These foolproof baguettes are the easiest homemade bread recipe ever. Ready in 30 minutes flat, it yields two hearty loaves that are deliciously soft on the inside with a crackling outer crust.
Soft and flaky on the inside, crisp and crusty on the outside. I swear to you this is the best baguette recipe ever.
And they can be made last minute.
Goodbye pre-planning and hours of rise time.
This recipe is like the best (not anymore!) kept secret on the planet.
It’s perfect for beginner bakers and as an easy introduction to from-scratch bread making.
They’re perfect for tearing into and chewing alongside your favorite pasta, your favorite cheese, your favorite soup, or for something as simple as slapping on a slab of your favorite butter.
These baguettes are perfect, especially when you stop and take in their simplicity.
Plus, it only uses five (yes, 5) everyday ingredients you probably already have in stock.
Ingredients
To make this homemade bread, you’ll need:
- Water– Very warm water so it doesn’t kill the yeast.
- Yeast– Dry active yeast. One packet or a 2 1/4 tablespoons.
- Sugar– To activate the yeast.
- Salt– For flavor.
- Flour– All purpose flour. Don’t substitute a different flour because it will change the amount of protein in the flour which changes the texture of the bread.
How to Make
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk the warm water, yeast, and sugar together.
Set the bowl on top of your preheating oven or in another warm spot in your kitchen for ten minutes.
After ten minutes, stir in the salt and then add the flour a half of a cup at a time, until the dough becomes soft, but not sticky.
Knead the dough until elastic, about 8 minutes.
At this point, cut the dough into four even pieces and roll each of them into four long, thin ropes.
Twist together two of the ropes to form one loaf. Repeat to form a second loaf.
Transfer both onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
You can now bake the loaf right away (if you’re in a hurry), or let it rise for an additional 15-30 minutes on top of your warm oven.
Fill a large bowl with 3-4 cups of ice.
Open your hot oven and place the baking sheet with the baguettes inside, then toss the ice cubes on the bottom of the oven and quickly shut the door.
Do NOT open your oven for 15 minutes (the steam for the ice is what creates the crunchy out the steam for the ice is what creates the crunchy outer crust).
Bake until golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.
Serve warm with butter or with a dipping sauce of your favorite seasoned olive oil.
Storing Leftover Baguettes
Storing leftover homemade bread is a bit different than storing store bought bread since your homemade baguettes won’t have preservatives added to keep them fresh.
To store them, wrap them well in foil so no air is touching any part of the loaf and then place the foil wrapped loaves in a plastic bag.
For shorter term storage, you could put them in a bread box or paper bag.
How do I know when my bread dough is elastic?
To check to see if your dough is elastic, just tear off a chunk of dough off and stretch it between your fingers.
If the dough tears the gluten is developed enough. Keep kneading!
But, if the dough stretches and just thins out then you are done and can move on to the next step.
How can I tell if the yeast is activated?
You will know the yeast is activated if it gets bubbly and foamy while it sits.
If it doesn’t discard the mixture and start again.
Why didn’t my yeast activate?
It could be due to a couple reasons:
- the yeast was old and died.
- water was too hot or too cold
Tips and Tricks
- Check to see that the yeast has bubbled before mixing in the flour.
- The dough should be soft but not sticky or dry. To make sure you get the right consistency, don’t shortcut by adding all the flour at once. Do it a little at a time.
- Kneading the dough is key. You want the dough to be stretchy and supple but not over or underworked.
Other Bread Recipes
This foolproof baguette recipe is an easy introduction to homemade bread. Make them and enjoy the simple goodness of freshly baked, warm bread.
Looking for other bread recipes? Try these:
- Cheesy Beer Bread
- 40 Minute Hamburger Buns
- Crusty Dutch Oven Bread
- Homemade Crescent Rolls
- Slow Cooker Rosemary Olive Oil Bread
- Oatmeal Pull Apart Dinner Rolls
- Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread
- Homemade English Muffins
If you’ve tried this FOOLPROOF BAGUETTE RECIPE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Crusty 30 Minute Foolproof Baguettes
Ingredients
- 2 cups very warm water
- 1 packet yeast or 2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3-4 cups of flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Set the bowl on top of your preheating oven for ten minutes. Stir in the salt and add the flour a half-cup at a time, until the dough becomes soft, but not sticky. Knead the dough until elastic.
- Cut the dough into four even pieces. Roll each of them into four long, thin ropes. Twist together two of the ropes to form one loaf. Twist the other two ropes together to form a second loaf. Transfer both onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- You can now bake the loaf right away (if you’re in a hurry), or allow it to rise for an additional 15-30 minutes on top of your warm oven.
- Fill a large bowl with 3-4 cups of ice. Open your hot oven and place the baking sheet with the baguettes inside, then toss the ice cubes on the bottom of the oven and quickly shut the door. Do NOT open your oven for 15 minutes (the steam for the ice is what creates the crunchy outer crust). Bake until golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.
- Serve warm with butter or with a dipping sauce of your favorite seasoned olive oil.
Notes
- Check to see that the yeast has bubbled before mixing in the flour.
- The dough should be soft but not sticky or dry. To make sure you get the right consistency, don't shortcut by adding all the flour at once. Do it a little at a time.
- Kneading the dough is key. You want the dough to be stretchy and supple but not over or underworked.
Nutrition
recipe originally published December 4, 2015
Elaine @ foodbod says
Brilliant!!!
4 Sons 'R' Us says
Thanks, Elaine!
