Easy Crusty French Baguette

This Easy Crusty French Baguette is simple enough to be made at home but tastes just like you bought it at your local bakery!

Make some for our Easy Tomato Bruschetta!

Hellloooo fellow quaran-carb friends! Let me introduce you to our newest carb love, this Easy Crusty French Baguette!

I don’t know about you guys, but we are carb-loading hard during self-isolation. We’ve been baking a LOT of bread. And one of my deepest loves? A crusty French baguette, which we now can make at home.

Recipe Video

Ingredients Needed:

• Flour – The best flour for this is bread flour, but an all-purpose will work great, too.
• Yeast – We use active dry yeast, but you can also use instant yeast, it just won’t need the activation.
• Kosher salt – You can also use table salt, but just see the recipe notes.
• Water –

Equipment Needed:

A Kitchen Scale is really necessary if you want to do a lot of baking to get the right ingredients We love this one!

Also, to help with the Maillard reaction, AKA the gorgeous browning effect, you’ll need a little spray bottle with water. Nothing fancy, just something like this one.

A Lame Bread Slashing Tool – this is basically a super sharp bread razor to make those lovely bread slashes. You can also use a super sharp knife, but isn’t it always more fun to have a special tool?

How to Make:

This bread is an easy one that doesn’t require a starter or a lot of prep time, which is why it’s exactly the kind of bread that stays in our repertoire. It’s really very easy:

• Dissolve and activate the yeast – If using instant yeast, no need to activate it.
• Mix flour – not a lot of kneading is required, which is one of the best parts of this recipe!
• Let rest/rise – let it do its thannng
• Shape into loaves (and rise again)
• Bake!

Bake the next day: You could also after kneading it, place it in the fridge to bake the next day. Just add it to an oiled bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge. The next day, punch it down, let it rest for about 10 minutes, and then shape it.

I decided to just make two baguettes, but you could definitely make four. Personally, I like ’em long, but it will make it difficult if you don’t have a sheet pan big enough, so really, this recipe will make up to 4 crusty loaves.

I seriously love this baguette. It is the perfect addition for a wine and cheese afternoon with girlfriends and any cheese board or charcuterie. We love a good baguette.

Favorite Recipes to Serve With:

• Easy Tomato Bruschetta
• Chimichurri Steak Crostini
• Sun-dried Tomato Hummus
• Grilled Chicken Banh Mi
• Avocado Corn Salsa
• Whipped Feta and Arugula Crostini
• Candy Cane Charcuterie Board
• Curry Chicken Salad

Or, hey, at this time in lif,e if you just want to sit down with an Easy Crusty French Baguette and some butter with a glass of wine and binge something on Netflix… get it. I’m with you, 100%. Definitely did that with one of these bad boys.

Our Other Favorite Bread Recipes

• Cheesy Pesto Pull-Apart Rolls
• Easy White Sandwich Bread
• Homemade Hawaiian Rolls
• No Knead Rosemary Garlic Bread
• Easy Dinner Rolls From Scratch
• Vietnamese Baguette

So my quarantine baker buds, bake on! As always, if you do please let me know!! I love to hear about it on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Easy Crusty French Baguette

This Easy Crusty French Baguette is simple enough to be made at home but tastes just like you bought it at your local bakery!

4.90 from 68 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: French

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Resting: 2 hours hours

Servings: 2 Baugettes

Author: Tracy

Equipment

• ▢
  kitchen scale
• ▢
  spray bottle
• ▢
  bread lame

Ingredients

• ▢ 1/4 cup warm water 50 g or 1.75 fl oz
• ▢ 2 1/4 teaspoons active yeast 1 packet, 10 g
• ▢ 3 2/3 cups bread flour 1 lb or 454 g
• ▢ 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt 9 g
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups water 10 fl oz or 296 g

Instructions

• Add the 1/4 c warm water to a bowl and dissolve the yeast and let activate until bubbly, about 10 minutes. If using instant yeast, no need to wait the 10 minutes.
• In a medium sized bowl, measure out flour, add salt and stir and then add it to the yeast.
• Add water (a little at a time) to the dough and mix into a a shaggy dough. The dough shouldn't be sticky, so you may not need to add all of the water.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, add dough to a lightly floured surface and gently knead a couple of times before putting in a lightly oiled bowl to rise. Cover with plastic again and let rise for 1 hr.
• Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Lightly flour surface. Divide dough in half. And then halve again to get 4 equal portions that are about 10 inches long. Shape doughs into long loaves with pointed ends. Cover with oiled plastic wrap or a dry linen towel and let rise again until almost doubled – about 30-45 minutes.
• Once doubled, gently transfer loaves to parchment lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with flour and then slash with a bread lame slashing tool.
• Spray loaves with water and then add to oven. Set time for 30 minutes. Let bake for 5 minutes (25 min mark) and then spray with water. After another 7 minutes (at 18 min mark) spray again with water.
• Bake for a total of 30 minutes or until baguettes are brown and crusty. Remove from oven and let cool. When the bottom is tapped, they should sound hallow.
• Enjoy!

Video

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Notes

Make Ahead: 

After kneading the dough, add it to an oiled bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge. The next day, punch it down, let it rest for about 10 minutes, and then shape.

Baguette Length: 

Use this recipe to make either 2 extra-long baguettes or 4 shorter baguettes.  Nutritional value 1 whole extra-long baguette. 

Storage: 

Let your baguettes cool completely before storing them in a plastic bag, bread box, or wrapping them in foil and storing them on the counter.  The crust may soften, but it can be crisped back up in the oven.  

Fresh baguettes are best used within the first day or two. 

Freeze for up to 3 months.

Substitutions: 

Yeast:  If you only have active yeast that’s not quick rise, add yeast to water and let it activate for 5-10 minutes until the yeast begins to be foamy.

Crust: 

For a softer crust, add an oven-safe dish with water to the bottom rack in the oven when you pre-heat the oven.  

 

Nutrition

Calories: 869kcal | Carbohydrates: 179g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 2055mg | Potassium: 372mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 11mg

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