Crusty French Baguette Recipe
As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Few things compare to the magic of a crusty French Baguette fresh from the oven. With its golden, crackly crust and tender, airy interior, this bread is irresistible served alongside a bowl of hot soup, piled high with sandwich fillings, or torn off piece by piece to enjoy with butter.
The best part? This recipe is made with just four simple ingredients, and most of the work is hands-off. A little patience goes a long way here, and the results are so worth it.
I am over the moon about that crunchy, splintery outer crust. See how it shatters? And the interior- soft, pillowy, and so airy. It's perfection.
My family loves a good crusty French baguette. We eat this kind of bread with so many things! It's so chewy, yeasty, and good. I've always been a little afraid to try making it myself. Everything you hear suggests it's complicated and fussy, and only a French boulanger could ever get it right.
WRONG! Here's living proof that anyone can make a killer baguette.
Why You'll Love This Baguette
- Bakery-style at home: You don't need fancy equipment to get an artisan-quality loaf.
- Simple ingredients: Just flour, water, yeast, and salt.
- Crispy crust, tender crumb: For the perfect balance of crunch and softness.
- Versatile: Enjoy it as a snack, side dish, or as a base for sandwiches.
Ingredients You'll Need
The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains the full list with all of the amounts. Refer to that when you're cooking.
- Bread flour - Provides the higher protein content needed for that perfect chewy texture and airy interior.
- Kosher salt - Balances flavor and strengthens the gluten structure.
- Active dry yeast - The key to a good rise and light texture. Instant yeast can also be used.
- Water - Warm water helps activate the yeast, while cool water keeps the dough manageable.
- Additional flour - For dusting your work surface and shaping the loaves.
How To Make A Homemade French Baguette
Step 1: Start the Dough
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let it sit until it becomes foamy. This ensures the yeast is active and ready to work.
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the dissolved yeast. Slowly stir in cool water until you have a shaggy, stiff dough. You may not need all of the water. Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Fold and Rise
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press it into a rectangle, then fold the sides into the center and flatten and rotate it. Repeat the process. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rise until it has doubled in size (about 1-2 hours).
Step 3: Shape the Loaves
Divide the dough into four equal portions. Shape each into a long, thin loaf, approximately 15 inches long, with tapered ends. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover loosely, and let it rise again until doubled in size (30-45 minutes).
Step 4: Bake with Steam
Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Place a pan of water on the bottom rack to create steam, which helps form that signature crust.
Slash each loaf with a sharp blade, dust lightly with flour, and bake until golden brown and crusty, about 30-40 minutes. The baguettes should sound hollow when tapped.
Helpful Tips and Tricks
- Don't rush the rise: A slower rise develops more flavor and better texture.
- Use steam: That pan of water in the oven is the secret to a crisp, golden crust.
- Slash with confidence: Clean cuts help the bread expand properly in the oven.
- Cool before slicing: As tempting as it may be, let the loaves rest for at least 10 minutes to allow the crumb to set.
Classic French Baguette FAQ
This type of loaf is infinitely versatile! Slice it into ½-inch rounds and it's perfect as a base for bruschetta or crostini. Or it can be used as a dipper for your favorite party dip. And we love it toasted with garlic butter, for garlic bread. So good with a pasta dinner! Or just tear into it and eat it with a hot bowl of soup. So satisfying!
Baguettes are best when they're freshly baked, but they're still pretty darn great after a few days!
To store a French baguette, wrap it loosely and keep it at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. If you notice it's not as crusty after a while, just pop it in a warm oven (around 170 degrees-ish) for 5-10 minutes, and it should come out good as new.
A fancy French boulanger might not agree with me on this one, but I say go for it!
I do this a lot at my house. When the baguette is still fresh, slice it into thin rounds. I'll often cut on the diagonal so there is more surface area to spread yummy things on. Then, just slip the baguette slices into a zip-top freezer bag, and into the freezer they all go.
Whenever we want a slice of crusty French bread, we just pull out what we need.
The baguette slices thaw in just a few minutes at room temp. Alternatively, they can be warmed in the oven or toasted. It's super convenient!
Yes, but the texture won't be quite as chewy or airy. Bread flour is best.
No. A parchment-lined baking sheet works beautifully for this recipe.
This could be due to inactive yeast, cool rising conditions, or using too little water. Ensure your yeast is fresh and allow the dough plenty of time to rise.
Spritz the loaves with water right before baking, in addition to using a steam pan.
More Homemade Bread Recipes
Ingredients
- 3 ½ tablespoons (52.5 g) warm water
- 1 ½ teaspoons (4.67 g) active dry yeast*
- 3 ¾ cups (468.75 g) bread flour
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cup (295.74 g) cool water, (you may not need all of the water)
- additional flour,, for dusting
Instructions
- Place the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside and allow the yeast to dissolve and become foamy.
- Place the bread flour into a large bowl and stir in the salt.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and stir in the dissolved yeast.
- Add the cool water, a little at a time, while stirring, just until a stiff, shaggy dough (watch the video below to see what this should look like) has formed (you may not need to use all of the water).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, gently press it into a rectangle, and fold the short sides into the center. Flatten, turn 90 degrees, and repeat.
- Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 to 2 hours).
- Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, and shape each one into a long loaf (about 15-inches long and 1 ½-inches in diameter), with pointed ends.
