Once a week I make soup in our house for dinner. The last few years I’ve gotten in the habit of also making baguette bread to serve along with our soup. I like to store one loaf in the freezer to use later. It also makes the best french toast. While I love sourdough bread, sometimes a quick go-to bread that can be made in less than an hour is what I need. While I mention sourdough, you most certainly can use sourdough starter in place of the yeast, but the rise times will increase significantly. While it’s not required, I do find using a baguette pan works the best. This is the one I love and use.
This recipe is a great way to invite your kiddos into the kitchen. Kneading dough is similar to playing with playdough. Get messy and make memories.
Weeknight French Baguette
Equipment
- 1 Baguette Pan
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Instant Yeast
- 1 ½ cups warm water 105°-115° divided
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 cups Bread Flour or unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
Instructions
Making the dough
- In a small bowl, combine ½ cup warm water, the yeast and sugar. Stir and cover with plastic wrap, shower cap or a towel for 5mins. It should look foamy, if not your yeast may be old.
- In a large bowl, mix together with a dough hook, or a spoon the flour, salt, and yeast mixture. Stir in an additional 1 cup of water. If the dough is too wet, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue to mix until the dough starts to come away from the bowl. On a floured surface begin to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Cut the dough in half for large baguettes or 3-4 pieces for smaller baguettes. Shape the dough- gently flatten the dough with your hands and roll the dough into a smooth long log shape. If you want to get fancy, pinch the ends to make triangles/pointed ends. Place on a baguette pan, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Score loaves down the middle using a razor blade or bread lame down the middle or a few slashes diagonal slashes. Cover with a lightweight towel and let dough rise for about 15 mins (it should double in size). Now is the time to start preheating the oven.
Baking the Bread
- Preheat the oven to 450°
- Once the baguettes have doubled in size, bake in the oven for 10-15 mins depending on the size made. The bottoms should be brown. Remove from the oven and brush with butter (optional).
- Once cooled, slice. To freeze: Wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer safe bag. To defrost, remove from the freezer and allow the bread to come to room temp. Warm in the oven or serve as is.