Easy Artisan French Baguettes
Baguettes are made and enjoyed world wide. However, most people would agree this delicious, crusty on the outside soft of the inside, bread is quintessentially French.
When I traveled in Paris, many years ago, one of the things on my culinary bucket list was a baguette from a proper artisan French boulangerie.
These beautiful loves are not difficult to make at home. They require very few ingredients and are a great way to get started in your bread making journey!
Storage
Baguettes are best served fresh and eaten the same day.
At room temperature
Baguettes, like most homemade loaves dry out and become stale more quickly than store-bought bread. Baguettes especially dry out and get hard quickly, due to their low moisture content.
To store a baguette at room temperature first wrap it in aluminum foil or cling-film. Store it on the counter for up to 2 days.
Baguettes stored this way are best served toasted or warmed the next day.
The refrigerator
Baguettes should not be refrigerated. The refrigerator is not the best option to store a baguette, or any homemade bread. Refrigerated bread will quickly turn hard and tough, even if wrapped tightly.
The freezer
Baguettes can be frozen. This is the best option for keeping your baguette fresh, if you are not able to eat it right away. You can store a baguette, tightly wrapped in cling-film or an airtight container, for up to 3 months.
When you are ready to enjoy your bread, remove it from the wrap and allow it to come back up to room temperature.
If you want to warm the whole loaf up to get that warm fresh baked taste, place the baguette lightly wrapped in tin foil in a preheated 325 degree F (160 degrees C) oven for 20-25 minutes or until warmed through.
How baguettes are made
Baguettes are made the same way as most breads, however there are a few extra things that many bakers use to make beautiful baguettes.
- Couche A couche is a soft linen cloth that is used to separate the bread loaves while they are rising. It keeps them rising up in stead of out. That way you will have a nice cylinder shape instead of a wide flatter baguette.
- Baguette Pan These are pans that are specifically designed to bake baguettes. They are perforated for airflow and are in that cylindrical shape that you want for a baguette.
Do you need a couche and a baguette pan to make baguettes? No!
For this recipe I make the baguettes without a couche and without a baguette pan.
If you plan on making baguettes all the time, these may be worth the investment. However, you can make your own with things you probably have in your kitchen right now.
To make your own couche. Dust a lint free kitchen linen with flour. Place something underneath the towel that will hold it in shape, you can use aluminum foil, or cardboard cylinders, rolling pins, anything that will help it hold its shape.
When you place the shaped dough in the couche make sure they are separated on all sides with the linen, so the dough does not fuse together as they rise.
To make your own baguette pan. I typically do this by rolling up some of my silicone baking mats. They are stiffer and tend to hold their shape when they are rolled. You could also do this with parchment paper and aluminum foil rolled up on either side.
How to eat baguettes
There is nothing better than a fresh baked baguette sliced and served warm with butter, in my opinion. There are many different ways to use baguettes.
- Bruschetta– Sliced baguettes, lightly toasted, and served with a tomato feta and balsamic mixture.
- Garlic bread – This crusty outside and soft inside makes an excellent garlic bread. Either sliced first and then spread with garlic spread, or cut the entire loaf in half, apply the garlic mixture, place in the oven to melt and get nice and toasty. Then slice the bread and serve.
- With chocolate– A classic French treat. A warm baguette with some good quality dark chocolate sandwiched inside and maybe a sprinkle of salt. A good, simple, quality snack.
- For stuffing– I always make my stuffing for thanksgiving and Christmas with a baguette style bread that I have prebaked full of seasoning.
- An absolute treasure trove of breakfast casseroles can be made from day old baguette.
- The list goes on, but those are some of my favourites!
Ingredients for Easy Artisan French Baguettes
2 teaspoons salt
1 ½ cup warm water
2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
Method
Mixing the dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl by hand, mix the warm water and the yeast.
- When the yeast is soft, add in the salt and half of the flour. Mix with the dough hook attachment, or a strong spoon if mixing by hand.
- Mix in the remaining flour and knead for about 5 minutes (8 minutes if kneading by hand). Or until the dough cleans the side of the bowl and is smooth an elastic. (If it is still too loose, add more flour, a little at a time, until you have the proper consistency.)
- Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
Shaping
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Split the dough in 3 for small baguettes or 2 for long.
- Fold each over onto itself a few times, tighten it into a small log shape by rolling and pressing the dough together. (These will not look like long baguettes yet.) Cover and let rest 15 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, shape each portion of dough into a long log about 12 inches long.
- Place all three (or two) in a floured couche, separated so they do not stick together and so they will hold their shape as they rise. I don’t have a couche so I separate mine with silicone mats and cover with a lint free cloth.
- Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Baking
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C), and place an oven proof pan on the floor of the oven to preheat.
- Transfer the loaves to the baguette pans, if using. I keep mine in the formed silicone mats that I have made for them to hold their shape (you can do the same with parchment paper and rolled up tin foil).
- Cut slashes in the top of the loaves and place in the preheated oven. Pour about 1 cup of hot water into the pan at the bottom of the oven, to create steam, and shut the door.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Or until golden and sounds hollow when tapped.
- Meanwhile, mix 1 tsp salt with ¼ cup water. (This will get brushed onto the loves when they come out of the oven to give them a slight salty crust. This is optional)
- Once it is cool enough to handle, slice and serve!
Easy Artisan French Bread
Ingredients
- 1½ cups warm water
- 2¼ tsp dry active yeast or one package
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt optional
- ¼ cup water optional
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl by hand, mix the warm water and the yeast.
- When the yeast is soft, add in the salt and half of the flour. Mix with the dough hook attachment, or a strong spoon if mixing by hand.
- Mix in the remaining flour and knead for about 5 minutes (8 minutes if kneading by hand). Or until the dough cleans the side of the bowl and is smooth an elastic. (If it is still too loose, add more flour, a little at a time, until you have the proper consistency.)
- Cover and let rise, in a warm place, for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Split the dough in 3 for small baguettes and 2 for long.
- Fold each over onto itself a few times, tighten it into a log shape by rolling and pressing the dough together. Cover and let rest 15 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, shape each portion of dough into a long log about 12 inches long.
- Place all three (or 2) in a floured couche, separated so they do not stick together and so they will hold their shape as they rise. Instead of a proper couche, I separate mine with silicone mats and cover with a lint free cloth.
- Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), and place an oven proof pan in the bottom of the oven to preheat.
- Transfer the loaves to the baguette pans if using. I keep mine in the formed silicone mats that I have made for them to hold their shape (you can do the same with parchment paper and rolled up tin foil).
- Cut slashes in the top of the loaves and place in the preheated oven. Pour about ½ cup of hot water into the pan at the bottom of the oven to create steam and shut the door.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Or until golden and sounds hollow when tapped.
- Meanwhile, mix one tsp salt with ¼ cup of water. (This will give the crust a nice salty flavour, but is optional)
- Remove from oven and immediately brush with the salt and water.
- Once it is cool enough to handle, slice and serve!
Want to try some fun bread recipes from around the world? Try one of these! Finnish-Canadian Pulla Bread, Scottish Kitchen Butter Rolls, Butteries, Old Fashioned Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread
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