Heather says
I just made this. It’s in the oven right now. I followed the directions but that was the wettest bread dough I’ve ever tried to work with. I ended putting more flour than even the 4 cups because it was soooo sticky. Fingers crossed it turns out well anyway!
addercatter says
Mmmmmm. I need this. Now!!!
4 Sons 'R' Us says
It’s a must-have, for sure!
apuginthekitchen says
Wow!!! Now thats amazing.
4 Sons 'R' Us says
It’s like magic 🙂
Johanne Lamarche says
I am getting a great visual of lining up those sons to do the ice cube throwing into the oven! I make sour dough where I fill a pan with water in a hot oven to create the steam for the crust but throwing ice cubes is so much more dramatic for the same end result, who knew! I may even be confident enought to try this recipe. Terrific result. I think even our FF dough queen Ginger of Ginger and Bread would be proud!
Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons says
Home made bread faster than a run to the store, wonderful! 3-4 cups of ice cubes, that must have been fun.
Monte says
Made this…and was fantastic!!! I’ve made all kinds of bread, but today I didn’t have time do my normal recipe. I am super happy with this (as is my boyfriend)! I put 2 cups of ice in a high rimmed glass pie plate with 2 cups of freezing water – along with a handful of fresh basil from the garden for aroma. I also brushed the dough (after assembled in twists) with a mixture of egg white and a tablespoon of milk and a tablespoon of water.
4sonsrus says
It’s my favorite ‘quick’ bread recipe. The steam from the ice makes the crust so perfect. Love your idea of brushing on an egg wash mixture too. I bet it turned it a gorgeous golden brown. Also, the pie plate’s a great way to get the ice in there without any messy mishaps.
hgf says
Really no matter if someone doesn’t be aware of afterward its up to other people that they will help,
so here it takes place.
Mindi says
Turned out great! The dough was super tender and hard to handle beforehand but end result was great. I had to cook mine 5-8 minutes longer because it wouldn’t brown.
Claudia says
I just finished baking this recipe. It is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside but the flour or water measurements are completely wrong. I have been making bread for years and 2 cups of water made it a pool of liquid. I had to add another 3-4 cups of flour to make it kneadable. Something is definitely wrong with this recipe.
Smith Jonathan Wilds says
I’ve got a puddle of dough. 4 C Flour + 2 C water (110°) is too much water. So I’m throwing in more flour.
Linda says
I like the recipe but I too think it is just too much liquid. I ended up putting 1-1/3 cup more flour.
Tana says
My first batch didn’t turn out, maybe I set oven at 325 instead of 425, maybe I didn’t knead it enough, just not sure… it was bready and thick in center.
But wow the second batch was amazing. My son said “It actually tastes like a real baguette” hahaha. I did knead much more second time, and also cooked for closer to 22 minutes. I am excited to make this every week or even more, so yummy with olive oil or butter or cheese.. or all three!
Kern says
WAY TOO MUCH WATER. If you’re going to make this literally use half the water or 5 1/2 cups of flour. Also deitintely needs to rise. Mine was so dense, also needs to bake for 25 minutes or else center will not bake. Honestly won’t try this recipe again.
Joanna says
What method do you use to measure your flour. My dough was much too wet to knead until I added at least another cup of flour. I’m wondering if the difference in how we measure flour could be the reason for this. Thanks
Karen Tompkins says
Fabulous, I have tried many baguette recipes this one rocks…truly fool proof and the bred was so tender!
Jayda says
This is some good bread. It’s just in the oven now, and it smells delicious. I had to put in 5-6 cups of flour instead of the 3-4 on the recipe, but it’s still really good.
MAC says
Awesome! I made this in a snap right before my guests came over and it turned out perfectly. Definitely my new go-to
Alison says
Totally new to bread baking, but my 7 yr old insisted. Somewhere we went wrong. We’ll try again!!
4sonsrus says
You really can’t mess these up! If the dough’s too sticky/soft keep incorporating flour.
Charlotte Andrew says
So i made this with skepticism because of the amount of liquid in the recipe. Just as i was expecting i had to add much more flour than what the recipe calls for- about 5.5 cups total. I also let the shaped baguettes rise for about 20 minutes. However that being said the baguettes turned out phenomenal! my hubby and kids devoured it with soup. Because of all the extra flour i added i also had a little bit of extra dough so i made a mini baguette- which i then sent to my mum with a big bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. Everyone raved and raved. The bread was demolished in no time. I also ate thin slices spread with pate- so good! I can definitely say that this is going to be a staple in my home- so thanks a million! i would recommend this to anyone that is short on time but big on taste!
Char says
I’ve rated this before but I just wanted to add a quick note: the amount of flour u end up using can vary for a couple different reasons. I would suggest going with the 3-4 cups and then adding more as required. I’ve used as much as 5.5 cups and as little as 4.5 cups! Also to keep your baguette from cracking along the sides near the bottom…make your your dough isn’t drying out while its proofing. This is an excellent recipe that is quick and easy and also very forgiving! My bread was baked before my broccoli soup was done! I had to swat at my kids to keep them from devouring it all before suppertime! Kudos to you mama!
Mike says
TERRIFIC !
Kay says
I think your recipe needs a correction. A package of yeast is 2 1/4 teaspoons, not tablespoons
Rebecca says
Fool chiming in – definitely not as advertised. The adjustments needed to make this a workable dough outreached my beginner capacity. Beyond the 4 cups of flour, I just couldn’t figure out a sweet spot of consistency. Maybe good for someone with more experience!
Taylor says
I used the water left over from boiling beets. first time trying it, the dough is bright pink. almost ready to go into the oven.