Hello friends! I hope you are doing well. Staying healthy from 6 feet away and all that. I’ve been seeing a lot of folks attending bread at home lately so I thought I’d pop on and share a super easy recipe for French baguettes at home!
This recipe is from Paul Hollywood, judge one the great British baking show, or is it great British bake off? Something like that. It’s on NETFLIX and its totally binge worthy. Now if you’ve ever seen the show then you know that Paul is the bread king. He always has the hardest baking challenges and some (most) of them revolve around bread.
Have no fear though, you and your French baguettes at home won’t be judged here! The recipe is actually very simple to follow and even easier to eat! 🙂
Before you get to the baking though, I want you to know that I weighed my ingredients in this recipe. I highly recommend that you do as well as bread making is definitely part science/part art. You don’t want to have too much flour or the bread won’t proof properly and conversely too much water that the dough is too sticky. Weighing ingredients makes sure you have the right mix in order to make the perfect baguettes.
go forth and bake bread my friends! i hope you enjoy these easy French baguettes at home.
xo, Danielle
French Baguettes at Home
Test your bread making skills with Paul Hollywood’s French baguette recipe! So simple, anyone can do it right??
Ingredients
- olive oil for greasing
- 500 g/1lb 2oz strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting
- 10 g/¼ oz salt
- 10 g/¼ oz fast-action yeast
- 370 ml/13fl oz cool water
Instructions
- Lightly oil a large bowl with olive oil.
- Put the flour, salt and yeast into the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook (don’t put the salt directly on top of the yeast). Add three-quarters of the water and begin mixing on a slow speed. As the dough starts to come together, slowly add the remaining water, then continue to mix on a medium speed for 5-7 minutes, until you have a glossy, elastic dough.
- Tip the dough into the prepared bowl. Cover and leave for 1 hour, or until at least doubled in size. Preferably two hours.
- Dredge a kitchen towel with flour and lightly dust the work surface with flour.
- Carefully tip the dough onto the work surface. Rather than knocking it back, handle it gently so you can keep as much air in the dough as possible. (This helps to create the irregular, airy texture of a really good baguette.) The dough will be wet to the touch But still pliable.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Shape each piece into an oblong by flattening the dough out slightly and folding the sides into the middle. Then roll each up into a sausage – the top should be smooth with the join running along the length of the base. Now, beginning in the middle, roll each sausage with your hands. Don’t force it out by pressing heavily. Concentrate on the backwards and forwards movement and gently use the weight of your arms to roll out the dough to 30cm/12in long.
- Lay a baguette along the edge of the kitchen towel and pleat the towel up against the edge of the baguette. Place another baguette next to the pleat. Repeat the process until all 4 baguettes are lined up against each other with a pleat between each. Cover the baguettes with a clean tea towel and leave for 1 hour, or until the dough has at least doubled in size and springs back quickly if you prod it lightly with your finger.
Preheat the oven to 470F and put a roasting tray in the bottom of the oven to heat up.
- When the baguettes are risen, remove them from the towel and dust lightly with flour. Slash each one 4 times along its length on the diagonal, using a razor blade or a very sharp knife. Transfer to a large baking tray.
Fill A 13×9 pan with hot water, to create steam, and put the bread into the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the baguettes are golden-brown and have a slight sheen. Cool on a wire rack.
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