This is a list of notable French breads, consisting of breads that originated in France. * Baguette – a long, thin type of bread of French origin. The "baguette de tradition française" is made from wheat flour, water, yeast, and common salt. It may contain up to 2% broad bean flour, up to 0.5% soya flour, and up to 0.3% wheat

malt Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...

flour. * Boule de pain – a traditional shape of French bread resembling a squashed ball. It is traditionally prepared using only bread flour, salt, a

leavening agent In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...

and water. *

Brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and e ...

– has a high egg and butter content, which gives it a rich, tender and tight crumb. *

Croissant A croissant (, ) is a French cuisine, French pastry in a crescent shape made from a laminated yeast dough similar to puff pastry. It is a buttery, flaky, ''viennoiserie'' pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian cuisine, Austrian ''Kifli, ...

– a buttery, flaky, French viennoiserie

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

shape, the dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a thin sheet, in a technique called

laminating Simulated flight (using image stack created by μCT scanning) through the length of a knitting needle that consists of laminated wooden layers: the layers can be differentiated by the change of direction of the wood's vessels Shattered windshi ...

. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as , is a light, flaky pastry, its base dough () composed of wheat flour and water. Butter or other solid fat () is then layered into the dough. The dough is repeatedly rolled and folded, rested, re-rolled and folded, encas ...

. *

Faluche A ''faluche'' is a traditional cap worn by students in France. It is a black velvet beret, decorated with colored ribbons and badges. Several student groups wear the ''faluche'', especially ''bitards'', ''basochards'', and ''faluchards''. Pre ...

– a pale white bread that is a traditional bread in the

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (; ; West Flemish: ''Nôord-Nauw van Kales'') was a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new Regions of France, region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the ...

region of northern France and the

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

region of southern Belgium. * Ficelle – a type of French bread loaf, made with yeast and similar to a baguette but much thinner. * Fougasse – typically associated with

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

but found (with variations) in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling an ear of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

. * Pain aux noix – prepared using whole grain wheat flour and walnuts *

Pain brié Pain brié is a traditional Normandy bread. Its name comes from the pounding of the dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typ ...

– a traditional

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

bread, its name comes from the pounding of the

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

, as "brie" is derived from the

Old Norman Old Norman, also called Old Northern French or Old Norman French (), was one of many varieties of the ''langues d'oïl'' native to northern France. From the region of what is now called Normandy, the language spread into England, Southern Italy, S ...

verb '' brier'', meaning "to pound". It has a tight crumb and is a "fairly dense loaf". * Pain complet – prepared using

whole wheat A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated wit ...

flour, it is moist and has a tight crumb texture. It is sometimes prepared using a mix of wheat and white flour. * Pain couronne – named "bread crown" in French for its shaping, it consists of small sourdough rolls that are torn off from the main loaf. * Pain d’épices – French for "spice bread", this is a rye

quick bread Quick bread is any bread leavened with a chemical leavening agent rather than a biological one like Baker's yeast, yeast or Sourdough#Starter, sourdough starter. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared quickly and reliably, w ...

that includes spices such as cinnamon and honey. *

Pain de campagne Pain de campagne ("country bread" in French), also called "French sourdough", is typically a large round loaf ("miche") made from either natural leavening or baker's yeast. Most traditional versions of this bread are made with a combination of w ...

– French for "country bread", and also called "French sourdough", it is typically a large round loaf (''miche'') made from either natural leavening or baker's yeast. Most traditional versions of this bread are made with a combination of white flour with

whole wheat flour Whole-wheat flour (in the US) or wholemeal flour (in the UK) is a powdery substance, a basic food ingredient, derived by grinding or mashing the whole grain of wheat, also known as the wheatberry. Whole-wheat flour is used in baking of breads ...

and/or rye flour, water, leavening and salt. *

Pain de mie ''Pain de mie'' is a white or brown bread with a thin, soft crust. It is mostly sold sliced and packaged in France. is the French word for "bread", and is the soft part of bread, called the crumb in English. Description ''Pain de mie'' is m ...

– a white or brown bread with a thin, soft crust. It is used as a sandwich bread at times. * Pain de seigle – a rye bread with flavor notes of chocolate and malt

See also

References

Further reading