Crispy French baguette with baker’s yeast, a recipe that is part of my special dedicated to Homemade Bread Recipes.
Baguettes are a typical French bread with a very crispy crust, an airy and light crumb and the classic “stick” shape; you can make them with a sourdough starter or with baker’s yeast.
They are the quintessential French bread and, when traveling through small villages, you’ll often see them in bicycle baskets and tucked under many people’s arms, and displayed alongside brioches, flaky croissants and chausson aux pommes.
I still remember my first trip across the border almost twenty years ago and my surprise at discovering that in France a paper bag for bread was almost a myth: baguettes were sold and carried simply wrapped in a tiny paper napkin that barely covered the part where you held them. Heaven help you if you asked a baker for a larger piece of paper — they’d look at you with such dismay you would’ve thought you were doing something wrong!
Back after twenty years, I was pleasantly surprised to find that nowadays the paper they wrap baguettes in is about three times larger and that some bakeries even use special sleeves (covering them halfway)…
But back to our bread: I can’t remember how long I had been promising myself to make it at home; I always buy them at the supermarket and my kids adore them, especially in the more rustic, crunchy version.
A few days ago I decided it was time to get my hands back in the dough and make bread. My sourdough starter was a bit neglected, so I opted for baker’s yeast. The result was excellent anyway: four fragrant, crispy baguettes lasted just long enough to take some photos — they didn’t even make it to dinner!
Are you hungry? Let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll tell you how to make baguettes, but before you start, remember that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
Also check out:
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Ingredients to make the French baguette
- 4 3/4 cups Type 0 flour
- 2/3 cup re-milled durum wheat semolina (if you can't find it, use only Type 0 flour)
- 2 cups water (lukewarm (about 500 ml))
- 2 tsp malt extract (or honey)
- 2 1/4 tsp salt (about 14 g)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp active dry yeast (or 9 g fresh (about 1 tbsp))
Crispy French baguette with baker’s yeast: tools…
- Stand mixer
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet oven tray
- Dough scraper metal scraper or pastry cutter
preparation
The baguette is a golden, fragrant bread with an airy, light crumb. There are versions made with refined white flour and more rustic ones using durum wheat flour, multigrain blends or with nuts.
I prepared a semi-rustic version with Type 0 flour and a little re-milled semolina; if you can’t find the semolina, just use Type 0 flour.
This bread, with large open crumb and big bubbles, is obtained by hydrating the flour heavily and allowing a fairly long fermentation — especially when using sourdough starter. With baker’s yeast, fermentation times are shorter.
Highly hydrated doughs are difficult to work by hand; for this reason using a stand mixer is almost indispensable.
You could reduce hydration and knead by hand, but you’d obtain a tighter crumb with small bubbles — a good bread, but not a baguette.
Now it’s time to start:
In the bowl of your stand mixer combine the Type 0 flour (which, thanks to its strength, can absorb a lot of liquid), the yeast (if fresh dissolve it in a little water), the lukewarm water, the malt and place the salt in a corner away from the yeast.
Start the machine and work at medium speed for ten minutes.
You will obtain a very wet and almost unmanageable dough; then add the semolina and the oil and work until the dough, after going through several phases, becomes smooth, elastic and reaches the windowpane stage, wrapping around the hook and leaving the bowl clean.
Turn the dough out onto an unfloured work surface and perform two rounds of slap-and-fold folds: lift the mass with both hands and let it fall back onto the surface, folding it onto itself.
With the help of the dough scraper, shape the dough into a ball and place it into a bowl.
Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a turned-off oven with the light on until doubled in size.
The oven light will keep the oven at about 79°F–82°F (approximately 26°C–28°C) and the dough will rise in about three hours, though the time may vary.
When it has more than doubled in volume, flour the work surface and turn out the dough.
Also flour the surface of the dough and, using the scraper, divide it into 4 pieces.
Without pressing them too much, stretch them a bit; simply move them on the floured surface with the scraper and you’ll find it’s easier than expected.
Cut four strips of parchment paper about 6 3/4 inches (17 cm) wide and as long as your baking sheet.
Place the loaves on the parchment strips and arrange them on the baking sheet so there is little to no space between them.
Let them proof for another 20 minutes in the oven with the light on, then take them out and preheat the oven to 392°F (200°C).
To obtain the classic crunchy crust with a glossy brown color, you need to bake the bread with steam.
If your oven (like mine) doesn’t have a steam function, place a bowl or a small pan full of water on the lower rack and wait for the oven to reach temperature.
Make diagonal slashes on the bread and bake using the convection setting for 25 minutes.
After this time, open the oven, slide out the parchment and separate the baguettes so their sides also brown.
Lower the temperature to 356°F (180°C) and continue for another 20 minutes.
Remove the bowl of water and finish the last ten minutes with the oven slightly ajar and the temperature set to 320°F (160°C).
Not all ovens are the same, so times may vary slightly; if the bread seems done, remove it. When tapped on the crust it should sound hollow.
Let cool on a wire rack and serve; it’s excellent both warm and at room temperature.
Store leftover bread in a cotton bag. Over time it will lose some crispness, but if it’s not too hot it will stay soft and tasty until the next day.
If you liked this recipe, also take a look at:
– Mafalde siciliane semolina bread;
– Durum semolina bread with sourdough;
– High-hydration semolina walnut bread with sourdough;
– Semolina bread with sun-dried tomatoes;
If you want to know the model of my stand mixer, I have this one: KitchenAid Classic stand mixer, it’s a very well made machine and I love it.
If you’re looking for a dough scraper, you can buy one like this: Kitchen dough scraper.
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