It's a baguette and a sandwich roll in one! A classic French baguette usually has a crunchier / thicker crust. These are soft but still crusty, which makes them the perfect sandwich bread that doesn't need a rich dough (milk instead of water) It yields 5 sandwich baguettes of 160g each which is about 10 inches long. I make these about three times a month for my husband; he loves sandwiches for lunch!
Ingredients
- 450g of bread flour
- 340g of water at room temperature
- 4g of rapid rise yeast
- 8g of salt
- Extra flour for dusting
Tools
- Mixing bowl
- La Couplet Whisk + Bread lame
- Saran wrap
- Parchment paper
- A spray bottle
Method
1. Start by adding the water to the mixing bowl. Then continue with the yeast. Mix well.
2. Add the flour, salt and mix it all very well until you get a rough ball. The dough will be sticky! that's normal.
3. Cover it with saran wrap and take it to the fridge for 30-45 minutes.
4. Then, you'll do a fold and slap (explanation below) three times every 30-45 minutes. After each fold and slap, put it back in the fridge.
- How to fold: Wet your hands before handling the dough and do it as much as you need to; the dough will be very sticky. Pull the dough gently upwards and fold it over the dough itself, rotate clockwise and fold, rotate and fold and so on. Do this until you complete a 360.
- How to slap the dough: Grab the dough with one hand and slap it against the bowl or your work surface. Do it about 10 times. Cover it and back to the fridge.
5. After the three fold and slaps are done, leave it out at room temperature for up to three hours. In the winter 3hrs, in the summer 1.5 hours. It needs to double, so be in the lookout for that.
6. Flour your work surface and the surface of your dough. Then using your floured fingers gently start separating the dough from the mixing bowl all around. Then turn the bowl upside down and let the dough fall to your work surface naturally, without forcing it. Be gentle.
7. Gently divide the dough into 5 pieces at about 160g each. Fold them twice: top to middle and then bottom to middle, cover them and leave them to rest 15 minutes.
8. After the rest time, one by one flip them with the smooth side down, press the large bubbles and fold one third, flip it and fold one third again. Finally fold once more; flour the bottom of your palms and seal it.
9. Roll the dough to shape it into a baguette and place it on a sheet pan with floured parchment paper. Then fold the paper with each shaped dough to uniform the fermentation. Cover it and ferment for 45 minutes (winter or summer).
10. The dough is ready when you lightly touch it and it bounces back half way. If it's ready follow step 11, if it's not, wait 15 more minutes and test it again.
11. After the dough is ready, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. In the meantime start heating up the oven to 470 F. Let it preheat for 30-40 minutes.
12. After the 30 minutes, slide the parchment paper with the dough onto a room temperature sheet pan. Straighten the parchment paper so it's all flat. Use 2 sheet pans if possible so each baguette has room to expand and get evenly golden brown.
13. Flour generously the baguettes and score the dough with your bread lame. Be quick with your slices to avoid dragging the dough. Do three in each baguette, then go back and angle the bread lame a bit to cut the edges 2mm deep.
14. Place a piece of parchment paper on top and take it to the oven. Spray with water about 20 times quickly and bake for 10 minutes.
15. After the 10 minutes, lower the oven to 450 F and remove the parchment paper. Continue baking for another 13 minutes or until golden brown.
That's it! Let it cool down a bit and enjoy!
How to store your baguette
You can freeze them individually with a plastic wrap and take one as you need for the week. It doesn't take long to defrost so they're an excellent option to have at hand.
Sourdough baguette alternative
I've converted this recipe to sourdough and they come out so good! I'll share the recipe as soon as it's perfected. It needs more tweaks!