OK, this is the easiest bread I have ever made. Four main ingredients and just 1 long rising. None of this let the yeast proof, mix the dough, let the dough rise till doubled, shape the dough, rise again, then bake. Just mix the dough, shape it, let it rise, and bake it off.

The first time I made this bread, the crust, internal texture, and taste was outstanding. But the top crust didn’t brown. So I baked another batch, raised the temperature from 425 to 450 degrees, and turned on the convection option on my oven for the last half of the baking time. This time the baguettes came out a light golden brown. In other words – fabuleux!  

Now I must say, I am truly excited about sharing this French bread recipe with you. First of all, like I said, it’s super easy to build. But the most wonderful part is how perfect this bread is for bruschetta and crostini. (And yes I know bruschetta and crostini are Italian dishes, and I’m advising you to bake a French bread.) The fact is – the texture is perfect anytime you want to use bread, either toasted or untoasted, as a base for other ingredients. But I have to tell you, the texture is not that super soft, fine grained quality that you find in some French breads. Which is fine with me. I prefer a more rustic, chewy mouth feel anyway. And I don’t for one moment miss the big holes that are often found in Italian baguettes. (Don’t get me wrong. I love crusty Italian baguettes. Just not for bruschetta or crostini.)

Italian baguettes often have holes as part of the texture we all know and love. But big holes allow bits and pieces of tomatoes, for example, to fall through and land on your lap. This bread is simply the perfect combination of slightly chewy, but with a crumb that happily supports ingredients either being dolloped, spread, or layered on top of the slices. In other words – perfect for bruschetta and crostini.

I really can’t wait to serve this bread to guests. Toasted and topped with tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Or pâté. OMG – this bread will be fantastic spread with pâté. Or soft cheeses. The list goes on and on.  

Now we can get really adequate baguettes at our local grocery store sometimes. If we are lucky enough to hit the grocery store at just the right time. But they are expensive, and like I said, not always available. But because these homemade baguettes are so darn easy to make, I don’t have to worry about obtaining fresh baguettes ever again. Not when I can spend 15-20 minutes building a product that is perfect and always available.

And of course, you don’t have to use these baguettes just for bruschetta. I toasted some slices this morning for breakfast, and they were perfect with our easy-over eggs. And the other evening I served a few slices with an Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper infused extra virgin olive oil. Delicious.

And last night I made bruschetta with slices of this amazing bread. Toasted the slices, scraped the toasted bread with a garlic clove, drizzled on some extra virgin olive oil, and topped them with diced tomato, chopped fresh basil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Felt like we were back in Italy. (Close as we’re going to get this year. Boo coronavirus!)

And I can’t wait to use one of these baguettes as a roll for a subway style sandwich. And homemade croutons. This bread, cut into ¾-inch squares, sautéed in a bit of olive oil and butter, and finished with a light dusting of granulated garlic is going to produce perfectly delicious croutons. Caesar salad, here we come!

So if you too are a bread person, but don’t want to spend a lot of time or money in the preparation, this is the bread for you. Happy bread baking to all.

And yes, I love my new 15 x 13-inch 4 gutter baguette loaf pan. Worth the money just for the convenience. And yes this recipe can easily be doubled. (See picture below.)

½ c. sourdough starter

½ c. slightly warm water  

½ tsp. fine sea salt

2 c. fluffed* bread flour, or a tiny bit more if needed

Combine the sourdough starter, warm water, salt, and most of the flour in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using your dough hook, mix and knead until the dough is still a little sticky, but the bottom of the bowl is clean. (You will probably need all of the 2 cups of flour.) Form the dough into a ball and cut in half.

Place a small amount of flour on a clean surface and flour your hands. Shape each piece into a long baguette shape. I finish forming the baguette by rolling it in the flour until it is about 10-inches long. (Don’t use too much flour. Just enough to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the shaping surface.)

Place the formed baguettes onto a parchment paper lined baguette pan (only if your baguette pan has holes in it) or a greased baking sheet. If your baguette pan does not have holes, give it a light coating of cooking spray, but no parchment paper required.

 

Cover lightly with plastic wrap that has been lightly greased with cooking spray and let rise until double in size in a warm place, 3-4 hours. Don’t over rise the baguettes. Mine took a little over 3 hours to rise on my kitchen counter. (The counter I use to rise bread is lighted. Don’t know if the light helps, but I feel like it contributes to making my bread rise really nicely.)

Bake baguettes in a pre-heated 450 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a very light golden-brown. Turn your oven to convection half way through the baking process. Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack for at least 20 minutes before serving. If you don’t have a convection oven, not to worry. However, it might not get as golden brown. Who cares! It will still taste delicious.

*How to fluff flour: As you’re spooning out the flour, lightly stir up the flour in the container, and gently shake the flour as you fill the measuring cup. Then level off the measuring cup with a table knife or other straight edged implement.