For years I battled with creating a less than easy crusty baguette recipe, which I eventually tossed out and then recreated!
My best baguettes were hard as rocks, and the baguette dough had too many ingredients.
My dough flopped batch after batch until I struck upon the best baguettes I’ve ever made and they are balanced while the recipe is easy to follow!
Then The Easy Crusty Baguette Recipe Came Into Focus
Since then, I’ve made this incredibly easy French baguette bread over and over because I struck the balance of ingredients and process that worked best!
Creating French Baguettes are not bread loaves to make, hard but you do need a good recipe with easy-to-follow directions and I am going to share those with you!
Easy Crust Baguette Recipe: Bread Machines Make Baguette Dough
Now, part of the process that truly changed how I prepped the ingredients came into focus when I began using a bread machine to make the dough part of the recipe.
My guess is that is what I needed beginners’ French baguette bread recipe to up my game!
Bread machines are truly the answer to incredible bread.
Make no mistake, I do not let the bread machine bake my bread.
Instead what I do is make the beginner’s French baguette bread recipe in the bread machine and it does the kneading and the first rise.
Then, after that, I remove the dough from the bread machine and I run the show.
What I have found is unprecedented success in bread-making.
Incredibly Easy French Baguette Bread ~ Crusty + Yummy
Do you love crusty, artisan-crafted French baguettes?
Get ready because this crust on the French baguette will actually rip the roof of your mouth open but you still keep on eating it, because it is addictive?
You WILL love this recipe! P.S. I have a secret to getting the dough crusty, you gotta read on to get it!
Beginner’s French Baguette bread recipe
So if you love really crusty bread, that has a great flavor, and you love using your bread machine to start your bread recipe, keep reading to learn more!
Irresistible. That is how I always refer to this bread! Mmmm. You will love this recipe.
So, now you will find out how to use your bread machine to do all the heavy lifting (lol) and your hands to do the forming. Simple and easy.
You will succeed with this recipe, I assure you it is a fail-safe french baguette bread machine recipe and so darn easy!
Beginner’s French baguette bread recipe
One of the most exciting things to me about any bread recipe and this one in particular is the fact that when you work with it, it grows.
What you need to know is that the baguette will GROW as you pinch it and roll.
Basically, you will cut your dough into half and it will kind of look like a torpedo, from there you will work on one at a time.
So the dough you see above translates into what you see here below. Easy peasy!
Tips For Making Beginner’s French Baguette bread
I believe also that when I began adding this one ‘secret’ ingredient it too became part of my best version of beginner’s French baguette bread.
If I could only tell you how many different ways I have tried this recipe and it took time to conquer it, but this is my go-to when I want really fresh and fabulous French baguettes.
It’s really easy once you work through the recipe one time.
Thoughts & Tips on Easy French Baguettes
- Remember bread machines are all different and mine is wet ingredients first, then dry. Follow your bread machine’s instructions!
- Honey is the key to a successful baguette.
Without a doubt, I can say that I have tried variations of baguette recipes and no other recipe works better than this because of the honey.
Because of the honey one of my kids can not eat the bread, but, it is not the same if you don’t add it into the recipe.
An Ingredient Baking Tip
For me, baking this bread comes down to ingredients and processes.
After having tried so many other flour brands before, you will never get me to change my mind.
First, you will keep tucking the dough into itself from one side, then the other, then tuck the ends to create a traditional baguette and bake it seam side down.
Minimal Ingredients TO make the Best Baguettes
Bread Yeast, bread flour, and a few other ingredients are all you will need, it’s a super basic recipe with outstanding results.
But as you know, how you prep the food you make is often the bigger deal than the ingredients involved.
Chewy bread, yet crust that is hard. Truly, it’s what you crave in a loaf of French Bread, but can’t always find.
Yet it is that short, sweet, and simple of a recipe.
The dough will turn out perfect every time in the bread machine dough cycle.
Easy crusty baguette recipe: Dough
The dought that is right in front of you is about to become a baguette of some sort.
I am making mine into bread.
The idea is to lengthen the dough you are working with as you go.
I consider this my time that I am folding the dough piece by piece folding a piece of paper into segments.
You will do this for both sides.
It’s easiest to watch this in my video, did you do that?
You are more or less turning the dough upon itself and then doing it to the opposite long side.
DO this at least 3 times to each side (folding like a letter) and the baguette just gets longer and longer.
It’s easy and amazing at the same time.
Don’t forget to PRESS the seams together and then, of course, tuck the ends over and in and press them to seal as well.
