Pecan Free Crusty French Baguette
Few things in home baking feel as rewarding as pulling a pair of crackling, deep golden baguettes from your own oven. This recipe relies on just four ingredients ā bread flour, sea salt, instant yeast, and water ā so there is absolutely nothing hidden in the mix to worry about. The magic comes from a long, cold overnight fermentation that builds serious flavor and that signature open crumb without any complicated equipment or techniques. A series of simple stretch-and-fold sets replaces traditional kneading, making the process surprisingly hands-off and approachable even for first-time bread bakers. Scoring the loaves with confident diagonal slashes before they hit the blazing hot oven is the move that gives you that dramatic ear and shattering crust. The steam bath in the first ten minutes of baking is what locks in that glossy, crackly exterior that makes a proper baguette so irresistible. Slice into one while it's still slightly warm and you'll understand immediately why this is worth every hour of the process.
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Learn more āIngredients
8 servings
- 3 cups (360g) bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 Ā¼ tsp fine sea salt
- Ā½ tsp instant yeast
- 1 Ā¼ cups (295ml) cool water (about 65Ā°f/18Ā°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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