So a few weeks ago behind the scenes in the food blogging world, I heard about a cookbook swap. Since what I need in life is to swap my cookbooks rather than perform a general downsizing (joking…I have way more cookbooks than I have space. It’s a modern-day tragedy), I joined the fun. So basically, I was assigned a food blogger, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla. I visited her blog and got a feel for what she might like, and I sent her one of my cookbooks that was collecting dust (Alex Guarnaschelli’s Old School Comfort Food, that, to me at least, was neither old-school nor comfort food and definitely more adventurous than how I usually cook, haha.) and then another blogger did the same for me. I love mail and I love cookbooks, so this was pretty much a recipe for excitement.
I was so excited to get my book from the lovely Lauren at Healthy. Delicious. The book she chose for me was The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,Â
which is the perfect way for me to get my fancy bread fix while maintaining my rock and roll rural Louisiana lifestyle.
This book is amazing–it has all sorts of master recipes that come together in just a few minutes, you store the dough in your fridge, then you cut off what you need to make individual loaves when you’re ready. All those fabulous crusty breads that you get at your favorite bakery? Bam. The dough is in your fridge, ready to go.
Lauren recommended the baguette, so being strongly prone to suggestion, I took her up on it. It was an excellent choice.
In terms of equipment, you’re going to need a sharp knife, a pizza stone, a pizza paddle, a metal baking pan (I used a 9″ cake pan that I don’t have particularly strong feelings toward), a kitchen scale (not totally necessary, but it will come in handy) and some flour or parchment paper.
To make the dough, you’re going to need 3 cups of warm (about 100-105 degrees F) water, granulated yeast, kosher salt, and all-purpose flour. And if you’re not going to weigh it, you’re going to go against everything I’ve ever told you to do and scoop it out of the container and level it with a knife. That’s right. We’re rebels. It feels good, I’m not gonna lie.
Place the water in a 6-quart lidded bowl or container. Add the yeast and salt and stir to combine. Add the flour all at once and stir
to combine. You’ll probably need to mix it with your hands at some point. Mix until the dough is uniformly moist.
This step should take about 5 minutes from start to finish.
Cover with the lid, but don’t seal it completely, just leave it cracked. Let it rise for about 2 hours at room temperature or until it begins to collapse.
You can either use the dough now or refrigerate it for up to 2 weeks.
When you’re ready to bake your bread, sprinkle a pizza peel lightly with flour
(this will be where the dough rests)
and sprinkle the dough lightly with a little all-purpose flour. You can also line the pizza peel with parchment paper  (instead of flouring it) if you prefer.
Gently pull up a large handful of dough (1/2 pound), about the size of a large orange.
Gently pull it down on the bottom to form a ball, coating the ball with the flour that you sprinkled on top before you cut it. Don’t knead the flour into the dough–most of it will fall away.
Shape the dough into a cylinder that’s about 1 1/2″ in diameter. You can roll it gently if you want, just be careful not to push so hard that all the bubbles come out of the dough. Work with the dough–if it’s fighting you, let it rest for 5-10 minutes and then try again. Taper the ends so they’re kind of pointy on both sides.
Place it on the floured pizza peel (or the parchment paper) and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.
Place a pizza stone on the center rack of your oven and place a small metal pan next to or under the pizza stone.
Heat the oven to 450 degrees. When the loaf has rested for 20 minutes, use a pastry brush to brush it with water,
then make a few diagonal slashes across the top of the loaf with a sharp knife.
Use the pizza peel to carry the loaf to the oven, then jiggle the pizza peel to slide the loaf onto the pizza stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the empty metal pan and quickly close the door. Bake for 25 minutes or until deeply golden brown. Remove from oven and serve.
This recipe will make several baguettes (or other free-form loaves–the instructions are available in the book).
Artisan Baguette
Recipe from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
Ingredients:
3 cups warm (about 100-105 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon granulated yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups (scoop it out of the container and level it with a knife) or 2 pounds of all-purpose flour
Instructions:
Place the water in a 6-quart lidded bowl or container. Add the yeast and salt and stir to combine. Add the flour all at once and stir to combine. You’ll probably need to mix it with your hands at some point. Mix until the dough is uniformly moist. This step should take about 5 minutes from start to finish.
Cover with the lid, but don’t seal it completely, just leave it cracked. Let it rise for about 2 hours at room temperature or until it begins to collapse. You can either use the dough now or refrigerate it for up to 2 weeks.
When you’re ready to bake your bread, sprinkle a pizza peel lightly with flour (this will be where the dough rests) and sprinkle the dough lightly with a little all-purpose flour. You can also line the pizza peel with parchment paper  (instead of flouring it) if you prefer.
