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French Baguette Bread

This french baguette bread loaf is crusty on the outside and nice and fluffy on the inside. It goes great with any meal or make a great sandwich out of it!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 10 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
  • 1/2 cup Warm Water
  • 600 g Fresh-Milled White Wheat Flour
  • 225 g Artisan Bread Flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp Real Pink Salt
  • 1 1/2 cups Really Cold Water
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tbsp Raw Local Honey

Instructions
 

  • Combine the yeast and warm water, stir.
  • Place the flour, salt, yeast and cold water in a bowl and give it a good stir.
  • Once it's all mixed, add it to the stand-up mixer bowl or if you plan on kneading by hand, you can leave the dough in this bowl.
  • Attach the dough hook and turn the mixer on to the #2 setting.
  • You can bump up the speed to #4 or #6 at this point, if necessary. Add the honey and oil. Just watch the speed so the bowl isn't knocking. It should take about 15-20 minutes to knead the dough in the mixer. If kneading by hand, it may take 500-600 strokes. You can also set your timer for 15 minutes.
  • Cover the bowl and let rise for about 45 minutes. It should be doubled in size.
  • Next, take a wet finger and stick it in the dough. If the hole doesn't close up, then it rose perfectly.
  • Now, punch down the bread with your fist. Separate the dough into two pieces.
  • Add a little bit of flour to your surface and roll each dough piece into long skinny loaves. Depending on the width of your pan, make the loaf 1/2 the size to allow for expanding during the final rising process.
  • Place each loaf in a floured linen couche and cover. Let the loaves rise now for about 30 minutes.
  • Once risen, place each loaf on a baguette loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 425. Mist each loaf a few times with water and bake the loaves for 10 minutes. The misting will give each loaf a nice crust.
  • Next, reduce the temperature to 375. Now, bake the loaves for 20 minutes. The loaves should be a golden brown on top.
  • Let cool for 10-15 minutes and enjoy!

Notes

  1. Make sure the water is really cold when you are adding it to the flour. Add more as needed, when kneading. The cold water will determine the rise and flavor of your loaves.
  2. You can use all bread flour if you like. I'd go another 10 minutes on the kneading though. Feel free to try other grains as well. I'm going to try using Einkorn, Khorasan, and some others. You'll just need to make adjustments with different flours and water
  3. This can definitely be made with a sourdough starter.
  4. A cookie sheet is fine to use. The baguette pan just helps keep its shape.
 
*This recipe is taken from parts of both of the following cookbooks, as wells as, my input:
The Essential Home-Ground Flour Book by Sue Becker & The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book.