So, I had a little accident last week. I decided to make my French Bread recipe for a meal I was preparing for guests that were coming the next day. We were having a Bible Conference at our church and I thought I had plenty of time to get the bread baked before it was time to leave. Well, I misjudged the time and realized after I’d made the dough and had it rising in the bowl for the first rise that I wouldn’t have time to bake the bread and still be on time for the service. Ahhhh! I was frustrated at myself for not calculating the time correctly!
Then I had a thought…
I wonder if I can freeze the dough after it rises in the bowl?
So often when I wonder if something would freeze well, I simply let my mind wander the aisles of the frozen goods at the grocery store. Then I realized, “Yes! I know they sell frozen frozen loaves that are ready to set out and rise, so surely I could shape these loaves and freeze them before I leave for church!”
I took the bread and shaped it into the French loaves and placed them on a greased baking sheet.
I covered them with Syran Wrap and put them in the freezer and headed out for our Bible conference at church. Then before I went to bed that night, I took the loaves out of the freezer and placed them in the fridge to thaw overnight.
When I was ready to bake them, I set them on the counter where they rose for about 30 minutes. Then I finished as the recipe says, and cut the slits on top and baked them as usual.
They rose beautifully and my husband told me they were better than any other time I’ve made them!
This was a really happy accident! Now I know I can work ahead and get the dough made way ahead of time. It’s nice to know I can just have bread loaves hanging out in the freezer until I need them! Working ahead is my favorite way to prep meals!
So, first of all, let me say that this recipe is super easy! Now you know how to prep the first part and freeze them. Then when you’re ready for a hot loaf of homemade French Break all you’ll need is about 45 minutes total to let them rise and bake them! It doesn’t get fresher than that!
Have you tried freezing bread dough? Here’s a roll recipe that freezes great too, and is our favorite for special meals like Thanksgiving!
I hope you’ll give this freezing method a try!
RefreshHer 
We love having items in the freezer to just pull out for quick meals. Will definitely be trying this. Thanks for sharing!
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I’m so glad you’re going to try this! Let me know how it turns out!
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Question – you said that you took them out of the freezer the night before and let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then set them out to rise on the counter before baking. So when you say at the end of your post that about 45 minutes is needed for the bread to rise and bake, is that after you thawed it out overnight? Thank you! I think this would be great!
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Sorry for the confusion! The 45 minutes is after they’ve thawed all night. I took it out and let it rise 30 minutes on the counter in the morning, then they baked for 15 minutes in the oven. Does this help? Happy baking!
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