How To Make A Small Loaf Of French Bread

Easy homemade french bread recipe that makes one small loaf of soft and tender bread. Perfect for sandwiches, browned toast, or simply with butter and jam.

This mini french bread recipe has been a long time in the making. I've actually been making french bread for quite a while now but scaling down the ingredients to create a small loaf of bread has been a little bit of a challenge.

It's no secret that bread making can sometimes be tough. Working with yeast can sometimes be a challenge, the dough has to rise and there are many other factors that can make a bread recipe fail.

Well, with this simple french bread recipe, I'm convinced you won't have any trouble. It's super easy and delivers great results. Below, I've broken down the easy steps and included pictures to help guide you on what each step should look like. I'm pretty sure you'll love this loaf of bread, we certainly do.

Why This Recipe Works

• This is an easy basic french bread recipe. The dough comes together easily and can be made in a bowl although if you have a stand mixer, the dough can be mixed in a matter of minutes.
• This bread dough results in good fresh bread no matter how it's shaped.
• The loaf is a great size for smaller households. The recipe yields a small loaf of bread.
• It's a great bread recipe to use with add-ins. You might consider adding chopped kalamata olives and walnuts or roasted garlic and rosemary to your version.
• Everyone should be able to make bread when they want to, but people rarely do because they think it's too difficult. When you have an basic bread recipe like this one, bread making is easy.

Ingredients

See recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.

Ingredient Notes

• Flour: Use either all-purpose flour (plain flour) or bread flour. Both types of flour work very well in this french bread recipe. All purpose flour is exactly what it says - all purpose, meaning that this type of flour is the most versatile and can be used in almost every recipe you're making like cookies, pie crusts, and muffins. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all purpose flour. Protein adds strength to the dough and enables the loaf of bread to rise high. Dough made with bread flour absorbs slightly more liquid, so it's stiffer.
• Water: I recommend using warm water.
• Salt: Salt is crucial for flavor, bread tastes bland without it. Salt also slows down the yeast. If you don't add it, the bread will rise too quickly.
• Active dry yeast: Yeast is a critical component in basic bread dough. I recommend using active dry yeast which is yeast that has been dried and given an inactive coating. This yeast must be dissolved in water before being mixed with the flour. Make sure your yeast is fresh for best results.
• Honey: No granulated sugar in this recipe! Honey gives the french bread a delightfully subtle sweet flavor.
• Olive oil: I use extra virgin olive oil in this french bread recipe as well as in every other recipe on One Dish Kitchen that calls for olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is the least processed form of olive oil. It is an unrefined oil and the highest-quality olive oil you can buy. Because of the way extra virgin olive oil is made, it retains more true olive taste. It also contains more of the vitamins and minerals found in olives. It’s my favorite type of olive oil to use but you may use a lighter olive oil instead.

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1: Make the dough

First rise

• The first rise allows the yeast to multiply and feed, which helps to flavor the dough as well as to develop the gluten. This gives the dough its wonderful texture. Remove the mixing bowl from the machine, cover it with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise to about twice its size. This will take about an hour or so depending on how warm your kitchen is.
• After leaving the dough alone for a while, push a finger into the dough. The dough should give some resistance, but not spring back. If it springs back, cover and let it rest longer.

Rest the dough

• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it to expel excess gas and redistribute the yeast.
• Cover with a dish towel and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

Shape the dough and second rise

• Shape the dough into an oval, or a boule, by pushing the dough back and forth on a firm counter until shaped. You can also make a baguette by stretching the dough into a rectangle roughly 6 by 3 inches. Place on a baking sheet and cover the dough with a dish towel and allow to rise, for 1 hour.

Step 2: Bake the bread

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Make one long slash across the top of the bread loaf with the tip of a sharp knife. This technique is called scoring and it creates a weak spot in the bread's crust which allows the bread to expand without bursting in unexpected areas. Professional bakers use a scoring tool called a "lame". This is essentially a small wand with a thin sharp blade attached. You can just as easily use a sharp knife or a razor blade. After scoring the bread, brush with olive oil and sprinkling of kosher salt. Bake the bread for 18-20 minutes.

That's really all there is to bread baking. This is my go-to recipe for making quick bread at home and this small loaf is a wonderful size for smaller households.

Expert Tips

• This french bread recipe calls for using active dry yeast however if you have instant yeast, you can use that instead. The two yeasts can be used interchangeably in recipes. The difference between the two is that active dry yeast needs to be dissolved in warm water before using while instant yeast can be mixed in with the other ingredients.
• If your dough is too sticky and sticks to your work surface and your fingers, you will need to add a little more flour. As you begin to knead the dough, make sure your hands and the work surface is lightly coated with flour. If the dough is still too sticky, add a little flour to the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time. This will get rid of the stickiness and be sure to knead only until the dough is smooth and elastic.
• If the dough does not rise, it is likely that the yeast wasn't active. If you're using active dry yeast, maybe the water you used wasn't warm enough. Also, dough won't rise if the room you're using is too cold. I often put the dough in my oven to rise. To do this, first preheat your oven for 1 minute, turn it off, then place the bowl of dough inside. Make sure the oven doesn't get too hot or you'll need to wait for it to cool off. Sometimes, just leaving the light on in your oven will provide enough warmth without turning on the oven.
• If your bread is doughy in the middle, you've either under-baked your bread, or your oven wasn't hot enough. To test whether your bread is baked through, carefully turn the loaf of bread over and tap the base. The bread should sound hollow and the loaf should feel light.

Frequently Asked Questions

What You Can Do Now That You Have The Basic Bread Dough Recipe

Just the plain bread dough results in good fresh french bread but if you'd like to add in various ingredients, feel free to do so. There's really no end to the kinds of bread you can make with this basic dough recipe.

The variations all follow the basic bread method: mix the dough until you can achieve the appropriate elasticity, allow it to rise, punch it down, let it rest for 10 minutes or so, shape it, allow it to rise one last time, and bake it.

• Olive-walnut bread: I love using chopped kalamata olives and walnuts. It's a great combination that results in a purple hint of color and a tangy, nutty flavor. Add ⅛ cup of chopped walnuts and ⅛ cup of chopped olives to the basic bread dough midway through mixing. Let rise, shape, and bake as described in the bread dough recipe. After baking, brush with melted butter and ¼ teaspoon of garlic salt.
• Rosemary and roasted garlic bread: Fresh herbs like rosemary, oregano, and thyme work well in breads and any can be used here. Peel off the outer papery covering of a head of garlic. Using a sharp knife, then slice of ¼″-½″ off the top of the cloves, so that the inside of each clove is exposed. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the cloves, wrap it in foil and bake at 400 F for 30-35 minutes, or until tender. Push the cloves out of their skins and use whole or give them a rough chop. I tend to use 3-4 roasted cloves but use as many or as few as you prefer (Roasted garlic is delicious spread over warm bread too). Add the garlic to the dough along with ½ tablespoon of chopped herbs before the second rise - before you shape the dough.

Serving Suggestions

A wedge of crusty french bread is the only side dish you need to go along with a bowl of soup or stew and I could easily make a meal out of sliced french bread dipped in extra virgin olive oil. You might even consider using this french bread in any of these single serving recipes:

• French Bread Pizza
• Breadcrumbs
• Homemade Croutons
• French Toast
• Sausage Dressing
• Caprese Toast
• Avocado Toast
• Smoked Salmon with Eggs
• French Onion Soup
• Breakfast Casserole

For this french bread recipe, I use the KitchenAid 6-quart stand mixer found on our store page and I love it.

If you would like additional information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.

For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit our Store page.

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