{French} Baguettes

If you ever have dinner-block (when you haven’t a clue what to cook for dinner) you may want to head over to What’s for Supper, a Facebook group where members share their dinner menus. This baguette recipe is from French Women Don’t Get Fat and is quite popular on What’s… They’re easy to make and so worth it!

Ingredients:

4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions:

1. In a small bowl dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water using a fork. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine flour and salt. Add yeast mixture, stir in remaining 1½ cups water. Mix until sticky enough to knead. Knead for 6-10 minutes; dough should be sticky and smooth. Put in a bowl, cover with a damp tea cloth, and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume.
3. Punch down and divide into 4 pieces. Roll each into a ball and shape into a baguette. Transfer to slightly greased baking sheet (I use a special baguette-shaped baking pan) and let rise until nearly doubled). Brush with mixture of one beaten egg and 1 tablespoon water.  Score.
4. Pour two cups of hot water in a pan and place in preheated 450° F oven. Bake the baguettes for 15 minutes then lower temperature to 400° F and bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cool on a rack before slicing.

Yield: 4 baguettes.

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