This post shows you how to make an easy, crusty french baguette recipe.
Sundays are one of my favorite days for many reasons, but mainly because it’s the day I always make a loaf of fresh bread. And is there anything better than the smell of bread cooking?
There’s something so therapeutic and fulfilling about baking bread. Whether I’m having a good day, bad day, or something in-between, baking a fresh loaf of crusty french bread is always so rewarding.
Now, I’ve made a LOT of bread in my life. But this just might be my favorite (okay, or one of my favorites) mainly because of how simple it is and yet it manages to have SO much flavor! This easy, crusty french baguette is made with just bread flour, salt, active dry yeast, and water, but manages to have so much flavor.
What is a French baguette?
In case you’re wondering what exactly a baguette is, it’s the long, thin bread that originated in France. It’s especially known for its long length and crusty exterior, yet soft and chewy interior. What makes a baguette so special is the simplicity of its ingredients. Requiring just four ingredients, this bread is perfect for beginners and beyond.
How do you make a baguette?
While the ingredients required to make a baguette are simple, the method to make the perfect crusty French baguette is where it can become a bit more complicated. But by breaking it down and taking it step-by-step, it’s quite easy. Note: this explains why to do certain processes while making the dough so if that’s not interesting to you, feel free to jump down to the recipe below!
Step-by-step instructions:
Start by gathering your four ingredients –
Bread Flour – I prefer to use bread flour because of its high protein content. It gives a nice chewy texture to the bread.
Salt – Kosher salt, also known as cooking salt is what is used in this recipe as it doesn’t contain any anti-clumping additives and has a gentler flavor (as opposed to iodized salt), if you only have iodized salt/table salt, don’t worry, it will still taste delicious. Salt helps control the fermentation process, helping to develop flavor.
Yeast – Essential for helping the dough rise and developing flavor, yeast plays a very important role. In this recipe I used active dry yeast, but you can substitute instant yeast. The main difference is active dry yeast will need to be rehydrated in a liquid, while that’s not as necessary with instant yeast.
Water – I use room temperature water in this recipe because the cooler the water the slower the yeast process is, which helps to develop more flavor in the bread. However, if you’re short on time and want to speed up the fermentation process, you can use warm water. Just not too hot, so it won’t kill the yeast (above 138F).
Alright, so we have our ingredients and now it’s time to begin the process of making the perfect easy, crusty French baguette!
- The first step is to mix together the water and yeast in a medium sized bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes, once foamy, give the mixture a stir, and let sit for an additional 5 minutes.
- Next add ¾ of the bread flour to the yeast/water mixture and mix gently with a spoon until just combined, then add the salt (if salt is added directly to yeast, it can kill it) and remaining flour. If your dough is too wet, you can add a bit more flour. Stir until you get a rough dough.
- Place the dough on the counter (or a pastry mat) and knead for 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. However, be careful not to add too much flour, you want the dough to be smooth. To make sure that I have kneaded my dough properly and developed enough gluten I like to use the window pane test. Roll the dough into a ball and cut off a small piece. Let sit for about 5 minutes, covered. Then take the small piece of dough and stretch it, see below. If you can see through it without it tearing, then you are all set! If it tears, knead it for a few more minutes and repeat the process until it no longer tears.
Fermentation Process
- Once the dough has been properly kneaded, it is ready to ferment! During this process, the starch breaks down into sugars, which the yeast feeds off of, producing two by-products – CO2 and alcohol (and some acids). The longer the bread ferments, the more flavor will develop in the dough. At room temperature, it usually takes about an hour for the dough to double in size. It’s important to cover with a towel to avoid the dough drying out/developing a crust.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to redistribute the yeast, and remove the CO2 and alcohol.
Shaping and Proofing
- Let the bread sit for another 10-15 minutes to let the gluten relax, then shape the bread by rolling it into a long cylinder that tapers off at the ends. If you have a hard time shaping the dough, let it rest for a few more minutes, covered.
- Once shaped, place on a baking mat and dust with flour, cover with a towel and let proof for about 30 minutes.
