French Baguettes
French baguettes are a classic French bread that is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. They are made with a simple dough of flour, water, yeast, and salt, and can be shaped into a variety of forms, including baguettes, rolls, and batards. French baguettes are often served with butter or cheese, and can also be used to make sandwiches or croutons.
French baguettes are a classic French bread that is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. They are made with a simple dough of flour, water, yeast, and salt, and can be shaped into a variety of forms, including baguettes, rolls, and batards. French baguettes are often served with butter or cheese, and can also be used to make sandwiches or croutons.
- Carbohydrate 95.8387299093417 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 1.27933658594167 g
- Fiber 3.62305838672965 g
- Protein 13.3649111394708 g
- Saturated Fat 0.200778319268542 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (250g)
- Sodium 589.200615064583 mg
- Sugar 92.215671522612 g
- Trans Fat 0.423177027750958 g
- Calories 458 calories
Step-by-step
- Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Stir well with fork and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Combine flour (about 4 cups and use the other cup or so to flour your board and so your hands do not get soo sticky with dough.. ps take your rings off) and salt ( i add some complete seasoning for extra taste) . Add yeast mixture, remaining 1 1/2 cups water and mix until dough it sticky enough to kneed. Kneed on lightly floured board until dough is sticky and smooth (I found this to take about 10 minutes). Put dough in bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise at room temp. until dough doubles in volume, about 1 hours. (sometimes mine doubles and sometimes it rises a little depending on how active the yeast is.. the less it rises the more dense it will be if this happens just butter it well before serving)
- Punch down dough and dive into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a baguette shape and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Let rise again until doubled (again, I found this to be 30 min to about an hour).
- Preheat oven to 450. Put 2 cups warm water in separate pan and place in oven to provide moisture while bread is baking. Brush dough with 1 beaten egg combined with 1 tablespoon cold water. Score loaves diagonally and bake for 15 minutes. Lower temp to 400 and bake additional 5-10 minutes or until golden.
- Let cool, slice and enjoy! (Baking Tip: Store your bread in the fridge to help it last! Since it has no preservatives, it will mold quicker if left out and uncovered!)
Operating without dough conditioners or commercial preservatives means artisan bread begins degrading structurally hours after cooling. Starch retrogradation occurs rapidly at room temperature, causing the crumb to firm and stale through moisture migration. Refrigerating unpackaged loaves accelerates this staling process, yet unsealed counter storage invites mold within forty-eight hours.
Slicing leftover loaves almost completely through before wrapping them tightly in tin foil and sealing inside a freezer bag creates a protective moisture barrier. Reheating this frozen bread requires a 350-degree oven for roughly ten minutes, driving heat directly into the crumb while crisping the exterior crust. Alternatively, thawing individual portions in a microwave before a brief three-minute flash in a 400-degree oven restores thermal momentum without turning the interior rubbery.
Crust crispness relies directly on steam injection during the initial baking phase at 450 degrees. Placing a separate pan containing two cups of warm water inside the oven generates ambient humidity, gelatinizing surface starches before dry heat sets the rigid crust. Brushing the shaped dough with an egg wash containing one tablespoon of cold water further promotes browning through the Maillard reaction. Dropping the oven temperature to 400 degrees after fifteen minutes prevents scorching while fully drying the dense interior.
