Homemade Boulangerie Style French Baguette Recipe 

What’s great about this recipe is it is a French recipe and has been masterfully made by my mum who is French, and for years she has been trying to find an easy recipe to follow in order to make the bread she grew up with. She finally found this one and very often makes it with French Flour she buys when visiting family. The dough of the baguette is so iconic in France that it’s even protected by its own law.  But knowing all this she always thought you could only make it with French flour, and would never experiment making it any other way – That is until one day she had run out of her stash of French Flour and thought she’d give it a go with regular British Flour. So here’s how you can make it.

French Baguettes – Easy recipe

1. Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
   No kneading needed
2. Resting time – twice ½ to 1 hour
3. Baking 20mn for a light bake – 10mn longer for a crusty baguette (I tend to do mine until they are dark golden brown – I don’t like pale and pasty baguettes but the best way to have them as you want is to check them every 5 to 10mn after the initial 15mn)
4. Oven 220C

Ingredients: 

• 500g flour (for better results, use French flour T55 but the English bread flour also works but will have a slightly different texture)
• 20g of fresh yeast or 7g of fast-action dried yeast
• 350g tepid water (make sure the water is not too hot as this will kill the yeast)
• 10g salt

Method:

In a large bowl, put the salt, flour and make a well in the centre.

Dilute the yeast in the water (I have tried two options, one is the dilute the yeast in a small amount of water, add it to the flour and then add the rest of the water or just dilute in the water – they both work).

Add to the flour and mix until you will have a sticky dough (don’t worry this is normal) Photo 5. If it feels dry, add a little more water.

Form into a ball (if you can, it may be a little difficult but don’t add any extra flour), don’t worry if you can’t, it will work and rise anyway.   Keep the dough in the bowl (covered with the tea towel) and leave to rise until it doubles in size (should take between ½ to 1 hour depending on the room temperature, I usually put mine near the radiator on a chair in front of it).

Once it has doubled in size, tip onto a floured surface, knockback and cut into 4 pieces. Once you have the 4 pieces, you should spread them out slightly into a rectangle and fold (fold a small section), and keep folding – a little like rolling but if needs to be pressed down). Once you have a sausage shape, roll out into a baguette. Repeat the process. 

You can also bake it in a free-formed loaf, it will take a little longer but nice for a change.

If you have baguettes trays, you can put the baguettes directly onto them (seam side down) but if you don’t, just put them on a baking tray, they may not look as pretty but will taste the same.

Leave the baguettes to rise (double in size) again it can take between ½ and 1hour depending on how warm your room is. Pre-heat your over at 220C whilst the baguettes are rising.

If your baguettes are either on the baguettes tray or baking tray, slash the top – I use a razor blade but a sharp knife will also work (this helps with the rising) and put them into the hot oven (to ensure they have a good crust, you’ll need to put a dish with hot water in the bottom of the oven).

Cook for a least 20 minutes, if you want your bread to be more like we have it in France (well done) it will take 5 or 10 minutes more.  

 Please note:

• You should not have to put the paper on the trays; the only reason I have to line mine with paper is because they are no longer non-stick so I had to improvise.
• I start the cooking process with the paper but after around 10mn, I take the baguettes off the trays and slide them onto the oven grille.  You don’t have to do this at all if you have non-stick trays or if your baguettes are on a baking tray!! Mine has been used so much that they are not really that good anymore, tried to replace them but with this COVID-19 virus, everyone has decided to start baking.

 The baguettes can be frozen on the day they are baked – they can be defrosted at room temperature for about 1hour. 

Final notes on the bread

What we found is it is best to make the baguette so that that it looks almost as though it might be burnt – that’s if you want it to be authentic. In France, a baguette is never underdone – its always crunchy to bite. It almost cuts the roof of your mouth but is soft and fluffy inside. You can eat it on its own, with butter, or jazz it up into a sandwich. I have to say this is my absolute favourite bread and one of our favourite ways to eat it as a family is lathered in chocolate spread and dunked in coffee or a giant hot chocolate! Please share how you eat yours in our comments below and let us know what you think when you make yours.