Pain Ordinaire (Basic French Baguette)
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4.7
6 reviews
Excellent
Pain Ordinaire (Basic French Baguette)
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A simple, yet flavorful Pain Ordinaire, or everyday French baguette. This bread is great for munching with cheese or accompanying dinner.Yield: 1 (21 inch) baguette, or 2 smaller baguettes
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ c water warmed to 100F
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 4 c all-purpose flour unbleached
- ½ tsp salt
- sesame seeds (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Pour warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the water, and let stand until the yeast begins to foam (5 min).
- Gently stir in 2 c of flour into the water until combined.
- Add the salt and 2 more cups of flour until the mixture forms a stiff dough, adding more flour if necessary.
- Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. If necessary, use the additional ½ c of flour to keep the dough from sticking as you knead.
- Transfer dough to a greased bowl, turn to coat the dough with oil, and let rise, covered, in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk ( 1 ½ hours).
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Press gently to degas slightly. And, shape into a baguette, roughly 21” long. (I like to divide the dough into two and make two smaller baguettes, simply for ease of fitting them on a baking sheet.)
- Place baguette(s) onto a baking sheet and let rise, lightly covered, for roughly 30 min.
- About 20 min into this last rising time, preheat oven to 400F.
- Using a sharp knife, make 3-4 diagonal slashes deep into the dough (roughly ½ inch). Sprinkle the top with cool water and sesame seeds if desired.
- Bake 30-40 min or until deep golden in color.
- Immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool.
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User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.7
6 reviews
Excellent
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