Do you enjoy the delicious smell of a freshly baked baguette in the morning?

If you do, then this recipe is for you.

You will get to bake your own flavorful rustic baguette at home - using only a few simple ingredients.

The key to getting this perfectly crunchy and light bread lies in the right preparation process.

You will learn about the process of cold-proofing. That basically means that you let your dough ferment slowly for several days in the fridge.

It will result in a gentler rise and better dough structure, giving you a beautiful baguette that could be coming directly from one of Paris' famous boulangeries.

Are you ready? Here's how to do it.

Recipe Author

This recipe is from plant-based chef Diana Kronenberg.

You can learn more about her on "Krodi Plant-Based Cooking"

Instagram: @krodi_plant_based_cooking

Website: https://krodi.de/

Watch the full recipe on YouTube

Ingredients

• 390 g water
• 3 g fresh yeast
• 12 g salt
• 530 g all-purpose flour (type 550, plain flour, T55)

Instructions

Day 1 – Prepare the dough

1. Dissolve the yeast in a large bowl with approx. half the amount of water. Dissolve the other half of the water with the salt in a container. Then add the flour into the bowl, mix gently, then add the remaining saltwater and shape it into a smooth dough by hand or a scraper. it doesn't take long and the dough should not be "heavily kneaded".

2. Leave the dough covered in a lightly oiled bowl to rest outside for about 30 minutes, then put it in the fridge. The dough will rest there for approx. 48-60 hours. After around 8 hours, stretch the dough from all sides (see video).

Day 2 – Stretch the dough
3. Stretch the dough from all sides again. Between the stretching, there should be approx. 8-12 hours.

Day 3 – Stretch and bake the dough

4. The dough has been stretched one last time and rested in the refrigerator. Dust your workbench with flour, take out the dough and cut it in half. You could also make three or four smaller baguettes.

5. Then form/stretch a rectangular and fold both long ends into the middle and gently press out the air. Take it to a workspace without flour and flip it to the other side and gently form it into a baguette. Continue in the same way with the remaining dough.

6. Let it rest for approx. 20 minutes covered outside, either on a baguette tray or fold your kitchen linen in a similar shape.

7. Before baking, you need to sieve flour on the baguettes and make three long cuts into the baguettes. For this, you can use a regular blade. Make sure you cut at a 45° angle and not straight.

8. Bake it in a preheated oven at 230° C (top and bottom heat). Have a large bowl or baking tray already preheated at the bottom of the oven. Now fill this with water (careful with the steam).

9. Bake the baguettes with steam for 20 minutes. Then take out the bowl with water and switch the oven down to 200° C. Now bake for another 20-25 minutes.