Baguette 101

1. Combine flour, malt powder and water in a bowl. Gently mix together and allow the dough to hydrate. This is known as the autolyse process. Leave dough to rest for about 30 minutes. You will see the dough relax in appearance after the autolyse stage.

Add yeast and salt to the dough and mix well. Be careful not to overwork the dough as this will cause the gluten to develop and make your bread dense and tough. If using a stand mixer, mix dough on a low setting (usually 1 or 2 on a KitchenAid) for 5 minutes.

Also known as the first rise. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for one hour. After the first hour, take the dough and punch it down by folding all sides into the center. Flip the dough over, cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for another hour

After the second hour has elapsed, repeat the dough folding technique. Turn the dough to a lightly floured surface and stretch dough. By using a bench scraper, divide the dough into three equal pieces. Cover with plastic and let rest for about 20 minutes to an hour, depending on what works for your schedule.

Take the first piece of dough stretch out into a rectangle. Take the top right corner and fold nearly in half, using your thumb to crimp and seal as you work your way from one side to the other. Turn dough around and repeat fold and crimp process for other side. When finished, repeat the fold and crimp process again, this time using the heel of your hand to seal the seam. The dough will have started to elongate at this point. Do this for all three dough pieces. With the seam side down, take both of your hands and roll the dough from the center moving outwards to the sides in a smooth motion. This will elongate the baguette to take it’s final shape. Put a little pressure on the ends as you roll so as to achieve a baguette’s typical pointy end. You are looking at about stretching the dough to a length of 14 inches.

Transfer dough into a baguette pan or a baker’s cloth. Let rest, uncovered for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until doubled in bulk. The dough will feel like a marshmallow when slightly pinched.

When dough is ready to go into the oven, take a sharp paring knife, a blade or a bread lame and make three or four decisive diagonal cuts along the length of the baguette.

Bake in Oven at 475F 100% steam for the first 5 minutes.

Switch to a dry bake stage at 475F with no steam for 10 minutes to achieve that crispy, golden crust. If you like your baguettes extra crispy, feel free to add a couple of more minutes to the timer.

Take bread out of the oven and allow to cool. Serve with generous amounts of butter and a little sprinkle of salt. Bon Appetit!