Gently pull up a large handful of dough (1/2 pound), about the size of a large orange. Gently pull it down to form a ball, coating the ball with the flour that you sprinkled on top before you cut it. Don’t knead the flour into the dough–most of it will fall away.
Shape the dough into a cylinder that’s about 1 1/2″ in diameter. You can roll it gently if you want, just be careful not to push so hard that all the bubbles come out of the dough. Work with the dough–if it’s fighting you, let it rest for 5-10 minutes and then try again. Taper the ends so they’re kind of pointy on both sides. Place it on the floured pizza peel (or the parchment paper) and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.
Place a pizza stone on the center rack of your oven and place a small metal pan next to the pizza stone. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. When the loaf has rested for 20 minutes, use a pastry brush to brush it with water, then make a few diagonal slashes across the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. Use the pizza peel to carry the loaf to the oven, then jiggle the pizza peel to slide the loaf onto the pizza stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the empty metal pan and quickly close the door. Bake for 25 minutes or until deeply golden brown. Remove from oven and serve.
This recipe will make several baguettes (or other free-form loaves–the instructions are available in the book).
Thank you so much, Lauren, for picking this book for me and to Alyssa of www.EverydayMaven.com and Faith of http://www.anediblemosaic.com for hosting the Food Blogger Cookbook Swap. I sent a cookbook to a food blogger and received this cookbook in return! Here’s a list of all the other participating food bloggers:
A Baker’s House
An Edible Mosaic
avocado bravado
Blue Kale Road
Blueberries And Blessings
Cheap Recipe Blog
Confessions of a Culinary Diva
Create Amazing Meals
Cucina Kristina
Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Cupcake Project
Dinner is Served 1972
Done With Corn
Eats Well With Others
Everyday Maven
Flour Me With LoveÂ
From My Sweet HeartÂ
girlichefÂ
Great Food 360°Â
Healthy. Delicious.Â
I’m Gonna Cook That!Â
Je Mange la VilleÂ
Karen’s Kitchen StoriesÂ
Kitchen TreatyÂ
Olive and Herb
OnTheMove-In The GalleyÂ
Paleo Gone Sassy
poet in the pantryÂ
Rhubarb and HoneyÂ
Rocky Mountain Cooking
Shikha la modeÂ
Shockingly Delicious
Sifting FocusÂ
Spiceroots
Spoonful of FlavorÂ
Tara’s Multicultural TableÂ
The Not So Exciting Adventures of a DabblerÂ
The Suburban SoapboxÂ
The Whole Family’s FoodÂ
Questions & Reviews
I’ve made this twice an my dough doesn’t seem to rise,
Im new to bread baking but definitely attempting this right away. Looks so good.
Just one question…do you cover the baguette dough when its resting for 20 minutes? or do you leave it uncovered at room temp?
Thanks.
Ok. I was kind of skeptical when I saw the directions for this recipe. But this bread is SO GOOD!!! And so easy it’s ridiculous. I am in love! 🙂
What kind of “crumb” does this baguette have?
THANK YOU for posting this recipe. I’d heard of the cookbook, but never tried it. I made this recipe. Exactly as written, it was a bit bland but I think it’s just a bit short on salt. But I took the dough and immediately before cooking we basted it with a flavored olive oil and sprinkled salt on top — YUM. I then got the cookbook from the library and found my favorite bread (pretzels)! The pretzels aren’t as good as your recipe, but I can get them prepared while making dinner, so that works really well for mid-week. YUM. Thanks again for posting!
You totally scored! I love this ccokbook & your baguettes look perfect. I will have to try that recipe next.
I’ve had this book for a while now, too, and it really has been life changing! I’ve become an ‘Artisan bread in 5 a day’ missionary and have helped change others’ lives for good, also 😉 To me, a good bread ‘finishes’ a meal. Dinner just isn’t complete unless there’s a yummy bread to go with it and this technique makes it so easy! I love being able to make my own fresh pita bread to help use up the big tub of hummus from Costco. I also love the Vermont Cheddar bread. I triple the cheddar cheese and it tastes just like Wegman’s Cheese rolls! (If you ever get a chance to shop at a Wegmans, buy their cheese rolls!)
I had a question about the baguette recipe: the original book said to add 1 1/2 T yeast. Is this a change in the recipe?
Fabulous photos! I’m definitely trying this recipe, and most likely will have to add the book you sent Camilla and the one you received to my library. No downsizing for me.
Looking forward to reading and following your blog!
Thank you so much, Christy! I’m excited to follow you, too! 🙂