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French Baguette with crispy and golden crust. Nothing beats hot-off-the-oven baguettes to accompany a family meal. This is a fail-proof baguette recipe!
Baguette is a long, narrow loaf of French bread that is hard, crusty and golden-brown on the outside.
The crispy crust is what sets French baguettes apart from other similar breads.
Baguette is iconic to France; French baguette sandwich is famous the world over.
Baguette can be served and eaten as is, to accompany a meal. They are also cut lengthwise and served as a sandwich, such as French-Vietnamese Banh Mi, a popular bread with savory meat and vegetables in Vietnam.
How To Make Baguette
To make baguette, you need a mother dough, or Poolish. This is a baguette recipe with Poolish.
Poolish is also called Pre-ferment, a technique in bread making where a starter dough is made the night before by mixing flour, water and yeast together.
The dough is left to ferment overnight, or 12-16 hours until bubbles break out from the surface of the Poolish.
The mother dough is then used to create the final dough to make the baguette.
Making baguette at home is actually quite easy, and I have step-by-step picture and recipe guide below.
This recipe is fail-proof, fool-proof and the end results are very authentic.
It does take a bit of time to make the baguettes, but they are so worth it as the aromas of fresh bread fill and linger in the kitchen.
How To Eat A Baguette
Here are a few common ways to serve and eat a baguette:
- Serve as a side to a meal. Slice the baguettes and spread some butter.
- Slice a baguette lengthwise and turn it into a sandwich, such as Banh Mi.
- Garlic bread
- Texas Toast
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 284 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Homemade Baguette
Serve this bread with Zucchini Dip. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Homemade Baguette
Ingredients
Poolish
- ½ cup water, plus 3 tablespoons
- 1 pinch instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Dough:
- ½ cup water, plus 3 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- The night before, dissolve the yeast in the water for the Poolish, then mix in the all-purpose flour. Cover and let it ferment at room temperature for 12-16 hours, or overnight. Once the Poolish has bubbles breaking on the surface and has started to wrinkle, it’s ready.
- Transfer the Poolish to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add water, salt, yeast, and all-purpose flour, and knead the dough on slow speed for 2-3 minutes. Cover and let it rise for two hours, performing a stretch-and-fold at the one-hour mark.
- Divide the dough into three equal pieces. Cover and let them rest for about 20 minutes. Shape each piece into a baguette about 12 inches long, then cover and let them rise for 60 to 90 minutes.
- Score the baguettes and bake in a preheated oven at 450°F (232°C). Place a tray of water below the baguettes while baking to create steam in the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have a sourdough starter, can I use this? Would I use same amount as polish?
Hi Lourdes, I am sorry but I am not sure. Please follow the recipe.
I just LOVE bread and these baguettes look wonderful!
Bee your baguette recipe yielded excellent results. I will now experiment with it a bit. Thank you!
Awesome, Wendi. Let me know about your baguette experiments. :)
Hi would love to make this but I don’t own a mixer. Can I use a blender? Or mix by hand? Thanks!
You can mix it by hand.
Can I use the regular yeast or do I need the instant yeast?
Please use instant yeast. I can’t guarantee the results if you use regular yeast.
Hi! Do you need a mixer with a dough hook or is there another way to do it?
Thanks!
You can knead with hands for 20-30 minutes.
Bee, I tried and throughly enjojed the resulting baguettes but can you suggest how to make the crust less hard ad too solid. I think I followed your recipe t theletter but I may have done something wrong.
Do a water bath in the oven. Add a tray of water and place below the baguette when baking.
I also found the crust very hard, but otherwise, the baguette was delicious. How much water do you need for the tray of water in the oven, while you’re baking the bread?
Just enough water to create steam in a baking tray.
Liz – the recipe is right there, did you scroll down. If you don’t scroll down I can’t help you. The printer button is also there but the plugin is causing problems and we are aware of it. But the recipe is there, it’s not going anywhere whether or not you can print it or not.
I couldnt find where to view or open recipe for Baguette
The recipe is at the bottom of the screen, please scroll down to the pink recipe card.
Alas, there is something wrong with the website – when I try to print the recipe for the Baguette, the page reverts to the cover page. Have tried a dozen times, but yesterday and today…..
Thank you for the always splendid recipes and news. You do a wonderful job.
Very interesting I love it baking is an art and needs to be learned will try this recipe thankes