Homemade Baguettes

Yup, Pinterest did it again. The food section was flooded with photos of two baked baguettes.  After a closer look, I discovered the photo belonged to a recipe from The Sisters Cafe blog.  By the way, if you're a Pinterest user, have you noticed recently that some photos lead you to an advertisement or a dead end instead of the recipe or information related to the photo?  Annoying.  Anyways, back to the carbs... I read the recipe and it didn't seem right.  How could a standard baguette have so few ingredients with a fairly basic recipe?  I buy small baguettes every week or two to accompany a pasta or salad, and knowing I could make them myself for a fraction of the cost was to tempting to ignore.

Blake helped me make these.  Yes, they are that easy.

Mix 1 1/2 Tbsp yeast with 1 1/2 cups warm water and 2 tsp sugar.  Meanwhile, gather the remaining dry ingredients (3 1/4c flour and 2 tsp salt),  in the bowl of your stand mixer.  A dough  hook is a must with this recipe.  Add the yeast mixture after about five minutes and let mix until dough appears slightly smooth. 

Take dough out of bowl and divide dough in half.  Shape in to baguettes and set in a warm corner somewhere for about 30 minutes to rise.  Now you're basically done.  No, really.  Just turn on the oven to 450 degrees about half way through the 30 minutes and sit down and relax for a bit.

After 30 minutes the two baguettes are nice and plump.

With a sharp knife, cut a shallow line down the center of each baguette to give it the traditional look, spread with a little melted butter and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Presto!  Fresh, homemade baguettes! 

Yum is all I have to say.  You gotta try this recipe.  The bread was great alongside our dinner and made a great sandwich the next day.  I'm thinking a bahn mi style sandwich on this bread would be phenomenal!

Click here to view The Sisters Cafe baguette recipe.