French Baguettes
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About our French Baguette recipe:
Ooh la la! There’s really nothing like a freshly-baked French baguette. They’re crusty, crunchy and beautifully-golden on the outside, whilst buttery-soft and chewy on the inside. You’ll feel like you’ve been transported to a Parisian café.
Our homemade French sticks are delicious served warm from the oven, sliced and smothered in butter.
What are French baguettes made of?
A traditional French baguette is traditionally made from flour, water, yeast and salt - although our recipe also uses a teaspoon of sugar, which is an important ingredient to activate the yeast.
What’s the best flour to use to make French baguettes?
The ideal flour for baguettes should be high quality, and have a moderate protein content and a fine texture. Our recipe uses Allinson's Strong White Bread Flour - it’s made from a blend of premium wheat, with a high protein content and gluten strength.
Reasons to bake:
⭐Ready in just over an hour
⭐No bread maker needed
⭐Great for bakers new to making their own bread
Method
Step 1
Mix the yeast with the warm water (2 parts boiling/1 part cold water) and sugar in a large bowl. Sift the flour and salt together in a separate bowl, add half to the yeast mixture, stir and cover. Leave until the dough has doubled in size.
Ingredients for this step
- 1 sachet (7g)Allinson's Easy Bake Yeast Sachet
- 270mlWarm water (lukewarm)
- 1 tspBillington's Unrefined Golden Granulated Sugar
- 225gAllinson's Strong White Bread Flour
- 2 tspSalt
Step 2
Add the remaining flour to the dough mix and mix everything together to form a ball of dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand, or for 5 minutes if using a food mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Ingredients for this step
- 225gAllinson's Strong White Bread Flour
Step 3
Divide the dough into three pieces and shape each piece into an oblong. Fold the two ends in on themselves so that they meet in the middle, then pinch the dough together to seal in place. Repeat this process 3 - 4 times to create long, thin pieces of dough.
Step 4
Roll each piece of dough into a 33-34 cm (13-14-inch) long loaf.
Step 5
Place the long loaves onto a greased baking tray and leave until double in size, then slash the tops with a sharp knife. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C, gas mark 7).
Step 6
Bake for 20 minutes, carefully spraying the inside of the oven with water during the first 5 minutes of baking to create moisture and a crispier crust on your bread.
Ingredients
- 1Allinson's Easy Bake Yeast
- 270mlWarm water (lukewarm)
- 1 tspBillington's Unrefined Golden Granulated Sugar
- 450gAllinson's Strong White Bread Flour
- 2 tspSalt