The Easiest Rustic Baguette

Name: The Easiest Rustic Baguette
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 195 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: - 2 tsp instant yeast; - 2 tbsp brown sugar; - 1/2 to 3/4 cup warm water; - 2 cups flour + 1/4 cup for dusting; - 1 tsp salt

by Nour Kay

1 Baguette

3 hr 15 min

My story with baking is a funny one. Although I've been cooking for years, baking was not something I started until a couple years ago I'd say. I've always struggled making good dough so it took me a lot of trial and error to get this done right.

But here I am now making bread very often, and I enjoy it especially when I can't go get fresh bread at a bakery, although let's be real, fresh bread from the bakery is always amazing!

I've practiced my rustic bread in different ways (refer to my Walnut Raisin Bread recipe for another take on rustic bread), so here's my recipe for a French baguette, rustic style, which means more crunchy on the outside, close to a country bread. Enjoy!

The Easiest Rustic Baguette

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Recipe details

Yield 1 Baguette
Time spent: Prep time: 15 Minutes Cook time: 3 Hours Total time: 3 hr 15 min

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Per serving

% Daily value

Instructions

- Mix yeast ingredients together and set aside for 10 min so that yeast activates. Start by using only 1/2 cup warm water, save the 1/4 for later if needed.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the dough ingredients
- Slowly incorporate the yeast mix. Adjust flour and water amounts as you see fit. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
- Knead for 5-10 min
- Cover and let it rest / rise for about 2 hours
- Once the dough doubles in size, pre-heat the oven to 350F
- Form a baguette shape with the dough
- Place dough on a baking / parchment sheet on an baking tray and cover with foil -- note that you can shape the top of the loaf as you like
- Once oven is heated, place the covered tray on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 50min-1hr
- After 1 hour, take tray out and uncover. Prepare another oven safe container and fill it up with water then place in oven on the lower rack, put the tray with the bread back in, uncovered, and bake for another 20-30 min, until the bread outside is crispy

Tips

Note 1: I sometimes let the dough rest overnight, I find it ends up with more bubbles / more airy dough, but up to you)
Note 2 : The dish filled with water will create steam in the oven and help the bread cook / the crust become crispy without drying out and sticking to the tray / parchment sheet

Comments

Mandy Pontet on Jun 03, 2022

Ummmm, was OK until got to stage 8...very confusing terminology. I take it it means to place the baking tray in a larger and deeper dish that you can then cover? The dictionary definition of a pot is literally "a rounded or cylindrical container used for cooking". Not something I would associate with baking a baguette

2 Reply
- Nicki on Jun 03, 2022
  
  Exactly my concern! So the baguette is really round in shape instead of loaf shape if a “pot” is used, which is usually round? Do you mean to use an oblong or oval shaped covered Dutch oven type of “pot”?
  
  3
Pilar on Jun 03, 2022

Baking for one hour and then another 30 minutes with the steam seems way too long--the total time is a little over 3 hours (which is rising and baking time) so I'm guessing you bake it 30 minutes or so covered, and then maybe 20 minutes with steam?

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- Bar24325681 on Jun 22, 2022
  
  This recipe needs more detailed baking instructions. My bread making experience screams for caution before trying !
  
  1
- TheSeamstress on Jun 02, 2023
  
  I agree and I didn;t actually see what temperature to bake at. Rustic loaves are usually cooked at a high temperature (450) with the steam at the beginning. Looking at the pictures of the cut baguette the crust looks overdone to me
  
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