This easy French baguette recipe is simple to make at home with 5 ingredients! It’s perfect for beginners and results in a baguette that is soft and fluffy with a crusty exterior.
More yeast bread recipes to try include easy breadsticks, rosemary focaccia and artisan bread.
Table of Contents
Easy Homemade Baguette Recipe
Fresh homemade bread is something everyone should make from scratch at least once! Once you realize just how easy it is, you’ll make it all the time including French bread or even French rolls!
Making a homemade French baguette recipe sounds fancy, but once you know how to proof yeast and how to measure flour there’s nothing to it! Just a little bit of rising time then in under 2 hours your house will smell like a bakery and you’ll have a loaf of bread with a beautiful outer crust and soft, chewy interior.
How to Make Easy Baguette Recipe
This is a great recipe for beginner bakers and every simple step is laid out for anyone just starting their bread-making journey.
- Proof yeast: In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and honey. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until the mixture begins to foam.
- Knead dough: Add flour, salt, and yeast mixture to a large bowl and begin kneading the dough. Add half a cup of remaining flour at a time until dough is formed. It should be smooth, not sticky.
- Form into baguette: Transfer dough to a floured surface and divide it in half. Roll each half into a rectangle and roll each rectangle into a cylinder. With each half, form dough into a baguette shape about 12 inches long.
- Make diagonal cuts: Fold in the ends and pinch the seams. Round the edges of each piece of dough and place on the prepared baking sheet or baguette pan, seam side down. Make 3 2-inch diagonal cuts crosswise on top of the loaf. Cover loosely with a towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
- Bake: Bake on the middle rack for 15-18 minutes at 450°F until the tops are golden brown.
- Serve: Sometimes I like to brush mine with melted butter before serving! Then slice and enjoy, it’s so good.
Tips for the Best Baguette
- Yeast: Proof your yeast by taking a small portion of it and allowing it to sit in warm water. If it bubbles and starts to foam, it’s good. If it does absolutely nothing after 10 minutes, discard it and get some fresh yeast. I prefer active yeast instead of instant yeast as instant yeast can overproof quickly.
- Properly measure your flour. I can’t stress enough how important it is to measure flour properly. This means using the spoon and level method so you’re not adding more flour than necessary which leads to dense bread.
- Score the bread. Make a few slashes on the tops of the loaves, using a lame, a sharp knife, or a clean razor blade. Don’t skip this step! Although it’s pretty it does serve a purpose. It gives the crust room to expand while maintaining its appearance. If you don’t score the bread, it will expand anywhere it pleases!
- Avoid overbaking. Cover the bread with foil if you notice it browning too quickly.
- Crispy crust. If you prefer a nice crispy crust like sourdough, brush the loaf with an egg wash (whisked egg white and water) before baking. You can also place a metal baking dish or cast-iron skillet containing boiling water on the bottom rack. The steam helps create a crust.
- How to tell it’s done: You’ll know your bread is done baking when you knock on it, it sounds hollow.
- Freeze and reheat. If possible, freeze the whole loaf before slicing. Once completely cooled, place in an airtight freezer-friendly bag. Seal the bag, remove as much air as possible and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight on the counter. Reheat by placing it in a 300-degree oven for 5 minutes.
Baguette Bread Serving Suggestions
There are endless ways to use a baguette. My kids love a slice on their plate of spaghetti and meatballs or to sop up marinara sauce or hearty soups.
- Slice the warm loaf of bread and serve it with cinnamon butter and strawberry jam for breakfast! Try garlic herb butter or this bread dipping oil for dinner.
- Baguettes are a popular choice for bruschetta or bruschetta caprese with mozzarella.
- Serve slices as a way to scoop up pizza dip, spinach artichoke dip recipe or Knorr spinach dip for game day.
- It’s a great addition to a charcuterie board with your favorite meats, cheeses, and dips.
- It pairs so well for a fancy yet easy appetizer like cheese fondue!
- French bread French toast can be made using smaller baguette slices. They’re thick and will absorb the egg mixture without getting soggy.
- French bread pizza or a French dip sandwich are two other family favorite ways to use this bread that is perfect for sandwiches.
More bread recipes include this Dutch oven bread, whole wheat bread and homemade bread recipe.
More Homemade Yeast Bread Recipes
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Easy French Baguette Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups warm water (about 105°F)
- 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar , or honey
- 3 cups (390 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons table salt or fine sea salt
- butter , for serving
Instructions
- Activate yeast. In a small bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups warm water, 1 Tablespoon active yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar or honey. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until it has began to foam.
- Make dough. Place 2 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl with the salt. Stir in the yeast mixture and begin to knead by hand or using a dough hook and stand mixer. Add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour at a time until the dough is smooth but not sticky.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide it in half. Roll one half into a 6×12" rectangle. Starting from the long side, roll the dough into a cylinder. Shape each half into a baguette, about 12 inches long.
- Shape dough and rise. Turn both ends in and pinch the seams closed. Round the edges and place onto a baking sheet. Repeat with the second dough ball. Make three diagonal cuts across the top of each loaf. Cover loves lightly with a towel. Let rise for 20-30 minutes.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. When you knock on it, it should sound hollow. If it's browning too fast, lightly cover with foil.
- Remove from the oven and brush the top with melted butter if desired. Slice and enjoy! :)
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
FAQs
A baguette is a long and thin loaf of French bread with a sturdier crust and soft center. If you have dined at a French restaurant you have had a baguette! It’s delicious yet simple as all you need is flour, sugar, salt and water.
If you like the chewier texture of bread, and a slight difference in taste, swap the all-purpose for bread flour.
Without being in the kitchen with you it can be hard to know exactly but there are a few likely reasons. Either your yeast was not fresh or died because the water was too hot when making the bread dough, you overproofed the dough or the dough was too sticky.
While this crusty baguette is best when it’s freshly baked, it can be kept for a few days and will still be delicious. To maintain optimal freshness keep it at room temperature for 2-3 days in a brown paper bag.
If it’s not as crusty as you would like, just place it in a warm oven at a low temp for a few minutes and it will get crusty again! If after a few days you still have some not-so-fresh baguette leftover use it to make homemade croutons or breadcrumbs!
Categorized as: 5 Ingredients Or Less, Bread, Freezer-Friendly, Nut-Free, Vegetarian, Yeast Bread
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Easy, kids loved it! I probably need to work a bit on my shaping technique but no matter the look the taste was delicious! ☺️
Yes I made this bread very easy and delicious. I have used this recipe 4 times. My go to recipe. Thank You.
So glad you enjoyed the french baguette recipe!
Thanks for the recipe! The baguettes were great! I even messed up on the water but I added more flour and still tasted great!
So glad to hear! Thanks for your review Jenny :)
love to make this with my 3 yr old grandson he stirs flours etc so cute and messy couple of sneezies can’t hurt either !thx for a great time and good eats
Love to hear you are spending time together in the kitchen! :)
I’ve been baking homemade bread for the past year and this was my first time making a baguette. Perfection! It was so delicious. My whole family loved it! Thank you for the recipe.
I just made some bruschetta the other day & this is the perfect bread for that!! Easy, soft, & so good!
Mmm love bruschetta! So glad you enjoyed it :)
This turned out so great!! Never thought I could make a good Baguette until I tried this!! So easy to make!
Yay, great job! Glad you enjoyed the recipe :)