Not-Quite-Whole-Grain Baguettes
- Total Time
- 4 hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:3 loaves
- 100grams rye or whole-wheat flour (about ¾ cup)
- 400grams all-purpose flour (a scant 3 cups), plus more for handling
- 10grams kosher salt (about 2½ teaspoons)
- 6grams instant yeast (about 2 teaspoons)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 servings)
607 calories; 2 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 127 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 19 grams protein; 394 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. With the machine running, add water until a ball forms, about 30 seconds. (Start with 1½ cups water; you may need a little more or less.) Then process for an additional 30 to 45 seconds. Put the dough ball in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit until risen, 2 to 3 hours.
- Step 2
Cut the dough into 3 pieces, and using an absolute minimum of flour to prevent sticking, form each into a rough log. (You can make one large boule, or a ciabatta-shaped loaf or whatever else you like.) Cover with a towel and let sit about 20 minutes. Then shape into long baguettes; support their shape by letting them rise in baguette pans or a lightly floured piece of canvas. Set the oven to 465. (If you have a pizza stone, leave it in there.)
- Step 3
The loaves will be ready to bake in 30 minutes or so. Slide in on a peel or in baguette pans. Slash or cut the top of the loaf. Bake, lowering heat if necessary to prevent browning, until the loaves read 210 internally (not more), 20 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
salberti
Tried buckwheat flour instead of whole wheat or rye, hoping to approach a baguette we had in Paris. Success! Reduce water by at least 1/4 c
Tom
Why use metric? Try to do baker percentage with cup and you'll understand why.
Stanley Dorst
2% salt is a standard amount for lean bread. 10 grams is 2% of the 500 grams of flour. It's obviously fine to decrease the amount if you prefer less, but that's a standard amount for this type of bread.
Nairi
I made these yesterday. Measured everything by weight. It was not too salty. 10 grams is about 1 and a half tsp kosher iodized salt. I kept my cast iron in the oven while it was preheating. When I put the baguettes in I also poured water into the cast iron to create stream. At 19 minutes I checked the internal temperature of the bread and it was 209. I was worried because it felt too hard, but they softened as they cooled. Delicious!!
Leslie
It seems most bakers and pastry chefs use metric because measuring dry ingredients, it is more accurate than traditional volume measurements from measuring cups and spoons. Compact digital scales are cheap and most have metric and ounces.
Suzanne
This is basically the recipe for food processor French bread in Craig Claiborne's New NY Times Cookbook, probably the first cookbook I bought. Claiborne's version used only white flour and the oven temps are different. Otherwise, the same. Good, and easy.
Stanley Dorst
You have to puncture the loaf. Use an instant read thermometer with a thin probe, and pick an inconspicuous spot (e.g. on the side), and you'll never notice the hole when slicing and eating the bread.
Stanley Dorst
Oh, also, 2-1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt will weigh less than 2-1/2 teaspoons of table salt, because of the size of the grains. 1 teaspoon of table salt weighs about 6 grams, so 2-1/2 teaspoons will weigh about 15 grams. 10 grams of table salt would be a little more than 1-1/2 teaspoons. If you measure salt by volume, you need to be careful about which type of salt you are using!
KM
I made these a few months ago, exactly as written, with great success. Yesterday, I made again w/ more whole grain: 3/4 rye, 1/2 cup whole wheat, the remainder white. I was nervous when the dough was more sticky and elastic than I'd remembered, but the baguettes turned out beautifully with an epic crust. This is with baking them at 420 instead of 465 (long story) and with an extra 45 minutes on the 1st rise due to "baking while quarantine teaching online"! Our go to for Banh Mi!
kmg
Made this recipe 5x adjusting each time for flour type, salt, amount of water, manual vs. machine, etc, without good results. I am going back to Jim Lahey version.
Laura
If you are new to baking bread, don't make this recipe. The instructions are really vague and poorly written. For example, according to the recipe, you slide them in the oven, then you slash the top of the loaf. Shouldn't you do that first? We did our best, but our baguettes are being used as baseball bats tonight, as they are hard enough to hit a softball!
not-so-multigrain-baguett
Help, This was a disaster!!! Yeast was new, proofed well, up to allowing the loaves to rise,(which they didn't). The loaves remained the same size and hard and dense, unlike any baguette I have ever made! Mike
Cori M
After the first rise I shaped all of the dough into a ball and let rest while I preheated my Dutch oven for 30 minutes. I baked it for 25 minutes with the lid on then another 8 minutes uncovered. Delicious!
Mae
I mixed the yeast with warm water separately and added a bit of honey before combining with the dry ingredients. Came out great!
Bill Campbell
I got a nice result with this recipe by using a rectangular baking stone (13"x20") with a full-size steam pan (12"x20"x6") lightly spritzed with water and inverted to cover the loaves. I lifted the idea from the Low-Knead Bread recipe by J. Kenji Alt-Lopez. I removed the pan after 20 minutes and continued baking until I saw the 210 internal reading.
Bill Campbell
Update: This method is very good at trapping steam--so good that I strongly suggest wearing a pair of oven mitts when removing the steam pan to avoid burns from the escaping steam.
Michael B.
Used kamuth flour instead of wheat flour, only 1/4 of the yeast and had it stir much longer. Covered thinnly with olive oil, put in a sealed bowl and had it rise 36 hours in the fridge. Preheated oven to 230 °C, added half a cup water to oven while baking. Worked out fine. Will need a little more water.
Siena
It isn't a baguette without steaming up the oven. I do it just by pre-heating a baking sheet on a bottom oven shelf--then when I'm putting the bread in I put in about a cup of water and quickly shut the door to trap the steam in. Makes the crust much more crusty!
tim
Bad recipe- mix for 45 seconds to produce a suitable dough? Water in cups? Odd advice on baking and scoring The bread. Look elsewhere if you want a competent bake - I’m sure it works ok, as bread can be quite forgiving with basic doughs but really poorly written up.
Tinka
Much too salty, I'll reduce salt by half next time.
Sophie
Does anyone have recommendations for making this in a blender or kitchenaid? My food processor is too small to hold this much flour
BenW
This was the first baguette recipe i have ever tried and is has turned out great every time. I have tried different flour and so far have prefered dark rye. Having good yeast helps.I recommend putting a cast iron pan on the lower rack with a little water to help form a crunchier crust.
Tina in Denver
I really like this recipe. I make three loaves and use it mostly for sandwiches. I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 3/4 cups of all purpose the last time I made it and it turned out great.
Rich
No mention of the temperature of the water. I'm assuming warm (100 degrees F)?
Tina in Denver
It would have been helpful to know what temperature the water should be. I assumed warm as you did and it turns out fine.
Laura
If you are new to baking bread, don't make this recipe. The instructions are really vague and poorly written. For example, according to the recipe, you slide them in the oven, then you slash the top of the loaf. Shouldn't you do that first? We did our best, but our baguettes are being used as baseball bats tonight, as they are hard enough to hit a softball!
KM
I made these a few months ago, exactly as written, with great success. Yesterday, I made again w/ more whole grain: 3/4 rye, 1/2 cup whole wheat, the remainder white. I was nervous when the dough was more sticky and elastic than I'd remembered, but the baguettes turned out beautifully with an epic crust. This is with baking them at 420 instead of 465 (long story) and with an extra 45 minutes on the 1st rise due to "baking while quarantine teaching online"! Our go to for Banh Mi!
Cat
I made the recipe with type 85 malted flour. Otherwise, I did the recipe as is. It was outstanding, perfect texture inside with nice baguette crunch outside.
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