Baguettes

By HeatherS

Ingredients

• 1-3/8 cups hand-hot water
• 3-1/2 cups white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 tsp easy-blend dried yeast
• sunflower oil for greasing

Details

Servings 2

Preparation

Step 1

Remove the bread pan from the bread machine. Pour the water into the bread pan. Sprinkle the flour over the liquid so that it is completely covered. Place the salt in 1 corner of the pan. Make an indentation in the flour with your finger without exposing the liquid and add the yeast to it.

Fit the bread pan in the machine and close the lid. Set the bread machine to the French dough setting and press start. If your machine has only a French bread baking setting, remove the dough after the final rising (about 2 hours and 55 minutes from the start).

Wthe cycle has finished, switch off the machine and remove the bread pan. Lightly flour a work surface and remove the dough from the pan. Knock back, then divide into 2 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, then roll out each ball to a 8 x 3—inch/20 x 7.5—cm rectangle. With the long side of a rectangle facing you, fold the top third of dough down and the bottom third up and press together. Set aside to rest while you fold the second rectangle. Then repeat twice more with each rectangle, leaving them to rest in between each folding.

Lightly flour and pleat 2 dish towels. Gently roll and stretch each piece of dough, in turn, into a stick about 12 inches/30 cm long. Place each baguette between the pleats of a dish towel to support it and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place for 30-40 minutes to rise.

Lightly oil a cookie sheet.
Remove the plastic wrap and gently roll the loaves from the dish towels on to the cookie sheet, spaced well apart. Make several diagonal slashes on the tops, with a sharp knife. Set the oven at 450°F/230°C. Spray the inside of the preheated oven with water and bake the loaves for 15-20 minutes, until crusty and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.