There's nothing like a freshly baked bread, the smell, the taste, the sense of comfort it gives; but buying fresh bread can be a real minefield when you have allergies. If, like us, you have a sesame allergy in the family, then nearly everything from the bakery is a no go. But why should you miss out if you have to avoid certain ingredients?
Baguettes, French bread, French stick, whatever you call them, fresh French style loaves are true royalty when it comes to fresh bread. There's nothing quite like a crusty baguette with a fluffy interior, but outside France it's almost impossible to find good, safe allergy-friendly ones. We used to be able to buy ready to bake baguettes which are a nice addition to a meal, but we haven't seen any safe ones for some years, and we miss them. So, if you can't buy baguettes then why not make your own?
Most homemade baguette recipes are time consuming and fiddly, but not this recipe! Whilst these baguettes aren't quite like the ones you'd buy in a French boulangerie, they're a pretty good replacement with a nice crust, good chew and lovely fluffy centre, and they only take about 2 hours to make!
Not only are these baguettes delicious but they're also pretty easy to make – no specialist equipment is required and you really don't need to be the most skilled baker to make these crusty satisfying bread sticks. To prove the dough into the correct baton shape, simply use a furrowed tea towel dusted with flour (as shown in the photo below).
It's also essential to add steam to your oven for a lovely crusty exterior, so make sure you have a baking tray in the bottom of the oven to which you can pour in a glass of water just before the baking begins.
Quick and Easy Baguette Recipe
dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, soya-free, vegetarian and vegan
Makes 2 30cm baguettes
- baking sheet plus 1 tea towel
- 325 g bread flour
- 4 g fast action dried yeast
- 5 g table salt
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 175 g tepid water
- Tip the flour into a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, add the yeast to one side of the flour and the salt to the other (you don't want them to touch as the salt will kill the yeast), then pour in the oil, honey and water
- Bring together and then knead until you have a smooth and bouncy dough. This will take 5-10 minutes
- Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to double in size (this will take an hour or two depending on how fresh your yeast is and the temperature of the room)
- Meanwhile prepare your shaped tea towel – you want a clean tea towel, dusted with flour where you've made two furrows to hold the baguettes (see photo)
- Knock back the dough and divide into two. With your fingers push each piece of dough into a rectangle which is approx. 30cm x 15/20cm
- With the long side towards you, bring the bottom edge up to the middle of the dough and press down to seal, then bring down the top edge to meet the middle and then press down again. Turn this dough cylinder over and lightly roll, slightly tapering the ends to give a proper baguette shape.
- Lift the dough baguette up and place in the tea towel furrow. Make 3 or 4 slashes on the top of each one to make it look even more like a baguette. Repeat with the other baguette and then cover with another tea towel and leave to rise for half an hour (if these instructions don't make sense watch my videos on Instangram!)
- Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Centigrade Fan.
- Carefully move the proved baguettes to a baking sheet dusted with flour.
- Just before adding the baguettes to the oven, pour a small glass of water into a baking tray that's been heating at the bottom of the oven (this creates steam to give a better, crustier baguette)
- Bake the baguettes for about 20 minutes and then check – if they're golden and nicely risen and sound hollow when tapped they're cooked, otherwise continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes
- Once baked, cool on a wire rack and keep wrapped in a tea towel until ready to eat.
- These baguettes are best eaten on the day they're made, but don't worry I'm sure you'll easily get through them!
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