Rustic French Bread – Dutch oven bread recipe you can easily make in the comfort of your home! There is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread. Serve homemade french bread sliced with warm butter or use as sandwich bread and more!
If you have been wondering how to make your own bread at home using a dutch oven, I am here to show you how. It’s a lot easier than you may think! With only a few simple ingredients and a little bit of patience while the dough rises, you will get a glorious end result.
Get ready to never want to buy store bought bread again! Baking your own bread from scratch is so rewarding and tastes a million times better than store bought. This recipe makes one large round loaf of bread.
Here are the ingredients you need to make homemade french bread:
- All-Purpose Flour – Very versatile flour perfect for homemade bread. You can substitute with bread flour if you’d like.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar assists in yeast activation process.
- Salt – I used sea salt in this recipe, but you can use any salt you have on hand.
- Active-Dry Yeast – This cannot be substituted.
- Water – Warm water heated to 105 – 115 degrees.
- Salt – I used sea salt in this recipe, but you can use any salt you have on hand.
Tools needed for this recipe:
- Stand Mixer – To knead the dough. You can also knead by hand if you prefer.
- Parchment Paper – To easily transfer dough to and from dutch oven.
- Measuring Spoons and Cups – For properly measuring all of the ingredients.
- Dutch Oven- You can use a 3 qt – 5 qt size.
- Kitchen towel – To cover the dough while it rises.
- Large Bowl – To transfer your dough into while rising.
How to make homemade Dutch Oven French Bread:
Combine yeast, warm water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for about 5 minutes for yeast activation.
Add half of the flour and salt to the yeast mixture. Fit your mixer with dough hook and begin to knead over medium-low speed. Add remaining flour and continue to knead until dough just comes together. Dough will be sticky at this point.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured bowl and cover with a clean towel. Let dough rise for 3 hours. Transfer dough to a generously floured piece of parchment paper or cutting board and gently form dough into a smooth ball. Sprinkle top of dough with more flour, then cover with a large bowl (like a dome) and let rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place dutch oven with lid into the oven to preheat for 20 minutes prior to baking bread. * If you don’t have a dutch oven, use a baking sheet but don’t preheat the sheet.
Score top of bread with a very sharp knife. Very carefully transfer dough with parchment paper (or by itself if not using parchment paper) to the hot dutch oven. Bake bread for 30 minutes with the lid on, then carefully remove lid and bake for another 20 minutes until top is nice and golden. *If using a baking sheet, bake for 35 minutes. Internal temperature of bread should be about 210 degrees.
Remove bread from oven and carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Once cooled, slice and serve! Store bread in a storage bag or container on the counter for up to 3-5 days.
How to score top of bread?
When scoring your bread, be sure not to press down on the bread. This is why you will need a very sharp blade or knife. Start in the center top of dough and run blade to the corners to create an X or a star.
Scoring bread will help prevent the bread from opening up in certain areas you don’t want. You will have more control over the shape the bread while it is baking.
How to store homemade baked bread:
Store bread once completely cooled in a bread box, storage bag or storage container on the counter for up to 3-5 days.
To freeze homemade bread: Wrap cooled freshly baked bread in plastic wrap then place in an airtight freezer bag. Freeze bread for up to 6 months. When you are ready to thaw the bread, remove from freezer and let come to room temperature naturally. Eat bread within 48 hours after thawing.
If you enjoyed this recipe, here are a few more of my favorite bread recipes:
- Buttermilk Rolls – Warm, soft and fluffy buttermilk rolls with a golden outer crust make these the best buttermilk rolls ever.
- Squaw Bread – Sweet, hearty, and soft squaw bread is my ultimate weak spot. This bread serves as the ultimate sandwich bread or can also serve with warm butter for a delicious appetizer.
- Potato Buns – Soft and fluffy potato buns make for the perfect hamburger buns! Serve as buns for a cheeseburger, pulled pork sandwich, chicken parmesan sandwich, and more!
- Quick Drop Biscuits – My super easy quick biscuits are done in 20 minutes from start to finish! They are super fluffy, buttery and full of flavor despite the short amount of time it takes the make them.
Rustic French Bread
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 1/4 cups water 105 – 115 degrees
Instructions
- Combine yeast, warm water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for about 5 minutes for yeast activation.
- Add half of the flour and salt to the yeast mixture. Fit your mixer with dough hook and begin to knead over medium-low speed. Add remaining flour and continue to knead until dough just comes together. Dough will be sticky at this point.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured bowl and cover with a clean towel. Let dough rise for 3 hours. Transfer dough to a generously floured piece of parchment paper or cutting board and gently form dough into a smooth ball. Sprinkle top of dough with more flour, then cover with a large bowl (like a dome) and let rise for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place dutch oven with lid into the oven to preheat for 20 minutes prior to baking bread. * If you don’t have a dutch oven, use a baking sheet but don’t preheat the sheet.
- Score top of bread with a very sharp knife. Very carefully transfer dough with parchment paper (or by itself if not using parchment paper) to the hot dutch oven. Bake bread for 30 minutes with the lid on, then carefully remove lid and bake for another 20 minutes until top is nice and golden. *If using a baking sheet, bake for 35 minutes. Internal temperature of bread should be about 210 degrees.
- Remove bread from oven and carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Once cooled, slice and serve! Store bread in a storage bag or container on the counter for up to 3-5 days.
This post was originally published on January 13, 2020 and updated on September 18, 2020.
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