Looking for an easy French baguette recipe using a bread machine that does most of the work for you? In this post, you’ll learn how to create delicious baguettes that has a gorgeous outer crust and is moist inside, all done with the help of a bread machine and your two hands.
If this is your first time ever making baguettes using a bread machine, you’ll see that it’ll do all the heavy lifting for you – letting you do the actual fun parts of baguette forming later. A great recipe and total win-win for homemade bread.
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Ingredients
4 1/2 Teaspoons of Bread Yeast
2 1/4 Tablespoons of honey (or 1/4 cup of sugar)
3 1/2 cup Bread Flour
1 Cup of Water (heated to 110°)
2 Tsp of salt (be sure to keep separate from the yeast)
Step 1: Add water, honey and salt into your bread machine. Then add in your flour. Make a little hole in the center of the flour and add in your yeast. Set your bread machine to dough setting mode and press start.
Step 2: While your dough cycle is doing its first rise, it’s time to grab the baking trays. To prep your baking tray, add some parchment paper and sprinkle some brown rice flour or cornmeal – this will help keep your bread from sticking and create that gorgeous crispy crunch. Now you are ready to work with the fresh dough from the bread machine
Step 3: Once the dough cycle (and dough rise) is complete (you’ll know it’s ready if indentation remains when touched), transfer the dough from the bread machine to a lightly floured surface. Punch out the risen bread dough and roll into a 16×12-inch rectangle. Divide dough in half, creating two 8×12-inch rectangles. Set aside one portion to work with and cover the other dough ball portions with a cloth or plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
Step 4: Taking your first dough rectangle, and beginning at one long side, roll up each half of dough tightly – similar to folding a letter. Continue to do this throughout the entire length of the one side of the dough, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Repeat this step on the opposite edge of the dough – this helps to lengthen the dough into that long iconic baguette shape.
Be sure to seal the dough seams together as well as folding and tucking each end of the baguette.
note: for rolls, cut your dough into smaller pieces and follow the above instructions the same way.
Step 5: Place all your loaves on the tray or bread pan about 3 inches apart.
Step 6: Make deep diagonal slashes across each of the loaves every 2 inches or one slash going lengthwise on each loaf. Once done, cover and let the dough do a second rise for least 30 minutes. This will make the baguette loaves double in size.
Step 7: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Step 8: Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl to make egg wash; brush over the top of the bread loaves. Let bake for 13 minutes or until crust is a golden brown hue.
Note: If you want super crusty bread, prepare an ovenproof bowl or tray with ice-cold water. Place the bowl or tray of ice water on the bottom of the oven rack and then immediately put the bread tray on the rack above the water in the preheated oven. Do not open your oven door while your bread is baking.
Once done, remove your bread loaf tray from the oven and place onto to a cooling wire rack. Once cooled down, serve and enjoy, preferably with some olive oil sprinkled with parmesan cheese and salt.
some baguette baking Notes
To prevent a sticky situation, line your tray or cookie sheet using brown rice flour (the best kept nonstick secret). This will help your dough not stick to the tray and help it crisp.
If you’re fresh out of brown rice flour, you can use cornmeal or parchment paper too.
Always make sure to cover your dough to prevent it from drying out.
And there you have it. A delicious homemade french bread recipe with a crispy crust you can serve to your loved ones. It’s a simple recipe that’ll get your tastebuds singing.
One of the secrets of a great baguette is to start with a sponge (a mix of flour, water, and yeast), which gives the yeast time to mature and combine with the other ingredients, creating the mildly sour and nutty flavors and chewy texture.
Overall, the ideal flour for baguettes should have a moderate protein content, a fine texture, and should be of high quality. While traditional French type 55 flour is the ideal choice, a combination of all-purpose and bread flour can also work well in its place.
First and foremost, the flour used in France is of very high quality. But the major difference between French and an American baguette is the fermentation process. Most French bakers use a poolish process, which consists of a mix of yeast and water that's allowed to ferment overnight.
You add the ingredients, and the bread machine makes and bakes the bread in one handy appliance. Liquid ingredients are added first, then oils or fats, dry ingredients, and finally yeast (if your recipe calls for it). The machine will mix, knead, rise, and bake the dough to a beautifully soft bread with a crisp crust.
Typically, French flour for breadmaking is Type 55 or T55. The higher the number, the more of the whole grain it contains. The type number refers to the amount mineral content.
The law states that traditional baguettes have to be made on the premises they're sold and can only be made with four ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. They can't be frozen at any stage or contain additives or preservatives, which also means they go stale within 24 hours.
That's the reason why good quality flour is a must. The 55 refers to the amount of mineral content that is left after burning the flour i.e. T55 has about 0.55% mineral content. T55 flour is equivalent to Type 0 Italian flour, Euro 550 flour type and American all purpose flour.
Type 55 is the standard, hard-wheat white flour for baking, including puff pastries (“pâte feuilletée”).Type 45 is often called pastry flour, and is generally from a softer wheat (this corresponds to what older French texts call “farine de gruau”).
There are two things which make French bread so amazing. 1) Flavor: Mixing the yeast with a little flour and water ahead of time gives a big flavor boost. This is called a poolish or preferment. Slow and cool yeast development is the secret to good flavor.
This thin-crusted variety of French Bread—more commonly known as the Baguette, Po' Boy Loaf or Sunday Cap Bread—is fundamental to the New Orleans gastronomy. Each version of the French bread is slightly different. The baguette is the traditional 18-inch loaf that is served in many New Orleans restaurants.
Of the four main types of baguettes — baguette ordinaire, baguette moulée (moulded baguette), baguette farinée (floured baguette), and baguette de tradition (traditional baguette) — the baguette de tradition is the true artisanal loaf, calling on the skills of the baker as outlined in the Bread Law.
Some instructions tell you to put wet ingredients in first, followed by dry ingredients. Others suggest you put the flour in, followed by salt and sugar, then wet ingredients, and finally the yeast. Almost all recipes will suggest you add the yeast last, otherwise, the dough won't rise quite as well.
Water is a common ingredient, but since many people use the timer on their bread machines, most recipes call for non-fat dry milk or powdered buttermilk. However, if you are mixing your dough right away, you can certainly use fresh milk. Simply replace the water with milk or buttermilk and omit the powdered milk.
Bread machine yeast, a form of instant yeast, is made through a different manufacturing process than active dry yeast. This process ensures that the yeast is 100% functional and can be mixed directly with the dry ingredients.
In France, bakers pay careful attention to where their flour is made and which grains are used in the milling process. The result is usually softer, heartier, and tastier bread than can be found in other parts of the world. French flour tends to be made with a lower ash content than the flour from other countries.
Paris Baguette also only used its own proprietary dough, which was lighter, airier and less sweet than traditional dough to create its unique offerings.
The baguette is recognisable by its long, narrow shape, a golden, crispy, shiny crust and its distinctive scoring, the baker's signature. The crumb can vary according to the production method used.
A French baguette de tradition is obliged to respect a number of rules. For example, it cannot be frozen in any way while being made (such as freezing pieces of dough), nor may it contain any additives or enhancers that might be used to facilitate or shorten one or several stages in the cooking process.
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Introduction: My name is Virgilio Hermann JD, I am a fine, gifted, beautiful, encouraging, kind, talented, zealous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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