Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast
This recipe for Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast uses yeast, so you can make fresh homemade organic bread anytime you want, even if you don't have starter! These classic baguettes are the perfect side dish to any meal.
If you're looking for more homemade bread recipes, try Honey Butter Dinner Rolls, Lemon Rosemary Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Irish Soda Bread, Sourdough Discard Bread With Bone Broth, or Sourdough Discard Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast
- Ready In: 12 hours 27 minutes
- Makes: 3 baguettes
- Main Ingredients: all purpose flour, yeast, water, salt
- Flavor Profile: deeply golden crust that adds toasted, slightly nutty notes
- Dietary Info: eggless, no seed oils, vegan
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: light, airy, crusty and goes with everything
Summarize & Save This Content On
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 3 Ingredients: All you need is 3 organic ingredients to make this bread dough!
- Easy: This simple crusty French bread is really very easy to make. The dough comes together quickly and you can have fresh bread within a day. No mixer needed, just a mixing bowl and your hands.
- Make Ahead: This is a great bread to make ahead as you can make the dough at night, then it can rest all night long and it will be ready to roll out the following day if you prefer.
- Versatile: Use this recipe for Organic French Baguettes for literally anything. You can enjoy this as an appetizer with butter and fresh fruit. It makes a delicious bread for sandwiches or subs. Make French toast, garlic bread, or just dip it soup like Healthy Beef Soup with Leeks or Ham Bone Soup.
Jump to:
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients
- Baker’s Tips
- How to Make Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast
- What to Serve with French Baguettes With Instant Yeast
- Storage & Reheating Tips
- Recipe FAQ’s
- More Homemade Bread Recipes
- Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast
- The Bake Shop
Skip the grocery store bakery and feel like you're in France instead when you make this easy homemade baguette recipe! We made these at my bakery for years and everyone loved them! Perfect for sandwiches, buttered bread, or even garlic bread. Try making garlic bread with Homemade Garlic Herb Butter!
This easy bread recipe has a great texture, it uses instant yeast for ease and you can have fresh baguettes in no time. I love prepping the dough the night before, as then it makes it really easy to just bake them off the following morning so you can enjoy fresh bread all day long!
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour: My favorite is Cairnspring Mills. Just be sure to use a high quality organic all purpose flour as this organic bread has so few ingredients that it really matters!
- Yeast: I use organic instant yeast which allows these baguettes to rise without starter. Active dry yeast also works too if you prefer.
- Water: You'll need warm water. Be sure your water is not too hot, as hot water can kill yeast. So, if you notice your dough is not rising, that could be what happened.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Getting the perfect crust on a baguette has to do with oven temperature and steam. Professional bakeries (most of them) have bread ovens which can get up to 1000°F or higher! That’s double the heat that a home oven even has the capability to do! So, when you are baking baguettes at home, you need to use the hottest setting your oven has. For most, that is 550°F.
- You can create steam in your oven by doing two things. You can place a bowl with water on the bottom rack of the oven while your oven preheats. This will help create steam within the oven.
- You can also get a spray bottle and fill it with water. When your baguettes hit the oven, spray them and the oven with the spray bottle before closing it. This helps create the perfect crust!
How to Make Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast
Step 1
To make the dough: In a large bowl, add the yeast and warm water and stir to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes or until bubbly.
Add the flour, sea salt, and cold water and mix the dough with your hands just until it’s mixed. It should feel wet and look shaggy. Cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 12 hours. (I usually make this dough at night, then plan to roll it out the following morning, but the same day is also fine too).
Step 2
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 3
To roll out the dough: Lightly flour around the sides of the bowl and pull the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. You can add a bit of flour on top of the dough too. Divide the dough into three equal portions.
Create a ball with a smooth top by pulling and tucking the dough under itself. Turn it seam side up, then fold two of the sides into the middle and pinch the seam shut, it will be a rectangle shape at this stage.
Flip it so it is seam side down. And gently, with the palms of your hands, roll the dough out until it is about 14-inches in length. Transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the other two pieces of dough.
Step 4
Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel, and let it sit for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 550°F.
Step 5
Score each baguette by taking a razor blade (or sharp knife) and cutting slits on a diagonal, you should have about 5 to 6 scores on each baguette. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
What to Serve with French Baguettes With Instant Yeast
- I love serving this as a side dish to Organic Meatloaf With Bone Broth or Meyer Lemon Chicken Wild Rice Soup With Bone Broth.
- Use this to make sandwiches with Avocado Tuna Salad With No Mayo or Healthy Honey Chicken Salad with Cranberries.
- Serve as a side to a big salad like Roasted Cauliflower Salad Turkey Salad With Lemon Dressing.
Storage & Reheating Tips
Aluminum foil is the best way to wrap up fresh bread like this as it can help keep the crust crispy. While a zip bag or bread box is fine, you may have the crust soften a bit. Fresh bread is best when eaten right away!
To reheat a French baguette, just open up that foil and lightly mist it with water. Place it in a warm oven (around 350°F or using a warm setting on an air fryer or toaster oven). This will help crisp up the crust for a second round of snacking!
