Two and a half of the baguettes with four of the cheese toasted “croutons” for Mushroom Onion Soup

The most delightful thing about baking bread is that you can almost never screw it up! And as I’ve gotten older, the simpler and fewer the ingredients, the better I like the whole “get out the stand mixer, pull the yeast from the fridge, get the flour out of the pantry, and turn on the water until warm water magically appears” production. And as I have gotten better at baking bread, I have learned to trim off a few steps that many other bread bakers would be horrified to read about. Never, never they would say. To which I would now respond – hogwash!

So, today I baked this bread which was absolutely delicious. I’m not even going to bother you with the steps I eliminated which I too would have followed faithfully even a few months ago. But I have become lazy as I approach 80 (in 2 weeks). And frankly, I simply don’t have the time or energy to waste on frou-frou.

So, if you too can’t abide unnecessary work but still want to make French baguettes from scratch, this is the recipe for you.

I made these baguettes because I was serving lunch to three classical musicians practicing in our living room this afternoon. Mr. C. (on piano) was host to violinist Cecilia and violist Dorthy for an afternoon of chamber music. (They plan to have a concert in our home sometime soon.) And I served them lunch. Mushroom Onion Soup (on this site) with large cheese “croutons” made with this bread.

Now I am not normally a woman who blows her own horn. But damn, this bread sliced, loaded with grated Emmentaler and Parmigiano Reggiano, and then toasted in the oven, was outrageously good. It simply made for dunking in soup heaven.

OK, I know some of you don’t bake bread. But if you were ever to begin baking bread, I think this would be the recipe you should go with.

And as always, peace, love, and happy baking to all.      

1½ c. warm water 

2¼ tsp. instant yeast 

1¼ tsp. kosher salt 

3¾ c. bread flour (more or less)

extra virgin olive oil (for greasing the mixing bowl)

Combine the water and yeast in your stand mixer. Add the salt and enough flour to make a shaggy dough. (The dough shouldn’t be sticky. But tacky is perfect.)

Pour some olive oil in the bowl, (anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon) and using your hands and a stiff spatula, roll the dough into a lightly greased ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, remove the dough from fridge, punch it down, and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions.

Shape each piece into about a 10-inch log, rounded on each end. Place on a parchment paper lined baguette pan or baking sheet. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap that has been lightly greased with cooking spray. Let rise again until almost doubled, about 60 minutes.

Once doubled, lightly sprinkle with flour and then make about 4 slashes on the surface of each baguette.

Lightly spray baguettes with water and place in a pre-heated 450-degree oven for 10 minutes. Then spray again and let bake for about 8-10 minutes more. The bread is done when it reaches 205-degree when tested with an instant read thermometer.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before slicing.