French Baguettes
We all have our weaknesses and bread is mine. When I walk by a bakery, just the smell of fresh baked bread drives me crazy! It doesn’t matter if I’m hungry or not, my brain sends a signal to my stomach and I start salivating – Frankie wants bread! To resist the temptation of not having any is even more insane!
Although bread is my weak spot, interestingly enough, I barely eat any but when I do it has to be fresh! I mean so fresh that when you try to slice it, it collapses. The freshest way for me to take care of my bread craving is to bake my own.
There are so many kinds of bread out there that it’s hard to choose one to bake, but I’ve decided on (drum roll)… French Baguettes! Who knew… lol!
The whole technique of bread making without using a bread machine is extremely simple and you can enjoy bread as fresh as can be without stepping out. The secret of making homemade bread is to make sure to let the dough rise so it doubles in size. Another helpful tip I can give you is when it’s time to shape the dough balls into oblong shapes, if the dough resists, don’t touch it for a few minutes and let the gluten relax.
This is what I use when I make my Stuffed Baguettes recipe and when the bread is a couple days old, I cube it and make my Herb Garlic Parmesan Croutons with it. How awesome is it to bake your own French Baguettes! It can’t get any fresher than that and I’m telling you, just the smell of baked bread from your oven will make you salivate. As soon as you take it out from the oven, slice a few pieces and spread butter on top… now that’s a piece of heaven in your mouth!
Bon Appétit!
Check out these other incredible bread recipes…
– Tomato Rosemary Focaccia
– Cheddar Biscuits
– Popovers
– Dinner Rolls
– Indian Naan Bread
– Mexican Cornbread
– Challah
and for even more great bread recipes, click on this link… Recipe Category • Bread
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French Baguettes
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Ingredients
- 2 tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 cup lukewarm water (between 105-110ºF)
- 1/2 tbsp. honey tips & tricks
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 tsp. ground Himalayan sea salt
- olive oil, for bowl tips & tricks
- unbleached all-purpose flour, as needed, for work surface
- 1 egg wash (1 egg yolk mixed with 1/2 tbsp. water)
- cornmeal, for dusting (as needed if not using a baguette pan) Footnote
Directions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast, water and honey. Using a wooden spoon, mix the ingredients together. Let it sit for 10 minutes until it foams.
- In a large bowl, combine flour and salt; whisk well.
- Add dry ingredients to yeast. Insert dough hook and mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes. Increase speed to 3 and continue mixing, adding ½ tbsp. water if needed. Process until it forms a ball of dough, clinging around the hook and when pressing down on it, it bounces back.
- Form a ball by pulling it under and place it in a lightly greased bowl, swirling it around to coat with oil. Cover with a clean dish towel and place in a draft-free area such as the oven (temperature off). Let it rise for 45 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- Knock the air out and transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Form a ball by folding under and using a bench scraper, evenly divide the dough into two pieces (or 4 if you want smaller baguettes). Form two balls again by folding under.
- Working with one at a time, stretch the dough into a rectangle shape, about 3x6-inches, before folding like an envelope; tuck the ends in. If the dough starts to stretch back, let the gluten relax for a couple of minutes.
- Transfer the dough logs onto a baguette pan (see footnote) and cover with a clean dish towel. Place them back in their draft-free spot and let them proof for 45 minutes or until they double in size.
- Remove the logs from their spot.
- Preheat oven to 450ºF and place a pan at the bottom rack and fill it up with water to create some steam.
- Slash the baguettes with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors 3 or 4 times on a 45º angle. Brush them with an egg wash.
- Transfer the baguettes to the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the heat and place the baguettes on a wire rack to cool off and prevent them from getting soggy.
Notes
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if you dont want to use a baggette pan can you free form and add to bakesheet also if you use a baggette pan should you spray .i amde them once ona baggette pan and they stuck to the pan
Hello Judith. It won’t hold its shape doing “free form”. Use the tea towel method instead, the one I show on the video. I bake them often using a non-stick baguette pan without spraying it and it works well so perhaps you might want to consider buying one. Hope this helps ☺