Tray Preparation for Easy Best Baguettes
For baking, you need to transfer the dough to the trays.
Here are a few things you need to know.
- First, I use brown rice flour, it is the best nonstick solution ever.
- When you use brown rice flour, your dough won’t stick and it will crisp.
- Alternatively, you can use cornmeal, I do that too, it just depends on what I see first in my pantry!
- Either, OR works fine. Just dust the baking tray with that.
- Another option is parchment paper will work too.
You will be placing the loaves on the tray and covering them while working with the other dough.
The dough will rise again and double in size.
Now for the Secret That Makes The Crust on French Baguettes so crunchy
Alright, so you have made the perfect dough, created the perfect loaves and they have doubled in size, what’s next?
It’s time to bake.
Before you open the oven door and place the tray in, prepare another this is going to be filled with the secret to crustiness.
Ice-cold water makes the beginner’s French Baguette bread recipe texture loaded!
This makes the crust, incredibly authentic and crunchy.
The steam that accumulates in here makes the crust rule supreme as far as crusts I have created!
Once baked, well, you can see how crusty and beautiful these baguettes look.
Make Easy French Baguette Rolls Too Out of the Same Dough
Now you might have noticed in some photos there are smaller baguettes, but they are actually baguette rolls.
Yes, you too can change this recipe up to make rolls instead of loaves or both!
If you don’t want to make a loaf or 2, as you can see I cut the dough into 3 pieces and created 2 loaves and one set of rules.
All the same, rules apply to create baguette rolls, what is best is how delicious they are and you don’t need a knife to cut portions when it is time to serve!
Your creations are limitless.
Make rolls, loaves, and wreaths, it is easy with this easy french baguette dough. !
Enjoy. ~ DANA XO
Get the Recipe Here for Incredible Easy crusty baguette recipe
Best Baguettes Recipe (French bread Baguettes)
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 Teaspoons of Yeast Bread Yeast
- Honey 2 1/4 Tablespoons
- 3 1/2 C of Bread Flour
- 1 C of Water 110°
- 2 Tsp of salt keep separate from the yeast!
- Bread Machine to Dough Mode
Instructions
- Add your ingredients to your bread machine
- Program bread machine to dough mode.
- Once the dough cycle is complete, before removing the dough to your work surafce, begin the oven and tray prep then move on to working with the dough
Tray + Oven Preparation for Easy French Baguettes
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and prep your trays for baking
- Use brown rice flour to coat your parchment paper or (read post to learn more options) Now you are ready to work with the fresh dough from the bread machine
Bread After Dough Cycle Completes
- Once the dough cycle is complete, transfer the dough to a lightly Floured work surface and do tray and oven prep then move on to working with the dough
- Punch out the bread dough that has risen.
- Once done, lightly coat workspace with flour again.
- Now Cut dough into 1/2 or 1/3's depending (remember you are attempting to make rectangular cuts) so length-wise cuts, not width.
- Portion the dough with how big you want your loaves.
- Of course for rolls, cut into smaller pieces and go about the procedure the same way.
- Work with one loaf at a time, covering the other dough pieces you are not working iwth.
- Place the dough in front of you, lengthwise, and pinch each end together (the sides)
- Form the dough again and ping and fold as you go (see video)
- Working on the length, fold it over itself, seaming it, which is actually lengthening the dough (the loaf) as you go!
- As you do this you will be rolling the dough on the floured surface and you need to keep the edges (side top and side botom sealed)
- Think of folding a piece of paper into segments, you will do this for both sides.
- DO this at least 3 times to each side (folding like a letter) and the baguette just gets longer and longer.
- Repeat this for each additional dough portion creating 3 or 4 loaves.
- Place the first loaf on the tray, to one side, you can fit more than one loaf on the tray and then add a second loaf to the tray
- Repeat the lengthening method for dough piece number 2 and place it on a tray as well.
- Cover, and allow to rise at least 30 minutes. These baguette loaves will double in size
Before Placing Loaves In The Oven …
- Before you open the oven door and place the tray in, prepare another Oven Proof bowl or tray with ice-cold water.
- I use the coldest tap water or refrigerator water.
- I place the water in the bowl and put it on the bottom shelf of the oven and then immediately put the bread in above the water.
- I close the oven and do not open it the entire time it is baking.
- This makes the crust, incredibly authentic and crunchy.
- Bake for just about 13 minutes, and remove from oven to cooling tray and then serve.B
- Bake 450° F for 13 minutes and remove to a cooling rack