Pistachio Free Crusty French Baguette
Few things in the kitchen feel as satisfying as pulling a deeply golden, crackling baguette from your own oven. This recipe relies on just four ingredients ā bread flour, sea salt, instant yeast, and cool water ā so there's absolutely nothing hidden in the mix to worry about. The magic here is time: a long, cold overnight ferment builds the kind of complex, slightly tangy flavor that most bakery loaves spend years perfecting. Stretch-and-fold technique replaces heavy kneading, giving the dough structure and that signature open, chewy crumb without much effort on your part. A screaming-hot oven and a burst of steam in the first ten minutes are what create that impossibly thin, shatteringly crisp crust that makes the whole house smell incredible. Once you hear that hollow knock on the bottom and see that deep amber color, you'll know you've nailed it. Slice into it after a short rest and you've got something genuinely bakery-worthy made entirely from scratch, with total confidence in every ingredient.
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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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