Baguette recipe with step by step photos. My attempt on baking French baguette recipe from scratch at home.
I love baking breads at home and I really wish to get hold of the art of bread baking. I have couple of bread baking books and I am keep flipping the pages every now and then. Though I love to bake different kinds of bread my experiments have been limited to pizza and stuffed buns till now. This baguette recipe I baked last week was out of necessity. I tasted bruschetta is a bistro last year and loved it so much. I wanted to make it at home and started my hunting for French baguette with no luck. I finally decided to bake baguette recipe at home and it took me one full year to get out of comfort zone and try this recipe at home.
I found several recipes for baguette all over the web and also in my books. Those recipes were way too complicated for me to try. Every single recipe called for a water bath inside the oven to trap the steam. The steam released from hot water bath gives baguette is signature crispy crust. I was very scared to place boiling water in oven and really could not bring myself to do it. Then I forgot baguette for some time :). Last month I saw King arthur’s french baguette recipe. It sounded really simple with no water bath. I was very happy and decided to try it. I had very little hopes that baguette will turn out good but I was really happy with the way my baguette turned out. It was so delicious with crispy an very soft crumb. This is no where the authentic baguette recipe. It is my try on making french baguette at home. The original recipe says to use french flour but I just used the all purpose flour I had in hand.I made this bread twice. The first time though the taste and texture was good I was not happy with the shape. After taking photographs, I realized the shape of my baguettes was somewhat different. So I made them again next day ( they were so tasty!) I referred this video to understand more about shaping baguettes. I am very satisfied and happy with my first try on making baguettes and this has given immense confidence in trying more complex recipes.
To make baguette recipe I used all purpose flour. You can also use whole wheat flour. There is absolutely no fat in baguette recipe. The kneading and let the dough rise for long time makes baguette very tasty with super soft crumb. As baguette is not commonly prevalent in India you may find this bread a bit different but I assure you it is very very tasty. I made a very delicious bruschetta and crostini with homemade baguette.
I thoroughly enjoyed the photo session with baguette. The marble finished white board from Berachah Chizels made my baguettes look even more beautiful. Check out their page and grab a board/cutting board for yourself (this is not sponsored, just my opinion)
You can serve baguette slices with butter, jam, nutella. Also you can make garlic toast, bruschetta, crostini etc.
Here is how I made baguette recipe with step by step photos. Do try this out!
1. Take lukewarm water in a big mixing bowl. Add sugar and mix well. Sprinkle yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes.
2. Once the yeast becomes frothy, add flour, salt and mix well with a wooden spoon. Once the dough mixture comes together start kneading.
3. Knead he dough until is real smooth. The dough will be slightly sticky,just dust your hands with flour and knead. Do not add more flour to the dough. Knead well 15 minutes. Kneading well is the important step here. Cover and let the dough rise for 2 hours.
4. After first rise punch the dough, fold and knead well for 5 minutes. Cover and set aside for 1.5 hours.
5. After second rise divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
6. Take one portion and roll into a rectangle.
7. Tightly fold the rectangle into a log and seam the edges well. Roll and seal again for 2 times.
8. Now roll the shaped log into a baguette with tapered edges. Refer video for better understanding.
9. Repeat the same with remaining two portions. Keep the shaped baguette closed with a clean cloth for 30 minutes.
10. After 15 minutes preheat oven at 250C.
11. Take the shaped baguettes and score them with a knife.
12. Now using a spray bottle spray warm water all over the baguette generously.
13. Place the baguettes in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. Mine was done at 27 minutes. As every oven is different keep watching after 20 minutes. Once the crust is nicely browned and the house is filled with aroma of fresh bread it is done!
14. Remove from oven and let it sit for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve sliced baguettes as desired. You can keep the remaining baguettes in air tight box and use if further recipes for 2 days.
Baguette recipe card below:
Baguette recipe, how to make French baguette recipe
1 CUP = 250 ml
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
- 2 1/8 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Take lukewarm water in a big mixing bowl. Add sugar and mix well. Sprinkle yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Once the yeast becomes frothy, add flour, salt and mix well with a wooden spoon. Once the dough mixture comes together start kneading.
- Knead he dough until is real smooth. The dough will be slightly sticky,just dust your hands with flour and knead. Do not add more flour to the dough. Knead well 15 minutes. Kneading well is the important step here. Cover and let the dough rise for 2 hours.
- After first rise punch the dough, fold and knead well for 5 minutes. Cover and set aside for 1.5 hours.
- After second rise divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
- Take one portion and roll into a rectangle.
- Tightly fold the rectangle into a log and seam the edges well. Roll and seal again for 2 times.
- Now roll the shaped log into a baguette with tapered edges. Refer video for better understanding.
- Repeat the same with remaining two portions. Keep the shaped baguette closed with a clean cloth for 30 minutes.
- After 15 minutes preheat oven at 250C.
- Take the shaped baguettes and score them with a knife.
- Now using a spray bottle spray warm water all over the baguette generously.
- Place the baguettes in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. Mine was done at 27 minutes. As every oven is different keep watching after 20 minutes. Once the crust is nicely browned and the house is filled with aroma of fresh bread it is done!
- Remove from oven and let it sit for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve sliced baguettes as desired. You can keep the remaining baguettes in air tight box and use if further recipes for 2 days.
Notes
2. Make sure you knead the dough really well for prefect bread.
3. use good quality yeast for best results.
Nutrition
radhika says
I love baking breads at home and have tried many of your recipes. Thanks!