- Place the loaves on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled in bulk (about 30 to 45 minutes).
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and place a pan of water on the bottom rack.
- Bake the breads until crusty and brown (approx. 30 to 40 minutes). The baguettes should give a hollow sound when tapped.
The baguettes were beyond my expectations! I had 2 problems. I don’t have a scale and figuring ounces of water instead of tablespoons or cups was a pain. Also I must have done something wrong because I only got three loaves. We ate it with soft cheese and jam, French onion soup and a glass of wine for a Parisian picnic. Reminder of college days! Btw I used this recipe because it has the actual ingredients the French government says by law need to be in it.
This recipe is the best I have used so far! Very tasty baguettes. Although my active yeast needs a teaspoon of sugar and whisk before it froths up!
Hi. I'm at home. I've been home for the past six month due to the virus. Due to that, I've been trying different types of bread recipes and I want to try this one, your french bread.
Problem: Only flour I could find is unbleached regular flour. Question: can I use that instead of bread flour?
Thanks.
Great Recipe! I love baking but have not always had great success with bread. I made this recipe for my family and they all loved it! The baguettes were crispy, good flavor, and the timing was spot on. THANK YOU! I reserved the last quarter of the dough, rolled it out, spread butter cinnamon and sugar on it, rolled in back up and cut it into slices like cinnamon rolls and baked it for 20 minutes and it was like a tear and share style. That was ok but definitely not better than the baguettes.
Wonderful recipe. I bake a lot of bread and this was easy, and turned out perfectly. It was crunchy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. I have a French bread loaf pan and used that to let it rise while shaped and bake. I also doubled the recipe for a slightly larger loaf but didn’t have to adjust the baking time at all.
Great job and thank you!
I've just begun my baking journey in the last couple of months. These came out perfect and were a smash! A definite permanent addition to my staples! Thanks!!
Thanks for the nutritional info, but what is the serving size???
Would be nice to know how many grams it is for the 28 calories
One 1/2-inch slice.
This has been a very easy to use recipe, and I had to eye ball some of the measurements. However, I was wondering if you could answer a question, I doubled the recipe the 2nd time I made it the results were the same but my bread wasn't as brown as the first time or as in the picture. It was cooked through, had a hollow sound and was crunchy af but a lighter brown color.
Thanks
Solid as hell. Thanks for the recipe. I'll be using this for more sandwiches I make in the future.
Amazing Bread! Fabulous easy to follow recipe. I used AP flour because that is what I had, but just ordered French T55 flour To experiment. Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe ??????
I made these last night and got tasty, but very dense and hard little breadsticks. I was so sad!! But I've been making bread a long time and knew there was nothing wrong with the recipe. So I remade them this morning, and corrected my two errors - added the full amount of water (I took 'firm' dough to heart the first time), and opened a fresh packet of active yeast instead of using what I later learned was an expired packet that had been open for a year. Oops!! The first ones rose a little, but never doubled in bulk. These did! As for the bread sticks, the bluebirds on my deck love them. Also this is my first time using weight measurements instead of cups and I much prefer the precision you get with weight. Nice recipe!
This is a great recipe. I made this to go with dinner today and three and a half of the four loaves are already gone. I suspect what's left will probably be gone before morning. It doesn't take a whole lot of hands on work so it's really easy to make this while also working on other things.
I will say, I was skeptical while in the process of making this bread. I wasn't sure about just folding the dough rather than actually kneading it, but I resisted the urge to work the dough more and followed the method here. It seemed to rise slowly, which concerned me. Finally, when I shaped the loaves, I looked at them and kind of shook my head, figuring they looked way too thin and there was no way this was going to work. But, I had already gone through the trouble of making the dough, proofing it, etc. So may as well just go for the final rise, throw it in the oven, and wait for the inevitable disappointment. I'm glad I did, because despite my skepticism, when I took it out of the oven, I had bread with a nice, crisp crust and a lovely, soft interior. If you're attempting this recipe and you reach a point where it doesn't look quite like what you'd expect, keep going. Follow the rest of the steps, and you'll likely be pleasantly surprised. One very minor tweak I did make was I did the final rise with the bread already on the baking sheets rather than placing it on a towel to rise and then transferring it.
Hi. Thank you for the recipe for baguette. I intend to make this. But I have a question. One of the steps is to put water in a baking pan and put inside the oven. Must this water remain a,, throughout I
Th baguette is being baked? Or once there is steam in the oven, I must take out the water?
I will appreciate your reply. Thank you so much.
There is no need to take it out until you're done baking the bread. Good luck!
I can not believe how amazing these turned out! Easy to follow recipe, and truly amazing result. Don’t hesitate in trying these!
I will say the one tricky part was transferring the risen dough to the baking sheet. Tricky, but not impossible. Would love to see your technique.
Omg!! These are the best baguettes I have ever had or made, they were just as good as the bread I had in France! My daughter and I added kalamata olives and herbs into the recipe, and it added a delicious salty flavor. Highly recommend, the crunch when you bit in was unreal!
I actually made this into two baguettes instead of 4 because I wanted something a little more substantial. It turned out great. Super easy recipe and yummy,
There is reference to a video, but there is not an active link. Bread llks great!
The video starts at the top of the post, then shifts to the lower right corner as you scroll. It is also embedded within the recipe card, just below the list of instructions. If you are using an ad blocker it will prevent it from loading.