I think it’s really important to have some good, traditional recipes in your baking repertoire. I love classic French Baguettes – just like the ones you’d find in a Parisian boulangerie. They’re crispy, crunchy and delicious slathered in loads of butter. Tasty and simple recipes are always more appealing to me, and the reason I decided to make homemade baguettes because making your own bread is great fun and it is really easy too. If you’re looking for a classic, crisp French baguette look no further and give this recipe a go, I was totally blown away by how good these tasted!
Ingredients:
1/2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
250g (2 cup + 2 tbsp) strong white bread flour
30g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 tsp of salt
150ml (2/3 cup) warm water
Method:
1. Place the flour, salt, yeast and butter in a food mixer with a dough hook attached. Mix until the butter is all combined. Add the water and knead on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Then knead on low-medium speed for a further 5 minutes – you can alternatively knead the dough by hand. Once the dough has been kneaded, place it in a lightly oiled large bowl , cover and leave somewhere warm to rise for 2 hours.
2. Then take the dough out and divide into 3 equally sized pieces of dough. Lightly roll out into the traditional baguette shape on a lightly floured surface.
3. Take your baguette pan and shape the baguettes into each mould and place on a baking tray. Put somewhere warm until doubled in size.
4. Once the dough has doubled in size, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Fill a deep baking tray with some boiling water (about 2-3 inches worth of water) and place at the bottom of your oven. Before baking, slash the top of each baguette three times diagonally across. Bake for 30 minutes exactly until the crust is all nice, crispy and coloured. Allow to cool completely and then slice and enjoy anyway you like!
Enjoy the recipe!
What a fantastic recipe, your baguettes are perfect. What would you think about doing a slow refrigerator rise after the first mixing?
Wow, they look absolutely amazing. I bet they taste sublime too. 😊
They look amazing! I can imagine myself in Paris right now…
They look great! I just had a piece of baguette and this is making me want more 🙂
Absolutely perfect. I’m totally loving your blog.. 🙂
The crust and crumb look perfect Jessica! 🙂
Homemade French Baguettes??? I’m dying here!!!
Your baguettes are gorgeous! I really want to buy one of those pans so that I can try baguettes – they are one of the few breads that I have not yet attempted!
Oh my! I was afraid that there was one particular baguette I ate in Paris that ruined baguettes for me forever, but these look like the real deal. Maybe there is hope for recreating the magic after all–I’ll have to try this.
Thank you Jessica… now I feel like doing it! your baguettes are A M A Z I N G!
Gosh that looks absolutely fantastic. I am so in love with just bread and butter.
Great looking baguettes!
Oh boy, these baguettes look gorgeous! The crust and crumb look perfect Jess 🙂
These baguettes look amazing! I love chewy bread! Beautiful! Pinned!
So pretty, Jessica! Just like a French bakery. 🙂
They look absolutely delicious and perfect 🙂
These look so so amazing!! I love french baguettes. I have to try your recipe. Pinning!!
Oh wow!!! These look amazing!! If only they were gluten free (I’m Intolerant)… regardless they look delicious!! 🙂
These look Perfect, Jess! 🙂
YUM! I spent some time in Paris with my mum a few years back and we lived off crusty baguettes! We’d buy one, some cheese and a tomato and go and sit in a park and eat them, they tasted nothing like what you would get back home! I’ll have to try this out – thank you! 🙂
I just pinned this because I have a bread obsession. This looks awesome.
These look gorgeous! I agree with you, it’s often hard to find a good baguette. Such a sweet idea to make your own!
I’m tempted to buy a baguette tray after seeing this. I bet they taste so much better when they are baked fresh!
I looooove a good baguette! This sounds awesome!
There is truly nothing better than a simple French baguette- when they are done right it is just pure luxury! I’m so happy I found this post- our favorite bakery is going out of business and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I’m definitely pinning this for all the great info (including the baguette mold) and I hope to give it a try! Your baguettes look absolutely perfect: so airy on the inside and crusty outside! Thanks so much for sharing your secrets!
So impressed, Jessica! These look exactly like what I’d expect to buy from a French boulangerie!! Great post!
Looks so delicious! My son and I are both bread addicts and love great fresh baked bread. I don’t bake bread as often as I used to, but this inspires me to start baking more breads. I tend to do lots of desserts
Thank you for your kind words. Fresh bread baked is so amazing, I tend to be more of a dessert person too, but this week I set myself a different challenge! 🙂
There is nothing better than fresh bread warm out of the oven. I love the yeasty smell that fills my house as it’s baking. Yum! And I must get one of those baguette pans!
This bread looks wonderful! I have always wanted to try homemade french baguettes. I can only imagine how amazing this bread smelled while it was baking! Pinned and definitely trying soon!
I’m always impressed when people make bread (it just isn’t my thang), but THIS?! this is heaven right here sista
Wow, these loaves look amazing. It is so hard to get those airy baguettes as the ones you can buy. So thanks a lot for the recipe 😀
Hi…great recipe. I have a question though. I was wondering if you have a recipe for Whole Wheat Baguette? or…suggestion on how to make ww version. I recently found one online but I found the bread heavy and dense.. The yeast was fine. And I did use the water bath. Suggestions???
I have wanted to make baguettes at home for the longest time – I just never seem to get around to it! These came out perfect! I wish I had one to go with our soup for dinner tonight!
Yum, your french baguettes look perfect! Homemade bread is the best!
Your baguettes look just perfect! I love that pan — I will have to add that to my ever growing list of cooking items to buy. ha
I think your baguettes are gorgeous!! And yes, a nice smear of butter is definitely necessary for these.
These gorgeous baguettes take me right back to my cooking school baking classes! Oh, yum! Is there anything that can compare to the amazing aroma of fresh-baked bread!?!? Just wonderful! Great tip about creating steam – that can be tricky to get right in a home oven, but it’s so important to the formation of a perfect crust! 😀 ~Shelley
Perfect baguettes! Warm homemade breads are the best.
This bread looks absolutely perfect Jess! I totally need to buy that baking tray 🙂 Pinned!
These came out perfect!!! Nice job!
People ask me all the time what food I miss most since I stopped being able to eat gluten. 100% it is french baguette!!! Bread is like candy for me and baguette would be my absolute favourite type of candy! Thankfully I got my fair share in the last time I was in Paris!
Wow! Look at the airy inside and crisp outside! Just gorgeous, what an awesome job. I am bit of a baguette snob and find they are never good ones available, We have some great artisan bakeries but they tend to make them so hard that I can’t even bite through the crust and then of course, I hurt my mouth 🙁
These look perfect though.
Oh my gosh! I love french banquettes and making them at home seems so much more simple than I would have thought! I could eat bread and butter all day.. definitely pinning and making soon!
Whoa! This is so awesome. I never would have thought of making my own baguettes! These look amazing! 🙂
Homemade baguettes are one of my favorite things to make, although I haven’t made them in a few months. May have to change that and whip up a couple today or tomorrow!
These baguettes look perfect Jess! I could unashamedly each the whole batch!
great post! we’ve never made home made baguettes…yet..
These look AMAZING. Now I want to bake bread!
Has anybody mentioned that your line about hearing the hollow bread reminds me of this scene from Ratatouille? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk6j7lhNf1o 😀 I have been putting off making baguettes for too long, thanks for the inspiration!
Oh man this takes me right back to when my wife and I went to Paris for our honeymoon! We would grab a baguette every morning to graze on throughout the day. I’ve yet to come across a local bakery that sells a baguette as good as the ones we had in Paris.
These look incredible. Perfectly crisp on the outside! Yum!