86 Reviews of Crusty French Bread

From: Sue L

On Jan 13, 2005

Very good bread- has a nice crusty exterior and soft, tender insides. I did only make one loaf, so the recipe halves easily. I also misted the oven with a water sprayer while it was baking to get it nice and crisp. It may have caused it to take a few minutes longer to bake, but the effort was worth it. Thanks for posting!

From: Stardustannie

On Aug 14, 2005

WOW!! This recipe produces 2 great tasting loaves!! I sprayed mine with a water attomiser during baking and got extra crusty loaves. Great smothered with butter! The second time I baked this recipe I made smaller rolls suitable for the kids lunchboxes I tossed these rolls with fine polenta before baking...this gave the rolls a lovely finish. I'd highly recommend this recipe it's FAB!!

From: KITTENCAL

On Feb 28, 2005

This is a great recipe for a French bread. I increased the yeast to 2 scant tablespoons, I mostly never make any dough with less than that. I used all purpose flour in place of bread flour, also it did not take anything near 5 cups of flour for me. I baked this in my air-convection oven for around 22 minutes with a pan of boiled water on the bottom of my oven to produce a very crisp crust. I will definatley use this recipe again. Thank you for posting!...Kittencal

From: God's_sugarcookie

On Jul 23, 2006

This bread is INCREDIBLY good fresh and hot from the oven!!! I was going to toast it and make garlic bread, but when I sneaked a piece right after it came out of the oven I just left it how it was!!! I put margarine and garlic salt on it, and it was DELICIOUS! Thank you so much. *NOTE: I used regular flour and did not spray with water and I still got a very crusty loaf, so try it even if you don't have bread flour!!*

From: djrcossey

On Nov 4, 2007

I have also made quite a few French bread recipes off this site and they were all very deserving of the 5 stars I rated them. But this one I think deserves more than 5 stars. I used olive oil instead of the veggie oil then brushed an olive oil/garlic powder mixture over the top before and during baking. The bottom crust came out very crispy like Pizza Hut's pan pizza crust (my absolute favorite!!) and the inside was soft and chewy with a wonderful flavor all the way around. The most excellent loaf of French bread I have made off this site. I will be making this on a regular basis, thanks!

From: -Sylvie-

On Nov 2, 2005

Thanks for this great recipe. It was very simple to make and I followed it directly. The only thing I changed was to put it in the fridge overnight for the second rise as I wanted it to be freshly baked in the morning for breakfast, without having to get up too early. The flavour is brilliant and so is the texture. My BF said it was better than my mum's bread, which says a lot, because her's is fabulous!

From: tasmith1

On Feb 24, 2008

My family loves it when I make this bread! It's a great addition to home made Italian beef sandwiches, Garlic breads, or just served hot with butter! Wow awesome and simple recipe. The only thing that I added was that I brushed with Olive oil about 10 to 15 min. before it was done and it adds great flavor and crispy brown coating! Thanks for the great recipe!

From: CURLEYBERLEY

On Oct 11, 2004

I lost this recipe years ago and haven't been able to locate one I enjoy as much. Thank you so much for posting this. I didn't change a thing. Both loaves were gone within 20 minutes.

From: iLuv2cook 2

On Nov 10, 2005

EASY and FOULPROOF Recipe yielding excellent FRENCH BREAD! I must say this is the first time ever I have baked BREAD at home! Never thought it was this easy to make. Only change I did was added Olive Oil instead of Vegetable Oil. I was a bit unsure about the timeframe needed for it to proof (15 minutes worked for me)and rise ( approx 1 hr each time worked for me). I followed previous poster's recommended time and it worked out wonderfully! THANKS and I can officially say that I am a Bread Baker ~ lol.

From: Sidd

On May 5, 2005

This is an easy recipe to make, and very very tasty. I could not stop myself from going back for more and more bread. I made this in my kitchenaid mixer, and did kneed it for 5 minutes, let it rest for a minute and then for 5 minutes again. I used a water bottle to spritz the dough and more when it was baking. Thank you for sharing this, and I am putting this recipe in my Tried and True cook book.