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Sourdough Baguette: Easy Step-by-Step Recipe

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Feb 29, 2024 • 5 min read

Sourdough baguettes are long loaves with a crispy crust and a soft crumb. You can make this classic French bread at home using a sourdough starter.

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What Is a Sourdough Baguette?

A sourdough baguette is a long, thin loaf of bread made with white wheat flour and a sourdough starter. “Sourdough bread” is a blanket term for bread made with a living culture of natural, wild yeast rather than commercial yeast.

A national symbol of France, the baguette has a crispy, golden-brown crust and a chewy interior marked by large holes and an open crumb structure (caused by the steam added at the beginning of baking). According to French law, baguettes include just four ingredients: wheat, water, yeast (starter), and salt.

How to Make a Sourdough Baguette

Making a sourdough baguette is a two-day process involving the following steps:

  1. 1. Starter: Levain, or levain starter, is a leavening agent made from a mixture of flour and water used to bake bread. The flour and water mixture takes on the wild yeasts in the air and ferments. Bakers use levain to feed sourdough starter before the bread baking process.
  2. 2. Autolyse: Mix flour and water, and let them rest. Enzymes break down the starch in flour into the simple sugars that yeast eats. This process, known as autolyse, helps flour better absorb water and kick-starts the alignment of gluten and starch. Next, add the levain and salt to the flour mixture.
  3. 3. Bulk fermentation: Stretch and fold the dough to activate the gluten and strengthen the dough. Then, let the dough rest. Bulk fermentation, also known as first fermentation or first rise, is the dough’s first resting period after you add the yeast and before shaping.
  4. 4. Preshaping: Cut the dough into pieces and shape it into balls.
  5. 5. Final shaping: Shape the dough balls into baguettes, then let them rest overnight.
  6. 6. Baking: The next day, bake the bread in an oven preheated to 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a pan of ice cubes below the baguettes to create steam.

4 Tips for Baking Baguettes

When baking baguettes, consider the following tips:

  1. 1. Bake in a baguette pan. Using a specialized baguette pan can help you get the best crust. A baking stone or baking steel works best. You can also use an unrimmed baking sheet or turn a rimmed baking sheet upside-down.
  2. 2. Create steam. Professional bakers use special ovens with steaming functions to get their baguettes to expand quickly at the beginning of the bake, creating the large holes and open crumb distinctive of a good baguette. To replicate this at home, set an oven-proof baking dish or cast-iron pan on the very bottom rack of the oven before heating. When ready to bake, pour boiling water or ice cubes into your pre-heated pan to create steam in the oven. You can also spritz the loaves with water as they bake.
  3. 3. Preheat the oven. You want your oven to be very hot by the time the baguettes go in, so heat it at least an hour before you plan to bake.
  4. 4. Use a baker’s lame. Use a baker’s lame or paring knife to score the bread, which allows the bread to expand rapidly while baking. Unless you have a very sharp knife, cutting can tear the bread and break gas bubbles.

Classic Sourdough Baguette Recipe

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makes

4 loaves

prep time

1 hr 40 min

total time

2 hr 15 min

cook time

35 min

Ingredients

  1. 1

    Make the levain. In a large mixing bowl, combine 70 grams freshly fed sourdough starter with 70 grams of all-purpose flour or bread flour, and 70 grams of warm water.

  2. 2

    Cover with a plate or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rest until it doubles in size, at least 4 hours.

  3. 3

    Combine 900 grams of flour and 600 grams of warm water in a large bowl. Bring it together until it forms a shaggy dough. Let this sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

  4. 4

    Add the levain and salt to the autolyse, and stir to combine the ingredients with your hands.

  5. 5

    Fold the dough, using a wet hand to reach under the dough, pulling the bottom of the dough up, and folding it up over itself. Rotate the bowl in four quarter turns, folding after each turn. Repeat this process every 15 minutes for 2 hours, covering the dough in between. (A notebook can come in handy to document this procedure.)

  6. 6

    Let the dough rest in a warm place for 2 hours.

  7. 7

    Flip the dough onto a floured work surface and cut it into 4 even pieces. Form each piece into a square. Then, take the 4 corners of the square and bring them together in the middle. Flip the dough upside down until the seam-side is down, cup the dough ball gently in your hands, and rotate it until it forms a ball.

  8. 8

    Cover the dough balls with a tea towel and let rest for 1–2 hours. After 1 hour, test your dough by poking it with your fingers. If the dough pops back slowly and leaves a slight indentation, it’s ready to shape.

  9. 9

    Place a dough ball seam-side up on a floured work surface. Form it into a rectangle by taking the bottom third of the dough and folding it up to meet the middle, like folding an envelope. Press the edges together with your fingers. Rotate the dough 180 degrees and fold the top third into the middle. Fold the dough in half so you have a slim baguette shape, then roll out the dough until it extends to 16 inches.

  10. 10

    Place the dough seam-side down on a baguette pan or a heavily dusted kitchen towel, and crease up the sides of the towel to create a wall (called a “couche”) for the baguette. Repeat with the other baguettes.

  11. 11

    Rest the dough overnight in the fridge, covered, for at least 8 hours.

  12. 12

    The next day, preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Position your oven racks so one rack is in the middle and another is directly below. Cover one baking sheet with ice cubes, and line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the baguettes from the fridge and place each shaped baguette on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

  13. 13

    Score the baguettes using a razor blade or sharp knife to allow air to escape.

  14. 14

    Place the baguette pan in the middle rack, and place the pan with the ice cubes directly below it. The steam from the water will help create a crusty exterior. Turn the temperature down to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 30–35 minutes until golden brown.

  15. 15

    Remove bread and cool on a wire rack.

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