Breakfast baguette

Makes 1 baguette.

  1. In a mixing bowl: flour and salt, mix, then yeast, mix, then water, and mix until it's a shaggy ball
  2. Cover the bowl, stick it in the (cold) oven, and let it rise overnight (8-10 hrs)
  3. Flour a baking tray, roll the dough out, flour the top of the dough, flip, and shape.
  4. Parchment on a wire rack, into the oven and bake for 25 mins at 220 C (fan)

Based on The 5 minute baguette: video, spreadsheet.

Ingredients; Flour 950g / 33.5oz, use baker's flour or bread flour as called in the US (higher protein content, the one I use has 11.5g of protein per 100g) Salt 2x good tsp, approx 16g / 0.56oz Yeast 3/4 tsp, approx 2g / 0.07oz Water 730ml / 25.7oz, I use filtered water at room temperature

Process Part 1 Mix all the ingredients together until combined with the handle of a wooden spoon, you will see the dough will amalgamate into a ball, this should not take more than 2mn. Cover and let it rise for 8 to 10 hours, I leave the dough in the cold oven.

Part 2 Sprinkle some flour on the bench or a pizza dish/plate, scrape the dough on the bench/dish and sprinkle again some more flour on top of the dough to avoid sticking. You will need a plastic dough scraper and make sure you're not pressing the dough to keep the air inside. Cut the dough in 4 (if you want 4 baguettes, but you can make 2/3/5). Take each piece and stretch it gently in a baguette shape and put it on a baking tray or plate with baking paper. This should not take more than 3 mn and if you're well organised cleaning included. Bake for 250 degC (480 degF) for approx 25 mn depending how golden you want them. Et voila.

Timeline 2mn mixing - 8/10h rising - shaping 3mn - baking 25 mn Baguettes for Breakfast, do the mix in the evening and bake in the morning. Baguettes for Dinner, do the mix in the morning and bake in the evening. Baguettes for Lunch or else, do the mix in the evening and bake when you want them.

I missed a few things in the video:

  1. The video says 900g of flour but it should be 950g, made a mistake and modified the subtitles accordingly but I can't edit the video once posted. Note that it does work with 900g (I've tested) as it's a very forgiving recipe, dough will just be a bit runnier. Sorry for the confusion.
  2. I leave the bowl with the dough to rise in the cold oven. If ambient temp is cold or you're short of time you can warm up the oven a bit before (45degC), turn it off and put in the bowl with the dough. Or you can use lukewarm water instead of room temperature.
  3. For baking oven settings on top/bottom heating (not hot air or forced air). If you have steam function you can use it.

Note on flour; Use Bakers flour, also called bread flour or strong flour depending where you live. Every flour is different so the water/flour ratio or hydration will need to be adjusted slightly, if you find the dough too runny reduce water. You can't have it wrong and you don't need to be too precise either as it's a very forgiving recipe.

Note on ovens; Every oven is different so you will need to try a few combination to find the right tray position to have the baguettes cooked evenly.