How to Make French Baguettes with Poolish – Step-by-Step Artisan Method

By Rebecca St.Clair

Bake delicious French baguettes with Poolish. These baguettes develop a golden crust, chewy texture, and rich flavour—perfect for sandwiches, cheese boards, or tearing apart and eating warm from the oven.

Using a Poolish pre-ferment gives these French baguettes that traditional French boulangerie flavour. This recipe is easy to make, all you need is a little patience and a few ingredients, for bread with a beautifully blistered crust and that signature airy crumb.

The overnight fermentation of the Poolish adds complexity and a light, melt-in-your-mouth inside you just can’t get from quick-rise doughs. Giving you bakery results right at home. These French baguettes are everything you love about artisan bread. Crisp on the outside, soft and tender inside.

How to store French baguettes with Poolish

French baguettes with Poolish 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 plastic wrap. Store it on the counter for up to 2 days.

Baguettes stored this way are best served toasted or warmed the next day.

The freezer

French baguettes with Poolish can be frozen! Store a baguette, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or an airtight container, for up to 3 months.

When you are ready to enjoy your baguettes, remove from the plastic.

To warm the loaf, place the baguette, lightly wrapped in tin foil, in a preheated 325 °F (160 °C) oven for 20-25 minutes or until warmed through.

What is poolish?

Similar to the process of making sourdough, poolish is a type of pre-ferment used in bread baking that helps develop flavour, texture, and aroma in baked bread.

Made with equal parts flour and water plus a small amount of commercial yeast, it’s mixed ahead of time and allowed to ferment for several hours (or overnight). This slow fermentation gives the dough a subtle tang, a light and airy inside, and a beautiful golden crust, giving you an artisan style loaf.

How baguettes are made

There are a few extra things that bakers use to make beautiful baguettes.

• Couche A couche is a soft 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 flat baguette.
• Baguette Pan These are pans that are specifically designed to bake baguettes. They are perforated for airflow and are in that cylindrical shape.

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. Fold and dust a long piece of parchment paper with flour.

When you place the shaped dough in the couche tie it with kitchen twine on both ends to form the parchment paper into a half cylinder shape.

To make your own baguette pan. Since parchment paper can go directly into the oven I use the same parchment paper to bake the bread in the oven. Half way through, undo the twine on both ends of the baguette and pull the parchment paper down, to allow the bread to get golden brown on all sides.

How to use French baguettes with Poolish

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 vinegar.
• 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, spread 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.
• For stuffing– I always make my stuffing for Thanksgiving and Christmas with a baguette style bread that I have pre-baked full of seasoning.
• An absolute treasure trove of breakfast casseroles can be made from day old baguette.

How to make French baguettes with Poolish

For the Poolish

1. Get a sealable container that will allow the Poolish to rise 3 times in size.
2. To the container stir together 3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp of warm water and 1/8 tsp dry-active yeast.
3. With a spoon stir in 1 1/2 cups flour until you have a thick dough. Make sure to get all the way to the corners of the container, so there are no spots of flour left.
4. Seal the container and allow it to rise, at room temperature, for 8 to 12 hours.

Baguette dough

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl if making the recipe by hand, mix in 3/4 cup warm water and 1/8 tsp dry-active yeast. Add in the risen and bubbly Poolish.
2. Mix in 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour.
3. Knead for 4 minutes.

4. Cover and allow to rest 20 minutes.

5. Sprinkle the 1 tsp salt on top and knead into the dough another 3 minutes or until smooth and glossy.

6. Cover and allow to rise, in a warm spot, for 30 minutes.

7. With wet hands, to prevent sticking, grab the side of dough and stretch upwards. Fold it over to the opposite side of the dough.

8. Turn the bowl and do the same thing with the opposite side.

9. Turn and do a stretch and fold to the other two corners of the dough.

10. Cover and allow to rest 30 minutes.

11. Repeat this same stretch and fold process one more time.

12. Cover and allow to rest another 30 minutes.

shaping

1. Tip the dough out onto a clean surface and carefully split in half. Try to keep as many bubbles inside as possible.
2. Gently fold the dough in thirds, like a letter going into an envelop. Pinch the seam closed. Wet your hands as needed to prevent sticking.
3. Allow to rest 15 minutes.
4. Gently press and roll each half of dough into a long thin baguette shape.

5. Cut a long piece of parchment paper, slightly longer than the dough.

6. Fold the parchment paper in thirds lengthwise for structure.

7. Dust the parchment paper with flour and place the dough inside.

8. Tie each end with kitchen twine to form the parchment paper, around the dough, in a half cylinder shape. (See video for more detail)

9. Dust the top of the dough with flour and allow to rise in a warm spot 45 minutes or until the dough has doubled.

Baking

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (230 °C) fan on-forced air-convention mode.
2. Score the top of the loaves with a sharp blade down the centre.
3. Place an oven proof dish with a few ice cubes in the bottom of the oven to create steam.
4. Place the parchment lined bread onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven 8 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and carefully untie the ends of the parchment paper. Fold down the sides for an even coloured crust on top.
6. Return to the oven and bake for another 6 to 8 minutes or until deeply golden and sounds hollow when tapped.
7. Remove from the paper and serve warm.

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