with a sharp knife of razor blade.)

    Could you pls specify? Thank you!!!

  4. Chula King says

    May 28, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    Jeju, when you turn on a cold electric oven, the minute and 45 seconds just serves to warm the interior, not reach a specific temperature. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what temperature you set the oven on because you are not wanting to reach that temperature. If you want to set a temperature, then set the oven at 350°F, but again, all you are doing is to warm the oven. For my specific oven, the starting temperature when I turn it on is 100°F. After 1 minute and 45 seconds, the temperature just starts to rise above 100°F. That’s when I turn the oven off. Hope this helps.

  5. Anonymous says

    June 20, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    5 stars
    Yes it makes sense thank you for clarifying 🙂
    I have been making them again every week! My family love them, especially my husband (he is French) he says this is the closest to French Baguette Thank you!

  6. Chula King says

    June 20, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    WOW – I thought that it was close to what I remembered from visiting Paris. Thanks for letting me know your husband’s view on this.

    Chula

  7. Lisa says

    July 3, 2020 at 2:16 pm

    Hello! What bread maker do you use? My Spanish mom has been on the hunt for a bread maker specifically for baguettes for a long time. All the ones we seem to find are for the larger French bread types of loafs and we are trying to make the crispier baguettes that are more traditional, Based on the pics and previous reviews, we are very interested in trying your recipe and bread maker.

    Thanks!
    Lisa and Maricarmen

  8. Chula King says

    July 3, 2020 at 3:59 pm

    Hi Lisa,

    My bread machine is the Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Breadmaker. I use the dough cycle on the bread machine to mix and knead the dough, and allow for the first rise. At the end of the dough cycle (1 hour and 40 minutes), I remove the dough from the bread machine and form it into the baguettes. I’ve been using the simple recipe in the post for a long time, and always weigh the water and the flour – it always turns out perfectly. I use the same dough to make rolls.

    Let me know if you have any more questions.

    Chula

  9. Mark Pinkerton says

    August 31, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    My dough was fine until I made the cuts before baking and it went flat. What am I doing wrong? The bread was good just flat. Thanks

  10. Chula King says

    August 31, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    Hi Mark,

    This often happens to me as well when I make the cuts right before baking the bread unless I’m super careful. Over time, I’ve changed my strategy and make the cuts after I form the rolls. This way, there is no deflating of the dough and the cuts perform the same way.

    Sorry about that. I should probably update the post to reflect this new strategy.

    Chula

  11. Carol says

    September 5, 2020 at 10:57 am

    5 stars
    Love the taste of this bread but I am confused about when you take out of oven and put slices across the top my dough flattens and does not rise when you bake it. Can you tell me what I am doing wrong.
    Thank you

  12. Chula King says

    September 5, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    Hi Carol,

    If you’re not ultra quick with the slashing, the dough will deflate. After being frustrated with this, I’ve resorted to slashing the bread once the dough is formed into the baguettes. It pretty much serves the same purpose and no flattening of the dough.

    Chula

  13. Mary says

    November 30, 2020 at 10:41 am

    Can I make one large loaf using this recipe? If so, how long should I bake it? Thanks!

  14. Chula King says

    November 30, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    Mary,

    To be honest, I’ve never made just one large loaf, however, I suspect that you could do that. In terms of baking time however, since I’ve not done that, I really don’t know. Sorry.

    Chula

  15. Martin Watson says

    January 28, 2021 at 8:41 am

    I’m an experienced (male!) bread maker. Did you really mean ‘half TABLESPOON’ for salt sugar and yeast?

    Martin

  16. Chula King says

    January 28, 2021 at 9:33 am

    Yes – that’s what I use. A half tablespoon of salt, sugar and yeast.

  17. Maria Gil says

    February 23, 2021 at 7:02 am

    5 stars
    After coming out from the oven, the baguettes flattened, what am I doing wrong. Thank you.

  18. Chula King says

    February 23, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    Maria,

    I’m sorry that your baguettes flattened. I unfortunately can’t imagine why unless they weren’t fully cooked. I’ve never had that happen.

    Chula

  19. Kristine says

    April 10, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    5 stars
    Great recipe! I make it frequently. Usually, I make 4 dough balls then roll out 2 for a second rise and bake them. I save the other 2 dough balls for a different night. I store the unbaked dough balls in the fridge in zip lock bags. The bread actually tastes even better after a night in the fridge. The refrigerated dough takes longer to rise so I roll it out in the morning and let it rise in the baguette pans all day while I go to work. Thanks so much for a great recipe for legit baguettes using the dough cycle.

  20. Chula King says

    April 10, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    Thanks so much Kristine! I haven’t saved part of the dough for a different night, but it totally makes sense that it would taste better. I’m going to try this the next time I make the French bread dough!

    Chula

  21. MIKE CUMMINGS says

    April 13, 2021 at 8:27 pm

    Hi Chula – Looking forward to trying this. Previous attempts at other recipes have been a disaster, so looking forward to this one 🙂

    Couple of quick questions:

    1. When you say:

    “Chula’s Expert Tips
    To avoid the deflating that often occurs when the bread is slashed right before putting it in the oven, I often go ahead and slash it once the baguettes have been formed. This way – no deflating!”

    Are you saying that you now slash them, before you leave them in the slightly warmed over for an hour ?

    2. Any idea what ingredient measurements I would use, if I just wanted to make three 10 inch baguettes ? (I have one of these small silicone baguette pans, that makes three 10 inch baguettes)

    Thanks, Mike

  22. Chula King says

    April 13, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    Hi Mike,

    1. Yes, I slash the baguettes as soon as I form them before letting them rise. From my perspective, this is more for visual appearance than anything else.
    2. I have a metal baguette pan that makes three baguettes that are roughly 14-inches each. So (I’m thinking out loud here) if I were to scale the ingredients to fit a 10-inch baguette pan, I would use 2/3 of each of the ingredients. Specifically, 3/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon (6.5 ounces) of filtered water; 1 teaspoon Kosher salt; 1 teaspoon granulated sugar; 2 cups (10 ounces) bread flour; and 1 teaspoon instant yeast.

    I make this French bread every week and it never fails to impress! I hope that this works for you. Let me know.

    Chula

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I'm Chula King, the food blogger, award-winning photographer, and videographer behind Pudge Factor. Pudge Factor features amazing and well-tested recipes from my every day cooking. These recipes run the gamut from simple to sophisticated and everything in between. I not only present awesome recipes with tips and tricks that I've learned through the years, but also process photos from start to finish. For some of the recipes, I include videos detailing the actual making of the dish. Read More…

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