Celery Free Crusty French Baguette
Few things in the kitchen feel as rewarding as pulling a pair of deeply golden, crackling baguettes from your own oven. The crust shatters when you tap it, the crumb is open and chewy, and the whole loaf tastes like something from a proper Parisian bakery — all from just four simple ingredients. A long, cold overnight fermentation does the heavy lifting here, building the kind of complex, slightly tangy flavor that a quick same-day dough simply can't match. The stretch-and-fold technique replaces traditional kneading and gradually develops the gluten structure that gives these baguettes their signature chew and airy interior. Scoring each loaf at a shallow angle right before it hits the blazing hot oven lets the crust bloom dramatically and gives you those beautiful, rustic ridges. For anyone navigating ingredient sensitivities, this recipe is refreshingly straightforward — nothing hidden, nothing unnecessary, just flour, salt, yeast, and water working together perfectly. Slice into one while it's still slightly warm and you'll understand immediately why homemade bread is worth every minute of the process.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 3 cups (360g) bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp instant yeast
- 1 ¼ cups (295ml) cool water (about 65°f/18°c)
Instructions
- 1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the bread flour, salt, and instant yeast. Pour in the cool water and stir with a wooden spoon or your hand until no dry flour remains and a shaggy dough forms. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- 2
With damp hands, perform a series of stretch-and-folds: grab one side of the dough, stretch it upward until it resists, then fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat three more times for a total of 4 folds. Cover and repeat this process two more times at 30-minute intervals (3 sets total). After the final fold, the dough should feel noticeably smoother and hold its shape briefly when released.
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