Easy Vegan French Bread Recipe with Fresh Milled Flour

Sharing is caring!

This easy vegan French bread recipe is made with freshly milled flour. Not only is it simple to make, but it’s nutritious, beautiful, and delicious. Perfect when you want a side of bread but don’t want anything fussy. Other delicious bread recipes are easy sandwich bread, fluffy dinner rolls, and 3-ingredient homemade biscuits.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

French bread was the first bread that I learned how to make when I started baking bread for my family. It’s a great recipe that I recommend for beginners. Other breads can be tricky to make, but not this one.

My family loves to eat French bread with soup and stew, or even just slathered with butter when it’s fresh from the oven. You can’t beat bread as a side dish with lunch and dinner. And I enjoy making it! It’s the kind of bread that looks like it takes a lot of work to make, and it looks fancy…until you know how little is actually required.

You only need a couple of ingredients to make vegan French bread, and the hands-on time is very short. It’s all about technique, which is also super easy and which I’ll share with you. If you’ve never made French bread before, I want to encourage you to try it!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy – If you’re new to baking bread for your family, this vegan French bread recipe is great for beginners and first time bakers. And it’s nearly impossible to mess it up if you follow my steps.

Nutritious – Freshly milled flour is full of vitamins and minerals commonly taken out of all purpose flour from the grocery store. You can feel good about feeding your family this bread. Even if you don’t have a grain mill or freshly milled flour, you can use all purpose flour. And it will still be more nutritious than grocery store bread.

Delicious – There’s nothing like homemade bread. The freshness and flavor can’t be beat. Slather it with butter or jelly (or both), or just eat it plain. You can also use it for making skillet bruschetta.

Ingredients

This simple recipe will make two 10-inch loaves of vegan French bread.

Flour – You’ll need 3 up to 3 and 1/2 cups of flour, plus more for dusting. Freshly milled flour is more nutritious. I find it easier to measure the wheat berries first before grinding them into flour. If you don’t have an electric grain mill, you can also use all purpose flour from the grocery store.

Active dry yeast – Use 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast for this vegan French bread recipe.

Sea salt – Use 1 teaspoon of sea salt. I prefer to use Redmond Real Salt because of the delicious flavor and all the extra minerals, but you can use your favorite sea salt.

Water – You will need 1 and 1/2 cups of lukewarm water. Your bread will taste better if you use filtered water rather than tap water, but use what you have.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

Tools You May Need

• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Dough bowl scraper
• French dough rolling pin
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheet
• Serrated knife
• Cutting board (optional)

How to Make this Vegan French Bread Recipe

This recipe is enough to make two loaves of roughly 10-inch French bread.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water (between 100°F and 110°F) and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast.

Let the yeast and water mixture get bubbly for a couple of minutes, and then add 1 teaspoon of sea salt and 2 cups of the flour.

Let it mix together on slow speed and add additional flour 1/2 cups at a time until the dough is thick. You may not need all the flour, because each kitchen environment is different.

Slowly turn up the speed of the mixer to medium and then to medium-high speed. Knead the bread dough for about 3 minutes or until it starts to pull away from the bowl in a big chunk. You may need to dust with additional flour as you go.

Once your dough comes together, take the bowl out of the mixer and either set a large plate, damp towel, or plastic wrap over the top of the bowl to trap in the heat and moisture. Set it in a turned-off oven with the light on or other warm place. 

Then let the bread dough rise for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, take your dough out and preheat the oven to 450°F.

Your dough should have doubled in size. Punch it down with your fist to get the air out, and then use a bowl scraper to turn it out onto a floured cutting board or counter.

Cut the dough in half the best you can, and work with one half of the dough at a time.

Use a floured rolling pin to roll your French bread dough out into a rough rectangle shape. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Aim to get it pretty thin, maybe a quarter-inch or less.

Then, fold the dough in half lengthwise. Use your fingers to pinch the ends together and seal the bread dough.

Then, fold the dough in half lengthwise again and pinch the edges together. Don’t worry about perfection, because these seams will be on the bottom of the bread.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, and place your unbaked loaf with the seams down. Or, for a crispy crust, place your loaf onto a pizza stone.

Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Use a serrated knife to cut several slits in the top of your bread, and let it rise for 15 minutes.

You can leave the tops of the bread plain, or you can make an imitation egg wash by brushing it with a tablespoon or two of coconut cream with water, or olive oil to give it a golden glow.

To make garlic bread, whisk together minced fresh garlic and melted vegan butter together in a small bowl. Then brush the tops of the bread with the mixture.

After 15 minutes of rising, bake the loaves at 450°F for 15 to 20 minutes in the center oven rack until golden brown or cooked all the way through.

Let it cool down for a couple minutes before slicing it.

And that’s it! I want to encourage you to try this recipe. It’s super simple, delicious, and nutritious!

​ Some of my favorite ways to serve vegan French bread are with pasta dishes and vegan soups.

Store your French bread in an airtight container after it reaches room temperature. It will keep just fine on your counter for a day or two. For longer storage, keep in an airtight freezer bag.

More Freshly Milled Flour Recipes from the Farm

• Best Homemade Pancake Recipe Using Fresh Milled Flour
• Simple Strawberry Cobbler Recipe with Freshly Milled Flour
• Scrumptious Cherry Pie Muffin Recipe
• Easy 3 Ingredient Whole Wheat Artisan Boule Recipe

If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Also, tag me on Instagram @rivers.family.farm.