- While the dough is proofing, preheat the oven to 400F and place a baking tray on the lower rack.
- Once proofed (you will know it’s ready when you push your finger into the dough and it springs back slightly) slash the dough. Slashing the dough helps give the bread an artistic look, and helps the dough rise. You can use a knife or lame to make the slashes. For a baguette, they typically have slightly tilted vertical slashes that overlap.
Baking
- Once the dough has been slashed, it needs to be put in the oven. After placing the dough in the oven, immediately add 3 tbsp of water to the lower tray, and close the oven. This helps create steam resulting in a crispy exterior (the best part!). You can also gently spray the dough with some water right before baking to assist in the steaming process. Make sure not to open the oven door for the first 15 minutes to ensure the steam doesn’t escape.
- Once the top and sides are golden (around 30 minutes) remove the bread and place on a cooling rack to allow proper ventilation. Make sure not to cut into the bread while it’s too hot to avoid gummy bread! I like to wait about 20-30 minutes. I knooooow, so hard, but worth it, I promise!
PHEW! That’s everything. It might seem like a lot, but it’s actually a pretty simple process once you get the hang of it!
How to keep a baguette fresh?
You simply eat it all at once! I kid (sort of).
Truthfully, it will be fresh for about a day or two. On the second day, you will begin to notice it becoming stale. To avoid it becoming stale faster, you might think to place it in the refrigerator, but that actually makes it stale faster by causing it to lose too much moisture.
I recommend freezing it (make sure it’s cool before doing so), and to refresh it, lightly mist it with water and reheat it in the oven.
How do I soften a baguette?
Okay, so you thought you’d finish it, but you still have some left and now it’s stale…I have yet to have this problem because fresh bread is one of the few foods I have no self-control over.
But, I have seen a hack to freshen up a crusty french baguette (Note: I have not tested it myself, so if it works keep me posted!). Simply, run the stale bread under running water, wrap it in aluminum foil, set the oven to 300-325F and bake for 6-12 minutes (no need to preheat the oven). The water turns to steam, and the heat helps crisp up the exterior.
If you decide to try out the recipe, please leave a review below as it helps me to better write recipes (and tag me on Instagram @nourishedwithnatalie – I love seeing recreations!).
Crusty French Baguette
Ingredients
- 1 cup room temperature water
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 ¼ cups bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the water into a medium-sized bowl and pour the yeast on top. Let sit for about 5 minutes, mix, and let sit for another few minutes, or until foamy.
- Add ¾ of the bread flour to the yeast/water mixture and mix gently with a spoon until just combined, then add the salt and nearly all of the remaining flour, set aside 1/4 cup for kneading. Stir until you get a rough dough. If your dough is too wet, you can add a bit more flour.
- Place the dough on the counter and knead for around 10 minutes, adding the remaining flour as necessary. If needed, add more flour then the 1/4 cup but be careful not to add too much flour, as you want the dough to be smooth.
- Once the dough has developed enough gluten (see notes), place into a medium sized bowl and cover with a towel for an hour at room temperature to let rise.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to redistribute the yeast, and let it sit for an additional 10-15 minutes.
- Shape the bread by rolling it into a long cylinder that tapers off at the ends. If you have a hard time shaping the dough, let it rest for a few more minutes, covered.
- Once shaped, place on a baking mat and dust with flour, cover with a towel and let proof for about 30 minutes.
- While the dough is proofing, preheat the oven to 400F and place a baking tray on the lower rack.
- Once proofed (you will know it’s ready when you push your finger into the dough and it springs back slightly) slash the dough. You can use a knife or lame to make the slashes.
- Once the dough has been slashed, it needs to be put in the oven. After placing the dough in the oven, immediately add 3 tbsp of water to the lower tray, and close the oven. This helps create a crispy exterior – make sure not to open the oven for the first 15 minutes, so no steam escapes!
- Once the top and sides are golden (around 30 minutes) remove the bread and place on a cooling rack to allow proper ventilation. Wait about 20-30 minutes to cut into the bread.
- Enjoy. Ideally, with some fresh vegan butter!
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