This homemade baguette is crispy, crunchy, and absolutely perfect! It's a quick and easy loaf with just 5 ingredients - and it will be on the table in under 30 minutes! This is a crusty French bread recipe that cuts out the pesky wait time. This recipe has been adjusted from the original for better performance.
Never made it before? I've got you covered with tips (like how to get that crispy crust!) and easy instructions. Once you've tried this recipe give my potato garlic baguettes a try!
Shopping list
This is a simple recipe - you probably have all the ingredients on hand.
- Active dry yeast
- Sugar
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- cornmeal
- water
If you've never worked with yeast dough before I suggest reading my complete guide to working with yeast doughs before you start this recipe. It has a ton of information that will make you an experienced baker in no time!
Garlic bread in 30 minutes
I was short on fillers for dinner and decided to make garlic bread. There was just one problem — no baguette.
You know what dinner filler is, right?
It's the cheap stuff you use to fill up teenagers after they have consumed everything else in the neighborhood on the table. For my family that means bread, rolls, biscuits, muffins, and anything else that will keep my boys from eyeing the dogs hungrily.
I started getting out the ingredients as my husband pulled out of the driveway to go pick the kids up from school. That's usually about a 40 minute adventure. Thank you crazy lady in the pick-up line.
Believe it or not, by the time the kids burst through the door the finished baguette was cooling on the counter.
What is a baguette, anyway?
A French baguette is a long, rounded loaf of bread that has a chewy crumb and a crispy crust.
Traditionally they are about 2-inches in diameter and 2 feet long. The most authentic baguettes contain only flour, yeast, water, and salt.
It's a basic loaf of bread that is perfect for SO many things!
Related recipes
There's nothing like a warm, homemade loaf of bread! Here are some of my favorites.
- Rustic Bread is a round loaf of artisan bread that's made in a cloche. There's truly nothing like it.
- No Knead Sourdough is an easy bread recipe for those of you who like sourdough.
- English Muffin Bread is another batter bread that you don't knead... well you need it but you don't knead it. It comes out just like an English muffin!
- Buttermilk Bread is the most popular bread recipe on Restless Chipotle - it makes big, fluffy, old fashioned loaves.
- Best Homemade Bread Recipes is a collection of my favorite recipes!
Tips
French bread isn't hard to make at all. Here are some tips for success.
- Use fresh ingredients - the best you can afford. When the ingredient list is simple like this one you need good ingredients.
- If you consistently have trouble getting the yeast to work right try using bottled spring water - there may be something in your water that's not harmful to you but the yeast doesn't like.
- Throwing the water on the floor of a hot oven creates a ton of steam - this gives the bread its classic texture. Be careful though, you don't want steam burns! A cup of ice also works for this.
- Kosher salt is used in this recipe. If you use regular table salt reduce the amount to one teaspoon.
- When you score the top use a very sharp knife and cut it on a 45 degree angle. This helps it to rise evenly.
- You can add ½ teaspoon extra yeast and let the dough rise in the fridge overnight if you need to.
What to do with leftovers
- Garlic bread
- French bread style pizza - just cut the loaf in half longways and add toppings to the cut sides of each half. Bake at 375F until the cheese melts and bubbles
- Croutons - don't throw away stale bread! Cut into cubes and toss in melted butter to coat then bake at 350F for 15 minutes
- Use for hoagies and other sandwiches
- Panzanella is an Italian salad made with a generous amount of cubed baguette
- French toast
- Appetizers like bruschetta
- Breadcrumbs
- Bread pudding
FAQs
Here are the most commonly asked questions about this recipe. If you don't find the answer to yours here leave a comment below or email me - I'll get back to you as soon as I can!
How do you make them soft?
Cover the baguettes with a towel as they are cooling and skip the step where you add steam to the oven.
How do you shape it?
Start with your hands in the middle of the loaf and gradually move them to the outer edge of the baguette as you roll back and forth. Use the palms of your hand to gently roll the dough into a long, thick rope - it's kind of like rolling play-do.
Can you soften a stale baguette?
Wrap it in a damp towel and place it on a baking sheet. Add it to a 375F oven for 10 minutes.
Do they freeze well after baking?
Yes you can! I like to slice them and put a square of parchment paper between each slice then wrap the whole loaf tightly. I seal mine in my vacuum sealer but don't let it remove all the air - you'll want to watch carefully. You can freeze for up to 3 months.
