THE FOOLPROOF BAGUETTE
Before you use your Baguette Baking Box, please review these Use and Care instructions.
To see just how easy and fun it is to bake baguettes using the Baguette Baking Box, click here for our 3-minute video!
Just like a classic French baguette, our recipe uses only four ingredients: flour, salt, water and yeast. Unlike the classic French baguette, our recipe requires no kneading! We use a variation of the no-knead bread recipe developed by Jim Lahey and popularized by Mark Bittman, adding extra water to the dough and letting the dough rise for 8-10 hours. The result is moist, chewy and delicious.
Because the dough needs this time to rise, we suggest either mixing the dough in the evening and baking the following day, or mixing the dough early in the day to enjoy baguettes with dinner.
Please try our recipe before experimenting. If you carefully follow the instructions below carefully, this tested and proven recipe truly is foolproof. It requires few utensils, minimal counter space, only 10-12 minutes of actual hands-on time, and very little clean-up. Anyone, even a first-time baker, can make delicious, professional-looking baguettes using the Baguette Baking Box.
Ingredients
2½ cups bread flour
1¼ teaspoon salt
1¼ cup warm water
¾ teaspoon dry yeast
2 ice cubes
Utensils
In addition to our Baguette Baking Box (with baguette tray and bottom plate), you need a large bowl, mixing spoon, flexible spatula, dough scraper or metal spatula, sharp knife or razor blade, and parchment paper.
Yield: 2 baguettes, 16″ long
Hands-on Time: 10-12 minutes
Rising Time: Approximately 8½ hours total
Baking Time: Approximately 42 minutes
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Mixing the Dough
Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the yeast to the warm water and stir until yeast is dissolved (approx. 30 seconds).
Add water and yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and stir vigorously with a mixing spoon until the dough is sticking together and pulling away from the sides of the bowl (approx. 1 minute). The dough will be wet and sticky.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise at room temperature for 8-10 hours.
2. Shaping the Dough into Baguettes
Generously flour your work surface.
Uncover the dough, and using a flexible spatula, scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the floured surface. (The dough will still be wet).
Using a dough scraper or metal spatula, gather the dough into a mound by folding it in half twice.
Cut the dough into two equal halves (See photo A). Let them sit for 10 minutes.