Crusty French Baguette
This fail-proof French baguette recipe uses simple kitchen ingredients and bakes up to a delightful loaf that is soft and chewy on the inside and crusty on the outside.
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer
- 1 baking sheet
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1¾ cups warm water
- 1 large egg white for egg wash
- 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
Instructions
- In the stand of your electric mixer, or a large mixing bowl, add in your sugar and yeast. Pour over it the warm water. Make sure the water feels warm to the touch, but not scalding. Allow the yeast to wake up for about 5 minutes. You want it to be foamy.
- To the yeast, add your salt and flour. Knead the dough until all ingredients are combined and it forms a soft dough ball.
- Allow the bread to rise in a warm place, covered with plastic wrap, for 1 hour. It should double in size.
- Lightly flour your surface and turn out the dough onto the floured surface. Divide the dough ball into two dough balls. One for each baguette.
- Roll one of the dough balls out with a rolling pin until it's about 14x10. It doesn't have to be precise. Roll the dough as you would cinnamon rolls from one long side to the other long side. Pinch the seam well and lay on a parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down.
- Repeat with the second ball of dough.
- Cover your loaves with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Uncover your loaves and score the top with a knife.
- In a small bowl, whisk your egg white and tablespoon of water. Brush the top of the loaves with the egg wash.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 25 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
You can make 2 larger loaves or 3 smaller loaves. If you make smaller ones, you will need to adjust the baking time and reduce it so they don't overbake.