A baguette is a long thin loaf made from basic thin dough.
Although baguettes are professionally made in specialized ovens,thus enabling them to achieve their long and peculiar shape,you can replicate the same in your home oven,of course with a tweak or two here and there.
It’s crispy crust is what sets the bread apart,the dough also is sugar free and trust me this in no way compromised the taste of my baguette.
Baguettes are my personal favorite due to its versatility,there are lots of dishes you can bring together using your home made baguette;Bruschetta,French Toast,Classic Grilled Cheese,Garlic Bread,croutons to mention but a few.
INGREDIENTS.
11/2 cups warm water
31/4 cups bread flour
11/4 tablespoons sugar
11/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Flour for dusting.
DIRECTIONS
I started off by activating my yeast.This you achieve by mixing sugar with your warm water,in this sugar water mixture,add in your yeast and mix well.
Set this aside in a warm place to proof,it takes about 8 minutes,your yeast is proofed when froth forms on top of the liquid mixture.
I proceeded to add in my dough one cup at a time mixing it up well.
I let my dough rest for about 20 minutes before kneading.This allows for the gluten to relax and liquid to be absorbed well into the mixture making it more homogeneous.After 20 minutes place your dough on a floured surface and knead for close to 8 minutes.
Place your dough in a greased bowl.
cover it up with a cling foil and let it rise in a warm place for 11/2 hours or until the dough doubles up in size.
Punch this down and set it on a floured surface.
I went ahead and kneaded this up for a further 4 minutes until the dough is smooth and consistent.
Divide this up into two or more parts depending on the thickness you wish to achieve with you baguette.
I rolled this out on a generously floured surface and made a rectangular shaped flat dough.Have in mind the size of your oven when you are doing this,the longer side of the rectangle should be just the same size as your baking tray or shorter.
Now roll up the dough from the longer side of your rectangle pounding out any air bubbles as you go.
Seal up the ends,be sure to have all the sealed ends on the downside.
Dust this up well and and place on a floured board.
Repeat the same process on your other halves.
Using a sharp knife,make deep diagonal slashes along the loaf,two inches apart.
When done I covered this up using a cling foil and let it rise for 40 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 190℃ baking tray included for about 20 minutes into your second rise.As your baking tray is heating up place some dough in a sieve and generously dust our baguettes.
Take our hot baking tray out of the oven,quickly dust it up
And slide in your baguettes while the tray is still hot.place this back into your oven for 20 to 25 minutes until our baguettes are golden brown.
The reason behind preheating our baking tray is so as to get the underside of the baguettes cooking immediately they are placed in,this will ensure for that crusty crispy texture we love in baguettes.
And through the miracle of time,our baguettes are done.
ENJOY.
Great stuff. Now I know how those diagonal grooves come about. We learn something new every day. Thank you!
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Thank you,cooking is always a learning process that never ends
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Awesome in the kitchen trying it out will post the outcome cant wait ….Thanks a lot
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I am eager to see the outcome👏👏
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How did it go😊
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Is bread flour same as all purpose flour?
Thanks
Cathy
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I use all purpose flour for all my breads the result bis the same to me
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Hey, can I use the exe brown bread flour for this recipe? Which brand of the white bread flour do you use?
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I use any normal wheat flour,if using brown flour try mixing half in half with white flour for best results
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Thank you Dennis.
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My pleasure
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