A complete tutorial for making amazingly simple French baguettes - in a food processor or by hand. Be prepared to share it, though, so you don't eat it all. Find other great breads on the Best Bread Recipes page!

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Next to Easy Artisan Bread, this recipe for simple French baguettes is my favorite homemade bread to make - and I think it just may be for you, too.
Why? Let me count a few ways for you:
- It's mixed and kneaded in a food processor, although, like anything, it can be made by hand, too. With the processor, though, it takes just 1 minute to knead. You've got to love any bread that requires only one minute of kneading.
- Like our artisan bread, most of the preparation time is spent waiting for the rise.
- This can be made in the morning, left to rise all day in the fridge, and then shaped for the second rise a couple hours before you want to eat in order to have freshly baked bread for dinner. Love.
- It is delicious, pure bread made with only 3 ingredients, plus water.
In fact this bread is so good, the very first time I made it our family dubbed it "the bread you can't stop eating" because the four of us ate almost both loaves in one sitting!
However, I only make this bread occasionally for company or times I'd like smaller bread slices for appetizers like Cheesy Chicken Artichoke Dip because we found that the flavor suffered when I used whole wheat flour.
This was pretty curious to me, as I usually can never tell a flavor difference when I bake with whole wheat, but it was unanimous.
I want to make the majority of our breads with whole wheat, but this is SO good with unbleached flour it falls into the 20% of our 80-20 healthy eating goals. Life is too short to never have a bread like this again since it has all the other things going for it!
Of course, you don't have to make it with unbleached wheat flour - you can try it with a combo of whole wheat and unbleached or even full whole wheat bread flour. The texture won't be as light and the flavor will be different, but it's still good bread!
Simple Homemade French Baguettes Tutorial
Simple steps to homemade French baguettes:
Step 1: Add the flour to the bowl of the processor (or a medium sized bowl if making by hand). I have a 7-cup food processor, which is perfect for this recipe.
Step 2: Add salt and instant yeast- not plain active dry. I think it's also called fast acting or rapid rise, but it's the type that you don't need to dissolve in water first and can be added directly to the dry ingredients.
Pulse the dry ingredients together to mix.
Step 3: Pour in warm water. Use the warmest water from your tap- don't try to boil or microwave the water to warm, because it usually gets too hot which will kill the yeast.
Mix by pulsing the processor (or using a wooden spoon if making by hand) until all is combined and then running it for a minute until a ball forms. This food processor "kneading" is completely done in about a minute (love it!), but you can also knead it by hand for 10 minutes on a slightly floured surface.
It should still be sticky/tacky like this (wet doughs make airier French baguettes):
Step 4: Pull the dough out of the processor onto a lightly floured surface. While the dough sticks to the bowl, it should not be sticking too much to your fingers.
Tip: this is always the way bread dough should act, by the way- if it rolls out of a bowl without any tackiness at all, that's a sign that too much flour has been added and the bread will be heavy.
Knead the dough a few times to shape into a round ball.
Step 5: Place the dough in a bowl greased with a bit of olive oil, cover and let rise an hour until doubled.
Make-Ahead Tip: At this point you could also place the dough in the refrigerator instead and let it rise slowly until about two hours before you want to serve it, which is great if you're going to be gone most of the day or you'd like to prepare in advance for guests.
The bottom photo above is what the dough should look like after the first rise. Punch it down (my kids always loved this part!) and let it rest while preparing your surface for shaping.
Step 6: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in half.
Tip: I use a dish towel dusted with a bit of flour for all my breads to minimize clean-up and to use the least amount of flour.
Using a rolling pin or your hands, press each half into a long rectangle (between 10-12" long and 5-7" wide) and then roll up, pinching the end to seal.
Step 7: Place seam side down on a lightly oiled, parchment or silicone lined baking sheet.
I use black pan liners for better browning than lighter color silicone liners (I can't find the liners pictured anymore - I've bought this large grill liner and cut it to fit my pans as a substitute when I needed more).
If you like cornmeal on the bottom of your bread, dust with a bit of that before placing the loaves on the sheet- I prefer mine without. You can see that they look pretty thin now, but they will rise nicely.
Cover with a towel (since I roll out the dough on a towel, I simply use that to cover them), and leave to rise for an hour.
Step 8: Start preheating the oven to 450 degrees 15 minutes before the rise is complete.
Slash the tops if you'd like (it's not necessary since these don't rise a lot more while baking but I like the look). Lightly brush the tops with water before putting them in the oven to help the crust get that crispiness we love in a good baguette.
Step 9: Bake for about 20 minutes, until the crust is firm and golden brown, turning as needed for even browning.
Let cool on a rack 10-15 minutes before cutting.
If you can wait that long.
See? I wasn't kidding about the simple. Make these French baguettes. Please.
Want to make a bigger batch?
This recipe makes two smaller French baguettes, which is why if fits in my 7-cup food processor.
If you’d like to make more, but still use a processor make one batch, start it rising, and then make another (no need to wash the processor- it’s all bread).
If you have a larger food processor, you may be able to double the recipe.
Simple French Baguettes Recipe (The Bread You Can't Stop Eating)
Ingredients
- 3 cups unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast (NOT active dry)
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1¼ cup warm water
- olive oil
Instructions
- In a food processor (or mixing bowl), combine the flour, instant yeast, and the salt. Pulse to mix.
