Surely the easiest (and the best) Easy French Baguettes recipe you can find. With only 6 basic ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time, this recipe is my forever go-to vegan bread. To make these 2 baguettes, you don’t even need a bread machine. Make everything by hand and with love!
Have you ever dreamed of making homemade french baguettes and having them served warm for breakfast in the morning?
I know it may sound complicated, but not with this recipe!
My challenge was to share with you a baguette recipe that will taste as good, or even BETTER, than the one you can find in bakeries. While keeping the recipe simple and super easy-to-follow.
Without saying that here in Scotland, I find it quite difficult to find good quality bread, especially baguettes… So it was more than needed for me to find a recipe that could allow me, and now you, to enjoy quality homemade bread anytime and anywhere!
EASY FRENCH BAGUETTES RECIPE
No need to add flour at random times of the recipe. No need to own a fancy bread machine. No need to wait 12 hours until finally baking the baguettes. And no need to have professional bakers’ skills to come through this recipe!
WHAT MAKES FRENCH BAGUETTES SO GOOD?
The popularity of French Baguettes comes from the French bread laws that are very specific in France.
Traditional baguettes have to be cooked with no chemical ingredients or additives. Only 4 simple ingredients: flour, yeast, water, and salt, which are the ingredients we will be using in this recipe.
Plus, French bakeries have to make the totality of their bread on-site, which means no dough prepared in advance, and which explains why bakers have to start working around 4 am to serve you fresh bread in the morning!
The moral of the story is, nothing tastes better than freshly homemade bread, so Jump to Recipe now and start baking if you are already convinced!
ARE FRENCH BAGUETTES VEGAN?
As explained above, traditional French baguettes bought in a bakery are supposed to be egg-free and dairy-free and therefore vegan.
However, it is best to ask the baker when you go buy your baguettes, just for clarity of mind because you never know!
This recipe is vegan (dairy-free and egg-free), and it only contains 5 super basic ingredients:
-salt
-warm water
-oil or vegan butter.
FRENCH BAGUETTES WITH BUTTER
As you can see in the ingredients list above, this recipe can be made with butter OR with oil, so it is up to you or up to what you have at home!
I love it with olive oil but I find it as good with vegan butter. You can use normal butter for this recipe if you are not vegan (even though I wouldn’t recommend using dairy butter. Feel free to watch this 5-minute video for more info on this subject).
ARE FRENCH BAGUETTES HEALTHY?
I believe they are, at least in moderation. French baguettes contain gluten and it personally doesn’t upset me, but some people don’t feel good eating gluten and might consider it unhealthy.
However, if you are interested in gluten-free recipes, feel free to visit this Vegan Chocolate Stuffed Pancakes recipe or this Easy Chickpea Curry recipe.
In my opinion, it is not bad for you to eat French baguettes if you are not sensitive, intolerant, or allergic to gluten. They are (normally) freshly baked and homemade with no dairy (what’s wrong with dairy?), eggs (what’s wrong with eggs?), additives or chemical products.
ARE FRENCH BAGUETTES SUPPOSED TO BE HARD?
Bakeries in France usually sell baguettes either soft and white (cooked to the minimum), or hard and brown (cooked a little longer). However, the inside of the baguette is never supposed to be hard if you buy it fresh.
Baguettes get harder after a day or two but are still edible. When French Baguettes get harder, try slicing them and toasting them in a toaster or the oven. It will make them nicer to eat.
HOW LONG DO FRENCH BAGUETTES LAST?
The fresher the better so I would recommend you consuming your baguettes within the next 48 hours after you bake them.
But they can last up to 4 days before they get too hard to eat. And as explained above, try toasting them if this happens.
HOW TO STORE FRENCH BAGUETTES?
Roll your Easy French Baguettes in a clean tea towel to avoid them drying too quickly.
You can also freeze them and then unfreeze them, in the microwave or the oven, when you need them.
FRENCH BAGUETTE RECIPE WITHOUT BREAD MACHINE
You are in the right place because the only pieces of equipment this Easy French Baguettes recipe requires are:
-a mixing bowl
-a wooden spoon
-a tea towel
-a knife
-a baking tray
-and your hands!
