Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
Makes 4 baguettes
- 750 g (6 cups) sifted all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 600 ml (2½ cups) lukewarm water
- 2 tsp salt (18 g)
- 10 g (1 Tbsp) active dry yeast (or 25 g / 0.9 oz fresh yeast)
For topping (optional)
- poppy, pumpkin, sunflower or sesame seeds
- crispy fried onions
- In a small bowl, mix the lukewarm water and the yeast and let it sit until it foams.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flour and salt, then make a well and pour in the water and yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined (the dough stays sticky, that’s normal). Cover and let rise for 1½ to 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.
- Flour your work surface, divide the dough into 4 pieces (or more if you’d like to make small rolls), and place them in a baguette pan (lined with parchment paper in which you’ve poked a few small holes), or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add whatever topping you like (optional - I love poppy seeds and fried onions). Snip a few slashes with scissors.
- Preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F) and bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack, with two glasses of water poured into the drip pan placed at the very bottom of the oven.
Tips
Don’t skip the glass of water in the drip pan: it creates steam in the oven, which helps give you a beautiful crust.