The Almost-No-Knead Baguette
Here's a great, easy way to launch your baguette-baking career. Our thanks to Jeff Hertzberg's "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" for the inspiration.
Read our blog about this bread, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
- 3 cups lukewarm water
- 8 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon table salt or 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
Directions
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1) Find a large (6-quart) bowl or bucket, for dough storage in the fridge. Lightly grease the bowl or bucket. |
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2) Place the water directly into the bowl or or other large container. |
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3) Add the dry ingredients to the water, and stir to combine. Mix until there are no dry spots; the texture of the dough should be fairly soft. |
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4) Knead the dough gently for a few minutes, by hand; it'll be very sticky. Or knead for 1 or 2 minutes in a stand mixer. Cover the container, and let the dough rest at room temperature for 2 hours. |
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5) Refrigerate overnight, or for up to 7 days. |
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6) To bake bread: Scoop out a scant 1 pound of dough (about ¼ of the batch, about 14 ½ ounces). Place on a greased work surface. |
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7) Shape the dough into a rough, slightly flattened oval, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes. |
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8) Fold the dough in half lengthwise, and seal the edges with the heel of your hand. Flatten slightly, and fold lengthwise and seal again. |
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9) With the seam side down, cup your fingers and gently roll the of dough into a 15" log. |
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10) Place the log seam-side down onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, or into the well of a baguette pan. |
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11) Cover and allow the baguette to rise till it's very puffy, about 1 1/2 hours. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450°F. |
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12) Slash the baguette three or four times on the diagonal. |
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13) Spritz the baguette heavily with warm water, and bake until a very deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. |
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Yield: 1 large baguette. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 20 mins. to 30 mins.
- Baking time:
- 25 mins. to 30 mins.
- Total time:
- 3 hrs to 7 days 2 hrs 30 mins.
- Yield:
- 1 to 4 baguettes, depending how much of the dough you use
- Recipe comments (37) »
Reviews
11/13/2009
I did not have a baguette pan but baked the loaf on a pizza stone. It had a wonderful taste with a lovely crust. Will definitely make this again.
11/06/2009
This recipe makes the most amazing, easy baguette! My family loves this recipe and begs for me to make it weekly. I especially love that you can mix it up and pull the dough out over the week and have fresh bread with minimal work 4 separate times. Baking it in the baguette pan makes it look as well as taste like it came from the bakery, but only fresher (and cheaper). Thanks King Arthur for a truly wonderful recipe! It is the best of the almost or no knead recipes I have tried!
10/18/2009
This was my first time making baguettes. The result (taste and texture) was wonderful....what an excellent recipe! The only problem I had was my dough spread out too far instead of up. Could the dough have been too wet? Instead of spritzing, I placed a metal pan filled with water on the bottom rack of my oven creating a steam filled oven when baking. The crust was then golden brown and very chewy. My husband (born and raised in Europe) thinks this recipe is a keeper. Thanks once again for a 5 star recipe!
10/12/2009
I did not need four loaves, so I cut the recipe in half. I also substituted 1 cup Artisan Bread flour for All-purpose, and doubled the yeast since I was using active-dry. It was amazing bread with teriffic crackle. I baked it in the baguette pan, (which I had been told at a Culinard class is strictly to hold the dough for the final rise, and not to go in the oven).
I am not sure what type of baguette pan you have but the one we offer you can bake in. You can let dough rise in it after a 20 minute rest. A couche is good for rising dough, but you do not bake in it. Joan @ bakershotline
10/04/2009
Whole recipe is too much bread. Made 7 sandwich buns with 1/2 of recipe. Very nice even after freezing baked buns for 2 weeks. The second time I made only 1/2 batch - cut all ingredient amounts in 1/2. I also substituted 5 oz. whole grain rye flour for same amount of AP. I added a scoop of powdered milk to add volume. Neither loaf had any oven "poof". Baked loaves had same shape and volume as before baking. Next time I will try with a bit less rye.
09/10/2009
I HAVE recommended this recipe. I'm a very experienced baker who has had less-than-stellar results with no knead recipes. Most come out with the texture of supermarket bread and taste just as bland. This is the exception. I put it in the fridge on Saturday, baked 2 baguettes on Monday, another last night (Wednesday) and I'm saving the last until next Saturday to see if I can really make bread for a week from one batch. So far, so good!
09/03/2009
I have been baking my own bread for a number of years and have had considerable success. This recipe is hands down, one of the best baguette if not the best, recipes, I have made. I made half the recipe and had no problems. I baked it on a pizza stone (that I purchased from KAF!). I just finished eating the whole baguette. YUMM YUMM YUMM. The crust was perfect, deep and golden, flaky, the inside full of all sizes of holes, chewy and just a bit tangy from the long ferment.
09/01/2009
Bread was tasty, but not of the texture pictured. Will try again because the easiness of this recipe and the fact that you can keep the dough in the fridge and bake as needed is great.
Remember the wetter the dough, the bigger the holes you will get. Mary@KAF
08/28/2009
4.5 stars. I didn't add the full amount of salt and the bread missed it in the taste department. Otherwise easy and fantastic !
What is the best way of keeping the bread? I made 2 loaves and after a day, wrapped in a brown bag, are still chewy and moist. Fearing they will get hard as a rock soon as in some of my other recipes.
Because there is no fat in the dough, it will stale quickly. Your method is about the best way. When it gets too stale, it makes lovely crostini , or croutons. Mary @ KAF < /strong>
08/28/2009
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