We will, therefore, be using our washed and dried hands to knead the dough and make a big ball with it!
This is the ultimate easiest French Baguette recipe by hand, which doesn’t require a bread machine or any other fancy equipment. Click to Jump to Recipe, or keep reading for more insight concerning these Easy French Baguettes!
EASY FRENCH BAGUETTES CALORIES
One serving of baguette contains 224 calories. See nutrition facts at the end of the page for more info.
HOW TO COOK FRENCH BAGUETTES?
With this Easy French Baguettes recipe, you only need to bake your baguettes ONCE for 14 to 16 minutes at 180.C (356.F). Unlike most baguettes recipe that require baking multiple times, change of temperatures while cooking, etc.
Moreover, these baguettes are naturally perfectly crusty after baking them (the longer you bake them the crispier they will get, but don’t cook them longer than 18 minutes).
RECIPES WITH EASY FRENCH BAGUETTES
1- My ultimate favorite to have with these Easy French Baguettes are avocado toasts. For this, simply slice some bread and mash some avocado on top. For more ideas and tips on how to make the best avocado toasts, read the short description of this Seeded Whole Wheat Bread recipe.
2- Avocado Hummus Falafels Sandwich. If you follow me on Instagram @thedorkyfrench, you might already have seen this picture and read about how awesome this sandwich is!
3- This bread is also delicious to have plain, with a side of soup, hummus, or curry for example. Try dipping some baguette in soup and you will know what I mean…
4- The good old jam and butter toasts. Toast the bread if you like it crunchy as I do! I use olive spread as vegan butter, and just spread as much jam as you want on top! On the picture below I used apricot jam. And yum, so good! Makes a perfect simple breakfast or snack.
5- This last one might surprise you, but it is my favourite and the one I used to have EVERY DAY as a snack when I was a child!
Simply slice 2 pieces of baguette. Toast them. Add some chocolate squares on one slice when the bread is still warm. Sandwich the other slice on top.
And that’s it, the chocolate will slightly melt inside the toasted sandwich but it will also remain a little crunchy… And this I love to have with some tea or hot chocolate (soy milk is the best for vegan hot chocolate!).
PRINT, PIN, OR BOOKMARK THIS RECIPE!
Make sure you bookmark (or pin) this recipe, so you can have it on hand whenever you feel like making some easy quality bread!
You can also tag me on Instagram @thedorkyfrench for a chance to be featured.
1 MINUTE RECIPE VIDEO
Easy French Baguette
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- wooden spoon
- Tea towel
- Baking tray
- Baking paper
- Sharp knife
Ingredients
- 450 g strong white bread flour
- 7 g active yeast
- 1 tsp brown sugar* (7 g)
- 1 tsp salt
- 16 ml olive oil** or 16 g vegan butter***
- 200 ml warm water just above room temperature
Instructions
- Watch the one minute recipe video (scroll up a bit) to see all instruction steps.
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour, yeast, sugar salt, and oil.
- Mix with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Add warm water to the mixture.
- Mix with the back of the wooden spoon, then knead with your hands until dough is uniform and comes together.
- Shape the dough into a ball and cover it with a clean tea towel for at least 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.
- Remove tea towel and roughly knead the dough again.
- Separate the dough into 2 equal pieces.
- Shape each piece into a long loaf by rolling each of them into a sausage of the length of your oven tray. Start by gently rolling with your hands in the middle, focusing on backward and forward movements.
- Add baking paper on a baking tray, and gently put the baguettes on top.
- Preheat the oven to 180.C (356.F).
- Cover the baguettes with a tea towel for at least 45 minutes to allow the baguettes to raise.
- Remove tea towel and use a very sharp knife to slash each baguette 4 or 5 times along the length on the diagonal. Avoid pressing on the baguette.
- Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until the edges of the baguettes are slightly brown.
- Serve preferably warm, and enjoy!!
Video
Notes
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Very happy with the results, I made sandwiches for my 2 children with this bread and there was no complaints!