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Easy No Knead French Bread Baguettes

Barbara
Baking baguettes at home doesn't have to be difficult. This easy no-knead technique produces lovely loaves that rival the store bought variety.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Bulk Rise Time 9 hours
Total Time 9 hours 45 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine French
Servings 2 loaves

Equipment

  • large mixing bowl
  • measuring cups
  • Danish dough whisk or wooden spoon
  • plastic wrap
  • cooking sheet
  • Wire rack
  • Parchment paper
  • Dough scraper
  • oven safe metal pan
  • sharp knife

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups flour
  • 3 tbsp vital wheat gluten
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
  • 2 cups warm water

Instructions
 

  • Stir yeast into warm water.  Allow the yeast to “bloom” while you prepare the dry ingredients.
  • Sift or stir together flour, vital wheat gluten and salt in a large mixing bowl.
  • Add yeast water to the dry ingredients.
  • Stir ingredients together until you have a shaggy dough.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise over night, for 8-10 hours.
  • In the morning, place a metal pan on the bottom rack of the oven with another rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  • While the oven preheats, place a wire rack on a baking sheet and place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the wire rack.  Set aside.
  • Flour your work surface and turn dough out of the bowl onto your work surface.
  • Gently stretch out and shape dough into a rectangle shape. Dust your hands with flour if the dough is sticking to them.
  • Use a dough scraper to cut the dough into two long pieces of equal size.
  • Roll each piece of dough gently to form 2 logs. Don't overwork the dough, use a light touch and handle the dough as little as possible to form it into 2 loaves.
  • Dust the top of each loaf with a little flour.
  • Carefully transfer the 2 loaves onto the parchment paper.
  • Use a sharp knife and score the top of each loaf, either right down the center, or cut diagonal slits every couple inches down the length of each loaf.
  • Once the oven is hot, pour a cup of water into the hot metal pan on the bottom rack in the oven and place loaves of bread on the rack above.
  • Bake loaves for 30 minutes at 450 degrees.
  • Remove loaves from oven when they are golden brown and allow them to cool completely before slicing, about an hour.

Notes

To double the recipe and make 4 loaves of bread:
  • 6 cups flour
  • 6 tbsp vital wheat gluten 
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp yeast
  • 4 cups warm water
Keyword Baguettes, French bread, homemade