All of your wildest fantasies are about to come true: now you, too, can make your own French bread, hoagies, and hamburger/hotdog buns, all from the same dough recipe! And if you REALLY want to get wild and crazy, you could also make pizza dough or breadsticks. You never knew things could get so out of control at Our Best Bites.
This recipe comes to you with minor tweaking from my dearest Lisa (who also gave me the infamously delicious breadstick/pizza dough recipe). I love this recipe because while it’s similar to the breadstick/pizza dough recipe, it’s a littler richer with much more substantial rising time, both of which give the bread an interesting flavor and texture. Because of the increased rising time, this recipe takes a little more planning (at least for me) than the other, but the French bread is SO delicious and I’m telling you, once you make deli sandwiches or burgers on the buns, you can never go back in good conscience.
I know lots of people get nervous when making yeast breads. If this is the case, be sure and check out the Tips on Yeast Doughs as well as the breadstick dough recipe, which provides additional pictures on what your dough should look like. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask! 🙂
French Bread, Hoagies, and Buns
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4-5 1/2 c. flour
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg, separated
2 Tbsp. cold water
Combine yeast, water, and sugar in large mixing bowl and allow to stand 10 minutes or until bubbly. Add salt, vegetable oil, and egg yolk (set white aside for later) and combine. Add 3 c. flour and mix well until combined. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your finger. Knead, either by hand or in mixer (my personal and very lazy choice) for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and allow to rise 1 hour 45 minutes.
Punch down dough. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. For a loaf of bread, shape into loaf and place on greased cookie sheet. For buns or hoagies, divide equally into 8-10 (or even 12, if you want smaller buns when you’re done, and let’s face it, who doesn’t want smaller buns??) pieces and shape as desired. Use a scale if you have one to get equal-sized buns.
It’s okay if they touch (or will touch after having risen). Cover and allow to rise another 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours or until doubled. Keep an eye on things–if they seem like they’re getting so big that they might collapse, hurry and get them into the oven.
Preheat oven to 375. Mix egg white with water and brush over dough. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat brushing the dough with the egg wash.
Bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until bread is golden brown and your house smells like heaven.
French Bread, Hoagies, and Buns
Our Best Bites
Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4-5 1/2 c. flour
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg, separated
2 Tbsp. cold water
Instructions:
Combine yeast, water, and sugar in large mixing bowl and allow to stand 10 minutes or until bubbly. Add salt, vegetable oil, and egg yolk (set white aside for later) and combine. Add 3 c. flour and mix well until combined. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your finger. Knead, either by hand or in mixer (my personal and very lazy choice) for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and allow to rise 1 hour 30 minutes.
Punch down dough. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. For a loaf of bread, shape into loaf and place on greased cookie sheet. For buns or hoagies, divide equally into 8-10 (or even 12, if you want smaller buns when you’re done, and let’s face it, who doesn’t want smaller buns??) pieces and shape as desired. Use a scale if you have one to get equal-sized buns.
It’s okay if they touch (or will touch after having risen). Cover and allow to rise another 1 1/4 hours or until doubled. Keep an eye on things–if they seem like they’re getting so big that they might collapse, hurry and get them into the oven.
Preheat oven to 375. Mix egg white with water and brush over dough. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat brushing the dough with the egg wash.
Bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until bread is golden brown and your house smells like heaven.
Questions & Reviews
Tried these last night for shredded bbq chicken sandwiches. I did about 1 1/2 cups of ww flour and the rest white-AMAZING! Everyone loved them! Thanks for saving Sunday dinner =)
Can i use Olive oil instead of vegetable oil for this recipe?
and 2 tablespoons instead of three please,
i do not like vegetable oil. please let me know
Definitely! It will have a slightly different flavor, but it will work!
Why sugar? I do not like sweet bread at all. do I really need to put sugar in this roll/ Hoagie recipe? can I just leave it out?
I make biscuits and do not put sugar in that and they taste really good. please e-mail me a response.
Sugar feeds the yeast–the dough may not rise properly if you don’t add it (biscuits don’t typically use yeast, which is why you don’t need them.) The amount of sugar is small and doesn’t contribute to the flavor; it’s there for a chemical reaction.
What kind of yeast do I use? Rapid rise? or the active dry?
Either will work! 🙂 I actually like bread machine yeast.
I just want to make sure: regular yeast and not rapid rise, correct? Is it just one package that you use?
Can these be made with whole wheat?
My Husbands Grandmother is a pro when it comes to making bread. I’ve tried some of her recipes and they never seem to turn out. I was able to follow this recipe well and my Husband told me it was the best bread I’ve ever made. Mission Accomplished!
I just made this tonight as a loaf of French bread! It was soooo delicious and super easy!! I could have eaten the whole loaf myself! Lol. Great recipe!
I wanted to let you know that I made this recipe last week and I loved it. I have been using the same recipe for french bread for a long long time, I am now throwing the old recipe and I will be replacing it with this one. This was just fantastic!!!!!! I would like to post this recipe on my blog soon and will link it back to you.
Which oven rack is best to cook them on?
Middle rack is almost always your best bet 🙂
You do not say whether you use all-purpose or bread flour.
Please advise to which, they look so good I want to make them NOW!!!!!!!
Thank You
John
Unless a recipe specifies otherwise, you can always assume all-purpose flour.
I made these tonight using the recipe in the cookbook and they turned out flat and hard. I got online to check the comments, and it seems like my problem may have been that they rose too long. Would rising too long have resulted in the problem that I had? I am not a great breadmaker but I am trying to learn, so any feedback would be helpful
Yes, it’s possible they rose a little too much. You may have also added too much flour. Try adjusting those two things next time!
I made these tonight for hot dog buns- and I used my bread machine to boot. So easy & soooooo yummy. I bought your cookbook this weekend at TOFW (Arlington, TX) and I had to try something! So fun, thank for spreading my cooking wings a bit! I can’t wait to try more! xoxo
I just made these for dinner tonight with crockpot frech dip sandwiches. OMG they are so good! And I have 5 leftover for dessert. 🙂
sounds delicious never made though
I tried this today (my first attempt at any kind of bread) and it was awesome. I made a large loaf and it turned out perfectly. I have loved every recipe I’ve tried on this site!!
I LOVE this recipe!!! I have made it a few times now and love it! Just wondering if anyone has tried doubling it?
the recipe seems to be very good. my only problem is regulating my electric oven. once i can get that done done i can estimate a better baking time.
thank you very much
I found this recipe a while ago, but I never needed to make rolls. I was looking back on your bread section today, when I realized that perhaps this recipe would be my salvation. I have been trying to find a good baguette recipe for weeks! So far, they’re almost out of the oven and lookin’ FINE. I hope they taste as good as they look!
tried this yesterday with some french bread rolls. they seemed to come out well. both rises worked well and they tasted wonderful. these are the few tweaks I made:
coated first rise with some olive oil
covered first rising bowl with wet tea towel
covered second rising with wet tea towel
eyeballed the rising times. its a hot summer here in SE Michigan, so i knew the risings would be quicker.
and i added some herbs de provence to the top of the rolls during second rise
going to try again today with french bread in loaves.