The term French bread usually evokes an image of a long crispy baquette with a white crumb and large, irregular holes. However, true French breads, such as pain de campagne, are hand-shaped and round.
“It was the Viennese oven, with its steam injectors and its sloping floor, or sole, which was mainly responsible for creating the tradition of French bread as we know it today.” — Elizabeth David, English Bread & Yeast Cookery. 1979 Penquin Books.
For your bread baking enjoyment, we have recipes for making both types of French Loaves.
Try some of these French Bread recipes
Baguettes: Poolish and Pâte Fermentée
Instructions for making baguettes using a Poolish or Pâte Fermentée.
This French bread utilizes a Pâte Fermentée or pre-ferment to bring out the flavor and improve the structure of the bread.
The master loaf from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes.
This boule is made with Pain de Campagne dough, a French Country Bread dough that includes a small percentage of whole grain.
Brioche is a very rich delicacy. It’s not quite bread and not quite pastry, but it is all delicious! It is made with a lot butter and eggs and is very versatile.
With this traditional brioche recipe, the dough is baked in a fluted pan and includes a topknot. This is a no knead bread where the batter is beaten to develop the gluten.
This Brioche recipe utilizes a 70 percent butter-to-flour ratio so it would definitely be considered a “rich man’s brioche”.
This Couronne is made with Pain de Campagne dough, a French Country Bread dough that includes a small percentage of whole grain.
Couronne: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes
A couronne is a beautiful ring or crown-shaped loaf that is a specialty of Lyon.
The dough for this bread is made in the bread machine and baked in a La Cloche for a crust that is thin and crispy.
This Epi is made with Pain de Campagne dough, a French Country Bread dough that includes a small percentage of whole grain.
Fougasse is a dense, crusty French bread with an unusual shape and a pronounced flavor.
Fougasse: Provencal Bread with Herbs
Fougasse is a traditional southern French flatbread that can be flavored with herbs, olives, and lardons…
This recipe uses the sponge, or poolish, method: sort of a poor man’s or woman’s sourdough starter — no feedings, little pre-planning, lots of flexibility and superb bread.
These Garlic Studded Baguettes are made with the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes Whole Wheat and Olive Oil dough.
These baguettes are made using Julia Child’s method of making French Bread.
As the name implies, these baguettes are made with an overnight poolish.
These baguettes are made using a basic bread recipe with an overnight poolish.
This is not your typical baguette. The combination of grains — whole wheat flour, ground flax seed, wheat germ and all-purpose flour– gives it a very unique texture and flavor.
This bread is made with a pre-ferment of bread flour, water, salt and a little bit of dry yeast.
Rustic European Whole Wheat Loaf
This rustic European-style lLoaf includes whole wheat flour and walnuts. The bread is round shaped and slightly porous.
These Straight Baguettes can be made the same day. It only takes about 5 hours from start to finish.