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Sourdough Baguettes

This Sourdough Baguette Recipe produces two artisan loaves with a crisp crust and light, chewy crumb. The recipe takes more than 12 hours, but the vast majority of the time is hands-off.

two sourdough baguettes on a green cloth with a stick of butter

I think that this recipe for crusty baguettes is reason enough for making a sourdough starter.

Because the loaves freezes really well, I often make a pair of baguettes each time I need to feed my sourdough starter.

Scroll through the process photos to see how to make Sourdough Baguettes:

Combine the starter with the water and some flour and set aside for 30 minutes. Finish mixing the dough and knead for 5 minutes.
Set the dough aside to ferment for 3-5 hours. Cover the bowl and chill overnight.
Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Shape each piece into an oval.
1. Roll the dough like a jelly roll. 2. Pinch the seam to close. 3. Roll the dough to a 16″ long baguette.
Cover the pan with a damp towel until the dough is doubled in size. Dust the surface of the loaves with flour and cut 4 slashes into each loaf.
Bake until well browned. Cool on a wire rack.

A timeline for making Sourdough Baguettes:

  • If your starter needs feeding, do that the night before or early in the morning of the day you want to make the dough.
  • Mix the dough in the afternoon. Allow it to ferment at room temperature all day and refrigerate the dough in the evening before going to bed.
  • The dough can stay in the refrigerator for 2-3 days at this point.
  • Take the dough out first thing in the morning and shape the baguettes. If you want the bread for dinner time, wait until the afternoon to take the dough out of the refrigerator.
  • Leave them at room temperature to rise for 1 1/2- 2 hours.
  • You should have fresh bread by lunch time.
  • If you want to start early in the morning to have bread for dinner, feed the starter the night before. Make the dough in the morning and leave it to ferment until the afternoon. Form the baguettes and leave them to rise, skipping the refrigeration step. Bake the bread in time for dinner.
a closeup shot of the crumb on a sourdough baguette
a piece of sourdough baguette on a white plate topped with butter and jam

Since you’ve got your starter fed, peruse the entire list of My Best Sourdough Recipes. Have fun!

I know you hate to throw away that sourdough discard. Check out these recipes that use sourdough discard.

If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.

a closeup shot of the crumb of a sourdough baguette
Print Recipe
4.47 from 75 reviews

Sourdough Baguettes

This Sourdough Baguette Recipe produces two artisan loaves with a crisp crust and chewy crumb. Makes 2 baguettes.
Prep Time30 minutes
Bake Time20 minutes
Rising Time12 hours
Total Time12 hours 50 minutes
12 servings

Ingredients

  • 8 oz active sourdough starter (1 cup, 100% hydration)
  • 4 oz warm water (½ cup)
  • 7 ½ oz unbleached all purpose flour (1 ½ cups)
  • 1 teaspoon table salt

Instructions

  • Combine 8 oz active sourdough starter, 4 oz warm water and 1 cup of the flour. Mix with the paddle on low speed until it forms a wet dough. Cover the bowl and set aside for 30-60 minutes.
  • If using a stand mixer, change to the dough hook. Add 1 teaspoon table salt and the rest of the flour and mix until the dough begins to form a ball around the hook. Knead the dough for 5 minutes on medium high speed. If mixing by hand, add the flour using a wooden spoon and/or a plastic bowl scraper. This dough is quite sticky so if you are mixing by hand you can skip the kneading step for a "no knead" bread.
  • Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl and set it aside at room temperature.
  • After 30 minutes uncover the bowl, lift one side of the dough and fold it into the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other three sides of the dough then flip the dough over. You’re basically turning the dough inside-out to redistribute the yeast. Cover the bowl and after 30 minutes repeat the procedure. Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes repeat the procedure again.
  • Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes turn the dough one more time. By now the dough should be lively, elastic and airy. If the dough is still sluggish give it another hour or two at room temperature. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight or proceed with forming the baguettes to bake the same day.
  • Sprinkle a baking sheet or baguette pan generously with cornmeal. If you will bake on a baking stone use a baking peel or use the back of a baking sheet so you can transfer the bread to the baking stone.
  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator and dump it onto floured surface. Cut the dough into two pieces. Gently stretch each piece of dough into a 8” x 4” rectangle. Tightly roll like a jellyroll then use flat hands to roll the dough from the center out to form a 16” long baguette.
  • Place the two loaves side by side onto the baking sheet or into the baguette pan. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until almost doubled in size, about 1 – 3 hours. The rising time will vary depending if the dough is cold from a night in the refrigerator.
  • Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 475 °F. If you have a baking stone put it in the oven to preheat. Place a shallow pan on the bottom of the oven to preheat. Just before putting the bread in the oven, pour a cup of hot water into the pan on the bottom of the oven and shut the door to capture the steam.
  • Sprinkle the tops of the baguettes lightly with flour. This makes scoring the dough a little easier. Use a very sharp knife or razor to make 3-4 diagonal slashes on top of each loaf. Bake until deeply browned and if you tap on the bottom of a loaf it sounds hollow, about 15-20 minutes. The interior temperature should be 200°F.
  • Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before slicing.

Equipment

My Book
KA Stand Mixer
Kitchen Scale
baguette pan
Breadtopia Bread Lame (Dough Scoring Tool)

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Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 82kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.03g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 195mg | Potassium: 19mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.05g | Vitamin A: 0.4IU | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
Recipe Rating




john mulford

Monday 17th of July 2023

this was my second time making baguettes. first time they looked great but were so hard you could hammer a nail with them. so, I saw this recipe and tried it.

GREAT

pretty much followed the recipe to a tee. I've made sourdough bread before but not baguettes. very simple recipe. I just took them out of the oven less than an hour ago. broke a piece off and just as described. crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. If I didn't have leftover lasagna dinner would have been the bread and a bottle of wine. well, maybe some cheese.

I can't see how it could be easier or taste better. I will be making this from now on.

thank you for the recipe.

john

Sophiyette Venter

Saturday 6th of May 2023

Hi Eileen, I would love to know how you freeze the baguettes, baked, or parbaked?

Eileen Gray

Saturday 6th of May 2023

I freeze them baked. After defrosting just a few minutes in a low oven and they'll be almost like fresh baked.

Karan

Tuesday 11th of April 2023

I'm trying this recipe for the first time. BOY IS IT STICKY..I'm on my last 60 minutes, but mine doesn't seem lively and airy. Still sticky. So I'll give it 2 hours and then put it in the fridge. I so want to add more flour! Hope it comes out...

Eileen Gray

Wednesday 12th of April 2023

The condition of your dough will depend A LOT on the condition of your starter. I have the best luck with this recipe (which I make quite often) when I use my starter at peak activity.

Jean

Sunday 11th of December 2022

What do you think about using this recipe for one rustic Italian loaf?

Eileen Gray

Sunday 11th of December 2022

Sure, you could shape it into a boule instead of baguette.

Annie

Friday 1st of April 2022

Thank you for posting this recipe. It will be my first attempt at bread making without a bread machine and using SS made from scratch. My starter will be 23 days old tomorrow. I made two kinds, one that is WW and one that is combined, bread flour 50gr, T55 French WW 40gr, KAWW 10 gr. My question is can I use the T55 for the baguettes and if so, how will it affect your recipe? What changes should I make?

Eileen Gray

Saturday 2nd of April 2022

I'm not familiar with T55 so I couldn't say. I use King Arthur AP flour which is 11/7% protein. Any white flour really should work for this recipe (except cake flour). You may need to adjust the flour up or down depending on the protein percent in your flour. If you're using whole wheat flour you may also have to adjust the flour a bit.