Herb and garlic baguettes

Once the fundamental techniques of bread making are learned, with a basic understanding of how a few simple ingredients become a glorious loaf, anyone can turn a recipe on its ear as I’ve done here to achieve nearly any result. In this case, I took a recipe for standard herb garlic baguettes that came with my big stand mixer and turned it into one giving me holey, crustier baguettes with more flavor.

Most of the changes are in technique; knowing that time equals taste, I give it an extra rise. Knowing that a slack dough produces a holier crumb, I use more water. Knowing that those changes will give me a thinner, crisper crust, I eliminate an egg wash. And knowing that using the liquid, not the flour, as the variable will work just fine without proofing the yeast, I employ a mixing method that seems far more sensible to me. And if you’re a beginner, not to worry. You’ll find a lot of my tips in the recipe.

While a stand mixer produces wonderful dough, I actually prefer a food processor for bread making. It’s faster and seems to do a better job with heavy doughs. But the recipe these baguettes are based on uses all-purpose flour and was, after all, developed for a mixer so that’s what I used here. My mixer method can easily be adapted to any other method.

You don’t have to slash the dough; I choose to because I like the extra crust that results.  If you do slash it, be aggressive to produce distinct slashes after the additional rise in the oven, called oven spring, occurs. I use a special tool called a lame (pronounced lahm), shown in the clickable photo, which used to sell for $1.95 but now costs more than triple that. Good substitutes are a single-edge razor blade or a sharp knife. I also like a dusting of flour on the dough; I think it gives me a handsome loaf.

Herb and Garlic Baguettes

Adapted from KitchenAid

390g all-purpose flour (3 1/4 cups, lightly spooned)
7g active dry yeast (1 packet/2 1/4 tsp)
1 scant tsp salt
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme (dried, but still leaves)
1 tsp fresh minced or pressed garlic

8 -10 ounces water, room temperature*

* I used 9 ounces here. I often use 10 for holier bread.

Spray or oil a large bowl and set aside.

Place the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir to combine and evenly distribute the yeast and salt.  Attach the dough hook and mix thorougly on Stir speed or Speed 2.

Add 8 ounces of the water and mix on Speed 2. If the ingredients are not forming a ball after 30 seconds or so, add another tablespoon or two of water. Continuing on Speed 2, mix until the dough clings to the hook and cleans the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes.

When the dough clings to the hook, knead on Speed 2 for about 2 minutes, until the dough is elastic and mostly smooth. Ella’s Tip: You can test elasticity by pinching off a small amount and stretching it to determine if you can see through it. This is called “windowpaning.”

Remove from the mixing bowl, knead by hand about 3 times and form into a ball.  Put into the reserved bowl upside down to oil the top of the dough ball then invert and cover tightly. Let rise about 90 minutes, until doubled in size.

Deflate the dough by folding it onto itself. Reform into a ball, return to the bowl, cover and let rise again about 60 minutes, until doubled. Ella’s Tip:  If you lightly poke the dough and the indentation remains, it is risen sufficiently.

Divide the dough in half and form into baguettes about 14″ long. If you don’t know how, please watch the video posted here, How to: Shape Bread Dough.

Transfer the baguettes to a cookie or baking sheet lined with parchment, cover loosely and let rise until almost doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes. Ella’s Tip: Lift the baguettes with both hands, don’t grab by one end. If you dangle and stretch them they will shrink in the oven.

Do Ahead: At this point, you can retard the dough by putting the covered baguettes in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees/230C/Gas 8.

If desired, sprinkle flour onto the baguettes. Right before they go into the oven, slash each one three times.

Bake 16 – 20 minutes, until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Slide the parchment onto a rack or the counter and let cool.

Yield: 2 baguettes

Ella’s notes: The flour can be bleached or unbleached. If using fresh herbs, triple the amount. If using instant yeast, also called bread machine yeast, use only 1 3/4 teaspoons. The original recipe uses sugar, which is unnecessary with my method as I do not proof the yeast. If you know your yeast is fresh, there’s no need for that extra, old-fashioned step. And you’ll never find sugar in a baguette sold in France.

Related posts on From Scratch: Stand Mixer Bread Dough     What Is Instant Yeast?     About Bread Baking

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