- Add the water and pulse a few times to mix before running the machine for a full minute to knead the bread (it should form a slightly sticky ball). Pull the dough out of the processor onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to form into a ball (if making by hand, mix until combined, turn out onto a floured surface and knead about 10 minutes).
- Place the ball in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled, about one hour (see note for refrigerated make ahead option).
- Punch the dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough and roll each half into a long rectangle (between 10-12" long and 5-7" wide); roll up and pinch seam to seal.
- Place seam side down on a lined or greased baking sheet (dusted with cornmeal if you like), cover with a towel, and let rise another hour to double the volume.
- Fifteen minutes before the second rise is complete, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Slash loaves if desired and lightly brush them with water before placing in the heated oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is firm and the loaves are golden brown.
- Cool on a wire rack about 10-15 minutes before serving warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Other Easy Bread Recipes to Try
Easy Artisan Bread in an Enamel Pot
Soft 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
This recipe was originally published in 2011 and has been updated with all new photos, formatting, and printable recipe. Enjoy!
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Colleen says
I am just now baking this bread. When I went to slice the top of it, it seems as if the dough just deflated. Before that, it was high and beautiful. Is there someway to get the slice look w/o deflating the dough? It looks like it will be really good bread!
Jami says
If that's an issue you can try slicing before the final rise, I do that sometimes!
Nancy says
Thanks, Jami... will try this bread soon 🙂 Just one question... can you link to the 'black' silicone mat that you use? Your first post was 2017, so maybe that product is no longer available? (Also, Cottage Grove doesn't seem to sell dish towels now... any other source(s) for the great ones you got in the past?)
Thx
Jami says
I've updated the recipe with a substitute for the black liners (they don't sell them anymore, sadly).
I'm not sure what dish towels you mean - can you give me more information?
Nancy says
Thanks, Jami.... and that liner is very affordable! I'll try to find the reference to the dish towels... but I don't think their carried anymore... or maybe I 'dreamed' them : ).... the most absorbent 'towels' I've found are the 'fake bamboo paper towels'.... they last forever!! wish they were bigger and a tad heavier.
Jami says
I've used European dish cloths which are pretty absorbent instead of paper towels, but not the bamboo kind.
Angela says
What does it mean to roll up pinch seam to seal?
Jami says
To shape the loaves, you flatten once piece out a bit with your hand in a rectangle then roll up from the long side to create the baguette shape. Where the dough comes together after rolling is where you pinch the dough together as best you can to create a seam, then turn so the seam is facing down on the pan.
Whew! A lot of words for that - hope it helps. 🙂
Jennifer says
Just took this out of the oven... smells great and followed the recipe perfectly. However, it is SO white- no browning at all! Any tips? I even hit the broiler at the end, but no golden brown color at all. Thanks!
Jami says
They are lighter in color, Jennifer - the broiler didn't work? I've done that occasionally and it does brown them - maybe longer?
Lily says
Hi. I Love the bread. Turned out very good.I proved the yeast and dissolved in water since
I use active dry yeast.
Made two versions. For the first one, did it exactly as you said
But it was too sticky while kneading and got stuck in the food processor
and my fingers, however the bread was good.
The second time I used only one cup of water and used my kitchen aid. I
Kneaded for 8 minutes. Lot better, less sticky. The finished product was awesome!
Definitely is a keeper.
Jami says
Thanks for that tip, Lily - while I don't have that issue, it may be helpful if any other users do!
Appreciate the review!
Toni Melvin says
Jami this recipe is absolutely amazing! I don't know if it was just beginners luck. Whatever it is this recipe turned out a delicious crusty outside wonderful inside tasty baguette! I was thrilled! I have a question for you. About a third of the dough got stuck in my food processor. In spaces that were very hard to clean. So my question is, do you think it would turn out as good made in the kitchen aid mixer? That appliance is so much easier to clean. I wouldn't want to change the outcome of the loaf as far as taste and texture. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Jami says
I'm glad you discovered this recipe, Toni, as it's one of my favorites! A third of the dough? Really? Wow, I've only ever had maybe a teaspoon total in the corners. Does the dough form a ball as you're kneading? That's what it should do and very little dough should remain on the bowl.
Well, anyway, I haven't tried this in a mixer but you sure can! The bread would still be good I'm sure and if you notice a difference, you can just go back to processing. You'll need to knead the dough in the mixer for 6 minutes, though.
Toni Melvin says
Thank you for responding Jami. I know a third of the dough! My blade is attached to a cone that slides over a shaft. There is quite a bit of space between the shaft and cone and that space was PACKED with a lot of dough. It took forever to get it out.
The dough was a sticky moist ball. I was sooo pleased with the crumb after baking that I really hope to replicate it again. But, boy, I don't look forward to cleaning the processor.
Jami says
Hmm, you could try a mixer, kneading for 6 minutes - I'm sure they would turn out very similar. I just like how quick the processor is. 🙂
Heidi Fogle says
Me again. Sorry to add that the Simple French Baguettes link in the Winter menu download does not go anywhere. But I did find it.
Jami says
Thanks again, Heidi! I'm glad you persevered. 🙂 The eBook is several years old now and I don't have time to update it, so I'm glad you were able to find the recipe!