Recipe FAQ's
Yes, you can definitely make baguettes without a baguette pan. This recipe only requires that you have a baking sheet and parchment paper. You can roll the dough out with your hands, and transfer it to the baking sheet.
The dough should proof for at least 12 hours. At this time, it will look doubled in size and it will look wobbly, jiggly and airy.
Create a ball with a smooth top by pulling and tucking the dough under itself. Turn it seam side up, then fold two of the sides into the middle and pinch the seam shut, it will be a rectangle shape at this stage. Flip it so it is seam side down. And gently, with the palms of your hands, roll the dough out until it is about 14-inches in length.
Getting the perfect crust on a baguette has to do with oven temperature and steam. Professional bakeries (most of them) have bread ovens which can get up to 1000°F or higher! That’s double the heat that a home oven even has the capability to do! So, when you are baking baguettes at home, you need to use the hottest setting your oven has. For most, that is 550°F. Second, you can create steam in your oven by doing two things. You can place a bowl with water on the bottom rack of the oven while your oven preheats. This will help create steam within the oven. And, then you can also get a spray bottle and fill it with water. When your baguettes hit the oven, spray them and the oven with the spray bottle before closing it. This helps create the perfect crust.
Steam is essential for baguettes because it creates a thin, crispy crust.
If you didn't bake your bread hot enough or didn't use the steam tricks that I note in the tips section. Try those to get your baguettes crispy in your home oven.
If your yeast was expired or bad this can happen. Or, if you didn't let it rise enough, this can also happen.
This usually happens from over kneading or low hydration. You don't need to knead baguette dough, you just need to lightly handle it to form it properly.
This can happen if the dough is too wet and it can't hold its shape. Be sure to weigh ingredients and measure properly.
If you don't have steam, this can happen as the crust can set too fast and the scores won't open up. That's why it's important to create steam in you oven. You also need to score at about 45° for it to open up well.
French baguettes are best the day they are made. But, they will keep for 2 to 3 days after that. The crust will soften most likely. But, they are still great if you toast them up!
You can spray the bread with your water spray bottle, or run it under water. Pop it in the oven at 375°F or 400°F oven and bake for 5 minutes or so. The water will help create steam that will crisp up the crust while keeping the center soft.
More Homemade Bread Recipes
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Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Mixing Bowl
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
Ingredients
- 20 grams instant yeast
- ¼ cup warm water
- 510 grams all purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 ¼ cups cold water
Instructions
- To make the dough: In a large bowl, add the yeast and warm water and stir to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes or until bubbly.
- Add the flour, sea salt, and cold water and mix the dough with your hands just until it’s mixed. It should feel wet and look shaggy. Cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 12 hours. (I usually make this dough at night, then plan to roll it out the following morning).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To roll out the dough: Lightly flour around the sides of the bowl and pull the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. You can add a bit of flour on top of the dough too. Divide the dough into three equal portions.
- Create a ball with a smooth top by pulling and tucking the dough under itself. Turn it seam side up, then fold two of the sides into the middle and pinch the seam shut, it will be a rectangle shape at this stage.
- Flip it so it is seam side down. And gently, with the palms of your hands, roll the dough out until it is about 14-inches in length. Transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the other two pieces of dough.
- Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel, and let it sit for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 550°F.
- Score each baguette by taking a razor blade (or sharp knife) and cutting slits on a diagonal, you should have about 5 to 6 scores on each baguette.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
- Getting the perfect crust on a baguette has to do with oven temperature and steam. Professional bakeries (most of them) have bread ovens which can get up to 1000°F or higher! That’s double the heat that a home oven even has the capability to do! So, when you are baking baguettes at home, you need to use the hottest setting your oven has. For most, that is 550°F.
- You can create steam in your oven by doing two things. You can place a bowl with water on the bottom rack of the oven while your oven preheats. This will help create steam within the oven.
- You can also get a spray bottle and fill it with water. When your baguettes hit the oven, spray them and the oven with the spray bottle before closing it. This helps create the perfect crust!
- High Altitude — Bake at 550°F for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Nutrition
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I am living in MX @ approx. 5000Ft. sea level.
I have been baking Italian bread with some success but would prefer it to be a “higher” loaf when done. The recipe I use for 2 loaves is as follows. 6C bread flour, 2 tsp salt, 72% hydration, 2 tsp yeast proofed in 110° to 120°F water with 3 tsp sugar. room temp rise for 2 hrs. Halved and refrigerator rise for 12+hrs. Next, allowed to acclimate to room temp.& shaped. Allowed to rise while oven preheats to 330°F. Baked for approx. 30 min. with a pan of hot water underneath. Any suggestions???
hi Dan, I can’t really help with a recipe I am unfamiliar with! I do have lots of other bread recipes that have been tested at high altitude, you can check them out here: https://mimisorganiceats.com/post/category/bread-recipes/
You can’t beat a fresh out of the oven baguette.
Love this recipe for when I want fresh bread but don’t have active starter!