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
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- Recipe comments (41) »
Reviews
01/03/2010
I made stuffed baguettes with this dough following the method in the Classic and Stuffed Baguettes recipe. I worked fairly well. This dough is much more challenging to work with to stuff, but the result is quite good. They taste great, though the other recipe produces a better shaped stuffed baguette. I still have dough in the refrigerator to bake as baguettes. I like the idea of have dough at the ready for baking fresh bread!
12/10/2009
I've been baking bread on and off for nearly forty years, but experienced a "bread baker's epiphany" when I discovered this method of making bread. After reading this recipe as well as your comments in the catalog i went ahead and bought Jeff & Zoe's book. It is truly gratifying to make such wonderful bread with so little labor. I've made boules and baguettes to die for with just a fraction of the time and effort I usually expend in baking bread. The loaves made with KAF bread flour are definitely better than those made with grocery store all-purpose flour. And by the way - - the KAF dough whisk is ideal for mixing this dough. I bake my bread on a pizza stone with 1 cup of water in a broiler pan. The combination of a crisp crust with the smooth, chewy crumb makes for a unique bread-eating experience. I love the fact that I can make one loaf at a time (although I'm sure that my husband and I would it eat it all in no time at all if I were to bake up the entire batch.) Recently I gave a 1-lb. loaf to my neighbor; I called about an hour later to see how she liked it - - she had eaten the whole thing in one setting! On Thanksgiving I decided to go a step further with the method and made your Incredibly Easy Sticky Buns for breakfast. Wonderful! This method of making bread and rolls is a life-changer!
12/03/2009
These baguettes have a wonderful, buttery flavor all on their own. I love the fact I can keep the dough in the fridge and have a freshly baked baguette every day. Though I do find that the flavor and texture is best at days 2 and 3.
11/30/2009
Oh My Goodness! I'm in heaven!! I thought my husband & I could have one slice tonight and stop! That didn't happen. The Bread was so easy make. Good crunch, good taste, and it's pretty. I will be making this in the future and will be telling my friends about it as well. I am really impressed, I'm giving a loaf to my sister tomorrow. . .if we can stay away from it tonight. Thanks for such a GREAT recipe. This is a keeper!!!
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!
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