Can you freeze unbaked baguettes?
Yes - but this recipe is so quick and easy there's no need to. If you are going to freeze it shape it and freeze immediately. When you want to bake it you'll need to thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and then let it rise a little before baking as directed. Again, this is so quick and easy that you could be finished with the whole thing and have the kitchen cleaned up in the time it took you to do this.
Equipment
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Yeast can be expensive if you make a lot of bread. I like buying Red Star yeast in bulk on Amazon. It lasts a long time if you refrigerate it and I love the quality of Red Star (they did not pay me to say that!) Baking the dough on coarse ground cornmeal gives the crust a more authentic texture and flavor, in my opinion.
You'll love this simple baguette recipe! It just takes 30 minutes - the inside is chewy, the crust is crispy, and people will wonder how in the world you manage to do all that you do.
It'll be our secret.
If you happen to live in a high altitude you'll want to read this information on how to adjust for high altitude baking.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Quick and Easy Homemade Baguette
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 2 cups water, 110F, comfortably warm
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 - 5 cups all-purpose flour, may need more but dough should be sticky
- coarse cornmeal for dusting the pan
Instructions
- Start preheating the oven to 425F before you even take the ingredients out of the pantry.
- Put the 110F water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of your mixer.
- Mix briefly, just until blended.
- Set in a warm place for 10 minutes.
- After ten minutes stir in the salt and 1 cup of the flour.
- Using the dough hook mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Add the rest of the flour, ½ cup at a time until you have a soft dough.
- Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky and dough is elastic.
- Form the dough into 2 or 3 long loaves on a heavy cookie sheet dusted with coarse cornmeal.
- Use a sharp knife to score (slice shallow gashes) in the top of the bread.
- Allow the loaves to rise for ten minutes in a warm place if there is time. If not - just go straight to the next step.
- Fill a 1 cup measure with ice and cold water
- Put the loaves into the preheated oven and toss the ice on the oven floor.
- Close the door quickly and don't open it until you are ready to take the bread out of the oven, 15 to 20 minutes later.
- Cool slightly before cutting.
Notes
- Use fresh ingredients - the best you can afford. When the ingredient list is simple like this one you need good ingredients.
- If you consistently have trouble getting the yeast to work right try using bottled spring water - there may be something in your water that's not harmful to you but the yeast doesn't like.
- Throwing the water on the floor of a hot oven creates a ton of steam - this gives the bread its classic texture. Be careful though, you don't want steam burns! A cup of ice also works for this.
- Kosher salt is used in this recipe.
- When you score the top use a very sharp knife and cut it on a 45 degree angle. This helps it to rise properly.
- You can add ½ teaspoon extra yeast and let the dough rise in the fridge overnight if you need to.
Stef
How long do a knead for using hands. I do not have a stand mixer or bread maker.
Marye
probably about 6 to 10 minutes of good kneading.
Cupcake Fanatic
I made this for a sub bun and it was so good and easy would recommend!!!
Dixine
I've never made bread before. Made this one three times now, and each time it came out perfect. I'm so jazzed! I have a Kitchen Aid with a dough hook, used all-purpose flour (what I keep in my freezer), and I cut the recipe in half (just two of us). The first time I made it, I didn't know to shut the mixer off before adding more flour - it was like a white powder bomb exploded in here (my husband offered to go get the shop vac). I figured out it helps to use a rubber spatula to scrape down and press some of the added flour into the dough to help it incorporate. Second time I started with half all-purpose and half whole wheat, then finished with scoops of all-purpose till it was done. Third time the entire batch was a half and half combo. Each time I've lost count of the scoops of flour, and just stopped adding more when the dough ball 'looked' right (but what do I know?). Each time I used my stopwatch to kneed it exactly 5 minutes, like you said.
This half-recipe made two 10"-long x 1-1/4"-dia loaves. Each time I covered them with a light dish towel while they rose. This third time I had to wait an hour before baking, and whoa! -they doubled in size! The crash of ice cubes on the oven floor is pretty exciting stuff, though it scares the dog out of the room. Baking time was about 18 minutes in 425º convection oven. Next time I'll put the loaves on parchment paper (the cornmeal alone doesn't do much on my pan). THANK YOU for this - obvious to me, this is an idiot-proof recipe.
Marye
I am so glad you like it!