Baguettes For People Who Think They Can't Bake

 

It's not hard to make bread. Unless it's sourdough. If it's sourdough, be forewarned that you'll spend half your life proofing things and obsessively fussing over a jar of bacteria.

This is not sourdough. 

You don't need a stand mixer for these baguettes. You don't have to have Popeye forearms to be able to knead dough for 20 minutes straight. Total rising time is an hour and a half so, as long as your yeast is alive, you can easily bang this one out before dinner and have fresh bread with your meal.

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 TB honey

1 1/4 cups warm water (between 105 - 115 degrees F)

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour

2 TB olive oil

In a large mixing bowl, melt the honey into the warm water. Stir the yeast into the water and let it sit for 10 minutes to start bubbling.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the salt into the flour.

After the yeast proofs, add the olive oil and then add to the flour and salt mixture. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. Form the dough into a loose ball, but don't work it too much.

Dust the top of the dough ball with flour, cover with a damp, warm towel, and set aside to rise until double, about an hour

After rising, split the dough into two equal portions. Lightly flour your work top.

Take the first ball of dough and gently knead it with the palm of your hand until the dough gets a little firmer and less sticky. Add more dough, if necessary.

Flatten the dough into a rectangle with your hands. Fold the top of the rectangle about 1/3 of the way down, then fold the bottom of the rectangle up about 1/3 of the way up. Press the seams to seal and flip it seam side down.

Using your hands, gently roll the dough back and forth to create a baguette shape, about 12 inches long.

Set the first baguette on a cookie sheet or baguette pan, sprinkled with flour.

Roll out the second baguette.

Using a sharp knife, make 3 - 4 cuts on the top of the baguettes. 

Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the baguettes. Let them rise, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 460 degrees F. Fill a 9 inch pan halfway with water and place it on the bottom rack of the oven. The steam it creates will make the traditional crackly crust.

After the baguettes rise, bake them for 25 minutes. Remove the pan of water and bake the baguettes for another 5 minutes. They will be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped when finished.

Insist everyone call you Jesus from now on because you just created bread. Eat with some decent butter.

also, get a butter bell so your butter stays soft