While I love a crunchy-crust bread, that doesn’t stop me from also loving squishy soft bread, the kind a grocery store or Subway might call “French bread” but which only resembles the baguette in general shape. While this bread may seem misnamed to a French person, it’s lovely in many ways nonethless. Super-soft French bread is great for making subs, grinders, or hoagies — whatever your regional name is for long, fully-packed sandwiches. You can build the sandwich tall and yet squeeze it small enough to take a bite. Nothing squirts out the sides, and the roof of your mouth isn’t scraped by a rough crust. All that and the bread reinflates too.
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12″ long sub
The recipe is written for yeast leavening, and “white” flour, and it uses very basic kitchen equipment. It’s perfect for beginners who are eager to bake fresh bread with quality ingredients and advanced bakers who want classic sub sandwich bread. A stand mixer makes gluten development easier on the arms but it’s not required.
If you want to try the recipe with sourdough leavening instead of yeast, this FAQ explains How to convert recipes between sourdough and yeast. (Be aware that it can be challenging to get the same kind of crust browning you see in the images here with sourdough leavening. It’s not impossible but you may need to include some tricks.)
The recipe uses a 50:50 mix of all purpose (AP) and bread flour to get an ideal balance of chew and tenderness, but it is fine to use all of one or the other for convenience. For all AP flour, reduce the water by 20-30 grams; and for all bread flour, increase the water by 20-30 grams. Also, if your bread flour has less protein than Breadtopia’s 13.5%, use a bit less water or change the ratio of the flours in favor of bread flour e.g. to 30:70. You can modify the flour types in other ways as well. For example, use some whole wheat flour (additional water) for more interesting flavor. For more, check out our Bread Baking and Flour Substitution Tips.
Same dough weight, 12- and 8-inches long.
The recipe is written for two 12-inch French breads, but you can divide the dough however you prefer and shape the dough narrower or wider as depicted above. The bread is baked on a baking sheet at a relatively low temperature of 375°F to help ensure a soft crust. Steam is created via ice cubes on a tray under the baking sheet.
In the first test bake of this recipe, I let the dough proof until it was quite inflated, so it baked a bit flat and the scoring didn’t open much. For the second test bake, I proofed the dough less, but the scoring seemed to seal prematurely and the breads split open on their sides instead. Perhaps the low oven temperature and low volume of steam contributed to this, but rather than tinker with temperature, baking surface, or steam setup, for the next bake, I re-scored the dough after 5-6 minutes of baking. This was relatively easy to do because the dough is on a flat baking sheet. I ran the lame blade about 1/4″ deep on one side of each cut (see the photo gallery after the recipe). This allows the dough to continue expanding upward. If you’d like to read more on scoring twice, check out this Experiment Scoring Dough Once Versus Twice.
Two-phase scoring
Check out the photo gallery and shaping videos after the recipe.
Classic Submarine Sandwich Rolls
Make homemade super soft French bread for sandwiches using this beginner-friendly recipe. If you need more than two rolls, the recipe can easily be doubled and / or shaped in different ways and it freezes well too.
Ingredients
270 grams water, warmed to approx 110°F (1 cup + 2 Tbsp)
13 grams sugar (1 Tbsp)
4 grams instant yeast (1 tsp)
13 grams oil (1 Tbsp)
390 grams flour, 195g all purpose and 195g bread flour (3 cups)
7 grams salt (1 1/2 tsp)
optional one egg and 1 Tbsp water, whisked together, to brush on the dough if you want the crust to be shiny
Instructions
Mixing can be done in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment or by hand. For the latter, use the Rubaud method for about 5 minutes to develop gluten in the dough.
Combine the warm water, sugar, and instant yeast in the stand mixer bowl. Let the yeast bloom for 3-5 minutes.
Add the oil, flour, and salt. Mix on low speed to incorporate the ingredients, then on medium speed for about 5 minutes.
Lightly oil a bowl or straight-walled bucket, place the dough inside, fold it a few times and flip it smooth-side up. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 45-90 minutes. Dough temp was in the 80s and it doubled in 45 minutes.
After the first rise, place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and divide it in two. Roll the pieces into balls to pre-shape, cover, and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
For the final shape, flatten the balls with your palm or a rolling pin a bit, then shape the dough into tubes using either method depicted in the videos below.
Place the tubes seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (If the dough feels very slack, place each tube in the well-floured channel of a linen couche.) Cover and proof about 30 minutes. The dough should be puffier with minimal rebound when poked.
Preheat the oven and a metal tray on a lower shelf to 375°F.
Brush the dough with egg wash if you want a shiny crust or water for a matte finish. Score diagonal slashes or a single line down the center. You may need to work the blade through the dough a couple of times since it is wet.
Load the baking sheet into the oven and toss 3-4 ice cubes on the metal tray underneath.
After 5-7 minutes of baking, re-score one side of each cut to encourage greater bloom. Continue baking for a 20 minutes. Total bake time is 25 minutes.
For an extra-soft crust, remove the breads from the oven. For some crisp, leave the bread in the oven (off) for 15 minutes with the door propped open with a wooden spoon.
Store in a bag or closed container for several days or wrap tightly and freeze. Defrost uncovered at room temperature or in the oven at 325°F for about 12-15 minutes.
Photo Gallery