List of French breads

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.^[1][2] 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 flour.^[3]
• 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 and water.^[1]
• Brioche – has a high egg and butter content, which gives it a rich, tender and tight crumb.^[1]
• Croissant – a buttery, flaky, French viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough.^[4] Croissants are named for their historical crescent 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. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.^[1]
• Faluche – a pale white bread that is a traditional bread in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of northern France and the Tournai 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 but found (with variations) in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling an ear of wheat.^[1]
• Pain aux noix – prepared using whole grain wheat flour and walnuts^[1]
• Pain brié – a traditional Normandy bread, its name comes from the pounding of the dough, as "brie" is derived from the Old Norman verb brier, meaning "to pound". It has a tight crumb and is a "fairly dense loaf".^[1]
• Pain complet – prepared using whole wheat flour, it is moist and has a tight crumb texture. It is sometimes prepard using a mix of wheat and white flour.^[1]
• Pain couronne – named "bread crown" in French for its shaping, it consists of small sourdough rolls that are torn off from the main loaf.^[1]
• Pain d’épices – French for "spice bread", this is a rye quick bread that includes spices such as cinnamon and honey.^[1]
• Pain de campagne – French for "country bread", and also called "French sourdough",^[5] 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 and/or rye flour, water, leavening and salt.^[1]
• Pain de mie – a white or brown bread with a thin, soft crust. It is used as a sandwich bread at times.^[1]
• Pain de seigle – a rye bread with flavor notes of chocolate and malt^[1]

• Crackling bread – Pompe aux grattons or brioche aux griaudes, in the cuisine of central France, is a bread, tart, or brioche that incorporates cracklings. It is a specialty of the Bourbonnais.^[6]

• Richards, P. (1918). Baker's Bread. Bakers' Helper Company. pp. 46–50. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
• Clayton, B. (2002). The Breads of France: And How to Bake Them in Your Own Kitchen. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-1-58008-389-8. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
• Fréchet, M.L.; Abraham, B. (2021). Upper Crust : Homemade Bread the French Way. Langue anglaise. Flammarion. ISBN 978-2-08-026378-0. Retrieved July 15, 2022.