Bread Baking Technique #11 - Bakery Bread - french bread, baguettes, rolls, sausage bread, sandwich and burger buns, braided bread and boules

February 13, 2026

A whole lot of bread … © kvalifood.com

It’s all bread that can be made from the same basic recipe. So here they are, all merged into one. it is based on my “classic french bread recipe”. Not the best bread in the world, but very close to what you buy at most bakeries.

Ingredients

1 large loaf, 12 small or 4 baguettes.

3 dl (1 1/3 cup) milk
25 g (1 oz) fresh yeast or 1 tbsp instant yeast
400 g (14 oz) flour
25 g (1 oz) butter
1 tsp salt

Procedure - mixing, kneading and 1 raising the dough for all breads.

Melt the butter in a saucepan.

Add the milk and heat the mixture up to lukewarm!

Crumble the yeast into a bowl.

Mix the milk/butter mixture and dissolve the yeast.

Add the flour and salt. Knead thoroughly for approx. 10 minutes. This is valid for both hand and machine kneeding.

Let dough rise for 30 minutes until doubled in size

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpQ8dghSgVw

Directions - unshaped bread

Stretch and shape it into something that looks somewhat like a loaf of bread.

Let the dough rise for 30 minutes

Bake 25-30 minutes at 200°C (390°F) until the crust is well golden.

Then be ashamed when you serve it … or just lie and say that it is a super-rustic bread :-S

Rustique bread - unshaped - stretch it. © kvalifood.com

Rustique bread - unshaped - not pretty. © kvalifood.com

It looks rustique … © kvalifood.com

Directions - rustic bread

Torpedo

Let it rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with milk.

Score along the top of the bread, slightly to one side.

Bake 25-30 minutes at 200°C (390°F) until the crust is well golden.

Press your thumbs into the bread ball. © kvalifood.com

Fold it over. © kvalifood.com

Continue folding until the surface it “tight like a drum”. © kvalifood.com

Press together the open end so it will not open during rise and bake. Use fingers and palm. © kvalifood.com

It should be completely closed when you are done. © kvalifood.com

Always keep your blade in horizontal position while scoring. © kvalifood.com

The rustique bread © kvalifood.com

Directions - Ball Bread - Boule

Let it rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with milk.

Cut the four slices in the top of the loaf so that they form a square.

Cut them with the knife lying on its side. Like the rustic bread below.

Bake 25-30 minutes at 200°C (390°F) until the crust is well golden.

Flatten gently and fold the edges against the center. © kvalifood.com

Continue folding from edge to center. © kvalifood.com

Turn over and keep folding until the surface is tense. You now have a ball. © kvalifood.com

The ball is done … © kvalifood.com

Directions - French Bread - Plain Bread

Shape as a torpedo.

Roll out gently with flat hands until the bread is as wide as your baking pan.

Let it it rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with egg.

Sprinkle with poppy seeds, if you like those.

Score at the top of the bread at a 45 ° angle so that one score ends where the other begins, or there is some overlap.

Cut them with the knife lying horizontal.

Bake 25-30 minutes at 200°C (390°F) until the crust is well golden.

Score the bread four times at a 45 degree angle. © kvalifood.com

Standard french bread. © kvalifood.com

Directions - Baguettes

Divide the dough into four parts. Split down the middle twice.

Shape each portion into a torpedo.

Roll out each torpedo until it is as long as your pan is wide.

It must be very thin.

Let rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with egg.

Cut four overlapping scores in each flute. Like on the french bread.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 200°C (390°F) (See ** Baking time and temperature in the notes)

Baguettes. © kvalifood.com

Directions Hotdog Bread

Divide the dough into three parts. Divide each of those four parts, so you end up with 12 pieces.

Roll them into small very loose balls.

Fold the balls to small loose torpedos.

Roll them with flat hands until they become as long as the sausage you want to put in. Or a little shorter if you prefer som tails sticking out.

Let them rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with milk.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 200°C (390°F). (See ** Baking time and temperature in the notes)

Shape the hotdog buns by gently rolling to desired length. © kvalifood.com

Hotdog Breads. © kvalifood.com

Directions - Braided Loaf

Divide the dough into three parts.

Shape each portion into a torpedo.

Roll each piece out until it is as long as your pan is wide.

It must be very thin.

Braid the dough by joining the 3 ends and then always folding the last braid you have braided in between the two other braids. Press together in both ends.

Let it rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with egg.

Bake 25-30 minutes at 200°C (390°F).

Directions - Breakfast Rolls

Divide the dough into three parts. Divide each of those into four parts, so you end up with 12 in all.

Roll each portion into a loose ball.

Elongate slightly if prefered, by gently rolling into a longer shape.

Let them rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with egg.

Score lightly if you prefer, at the top of each roll.

Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds. Optional.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 230°C (445°F) degrees. (See ** Baking time and temperature in the notes)

Directions - flat sandwich rolls / buns

Knead the dough as little as possible! As soon as all the flour is wet, the are kneaded enough. Otherwise the will become chewy.

Divide the dough into three parts. Split each of those into four parts, so you end up with 12 in all.

Roll each portion into a loose ball.

Roll them flat with a rolling pin, wine bottle or some other cylinder.

Let them rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with egg or milk.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 230°C (445°F). (See ** Baking time and temperature of the notes)

Notes

There are lots of recipes all over for these classical bread, all of which are slightly different in some way. I made all of these from a single basic recipe so that you can see what the main differences are in terms of the design of the various bread. There is nothing to prevent that you replace my dough with your own favorite dough recipe. Or maybe you just need 50 grams of butter, or an egg and a little more flour in my recipe. Feel free to do that.

The advantage of this basic recipe is that it is easy to make, quick and easy to remember. It’s not the best tasting bread in the world, but it’s an alright compromise on time and quality. In addition. It was also faster for me to make this article when I could reuse my recipe :-S

Rise and bake always the bread with the fold / assembly downwards.

All scoring is done with the knife lying in a nearly horizontal position.

Shaping of bread in this way only works with a relatively dry / stiff dough that does not stick to the fingers and the table. Wet dough must be handled differently. It will be a different recipe …

Baking time and temperature **

The small bread can be baked both for 15-20 minutes at 230°C (445°F) or for 20-25 minutes at 200°C (390°F). It depends on how dark you like your bread. The higher temperature makes for a bread that is darker on the peaks. If you do not brush it with egg or milk it is, better with the higher temperature.