Step-by-Step Sourdough Baguette Recipe
There is something so wonderful about sourdough baguettes. Right out of the oven they have a crackly crispy crust and light, and chewy interior.
What readers say:
Absolutely perfect recipe. I’ve baked these twice, and followed the recipe exactly. The baguettes were beautifully formed, airy, crusty and delicious. Thank you.
Paula
The timing of sourdough baguettes
Making this sourdough baguette recipe is not that hard, and if you read on, you will see.
The timings show a ‘range’ of time to complete these steps. They don’t have to be exact; there is flexibility. The perfect baguette needs time to proof properly so it’s light and airy inside. Then, it needs a hot oven to bake in and some steam to create that crisp crust. I create the steam in my oven using a pan of water or ice cubes. If you love these sourdough baguettes, try this sourdough ciabatta or sourdough fougasse next!
A few ingredients
Your starter needs to be in good condition to make great sourdough bread. Learn more about sourdough starter maintenance, or sourdough bread troubleshooting.
The timing
The timing for homemade sourdough baguettes can be tweaked to suit your schedule, but here is a guide.
- Between 7 am-9 am: Create your levain. The levain can sit and rise for around 4 hours.
- Between 12 pm-2 pm: Autolyze. Flour and water are mixed and left to autolyze in a warm place for about an hour, then the starter and salt are added
- Between 2 pm-7 pm: Bulk fermentation time. First, you will stretch and fold the dough for two hours every 30 minutes. After the last fold, the dough will sit for another 2-4 hours before pre-shaping until it has bulked by around 50%. As with all sourdough, this bulk ferment is very important to achieve an airy crumb, and the timing depends on room temperature.
- Between 7 pm-9 pm: Pre-shape. On a well-floured bench, split the dough into two. Shape each piece into a ball and leave them to sit for 20-30 minutes. Shape into baguettes and place the shaped baguettes in the refrigerator for a cold-proof of at least 8 hours, but up to 24.
- The next morning – Baking day.
High-level method
- Begin by making the levain so it has time rise.
- Leave it to sit until it has at least doubled but not collapsed.
- Mix the main bread flour and water in a large bowl and use wet hands to combine it into a shaggy dough.
- After it has sat and the starter has doubled, add the salt and starter to the dough and mix it well with wet hands. To build gluten structure, give the dough a few slap-and-folds on the counter or let your stand mixer with a dough hook do the work.
- Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, then stretch and fold.
Stretch and folds
- Using wet hands, take one side of the baguette dough and stretch it up, then pull it over itself. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat this move.
- Continue stretching, folding, and turning the bowl until all sides have been folded.
Coil folds – another option
Coil folds are great when its a wetter dough like this baguette recipe. Using wet hands, coax the sides of the dough up with your fingers and lift it from the middle and back onto itself. Turn the dough and repeat on all sides until it forms a ball. If the dough sticks too much to your hands, wet them again. See coil folding in action.
Bulk fermenting
- When the folds are completed, let the dough rest and continue bulk fermentation until the dough bulks by around 50%. This timing will significantly depend on your room temperature.
Shaping
- Cut the dough into 2 and pre-shape into rounds and let them rest for 30 minutes.
- On a floured surface, pat your dough ball into a rough rectangle. Fold the top third down, seal, rotate 180°, and repeat.
- In small sections, fold a flap over itself, press, and pull gently to lengthen into a 12″ log. Taper the ends by rolling under your palms toward you.
- Place the baguettes seam side up in a baguette pan or in between generously floured kitchen towels or a cloth couche.
Cold Bulk Fermentation
- Cover them with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Place them in the refrigerator for a cold-proof for 8-24 hours.
Baking
- Preheat your oven to 450 °F (230 °C) with a baking sheet on the middle rack and an empty pan on the bottom.
- Remove your baguettes from the fridge. Dust a board heavily with flour, then invert each baguette onto the floured board. Carefully slide each baguette off the board, onto the hot oven tray. Make at least three angled cuts on each loaf to control where the steam escapes.
- Pour ½ and inch of water or toss in a few ice cubes in the bottom pan to generate steam. Bake 30–35 minutes until deeply golden, then transfer to a wire rack to cool (or tear straight in if you can’t wait).
FAQS
Dense sourdough baguettes may be due to underproofing, or a starter that wasn’t active enough. Make sure your starter is bubbly and active before you begin, and let your dough proof fully. Also, make sure your oven is super hot, and introducing steam into the oven when you start baking can help the bread rise and form a crispy crust.
To slice a sourdough baguette, use a bread knife with a serrated edge. This helps to cut through the crust without squashing the bread. You can either slice it on a bias for longer pieces, or straight across for shorter slices. Always ensure your bread has fully cooled before slicing to prevent it from getting squished or gummy.
Yes, you can make a sourdough baguette without a baguette pan. You can shape the dough and place it on a baker’s couche (or a floured kitchen towel). Crease up the sides of the towels to create ‘walls’ for the baguettes to rest against.
Sourdough baguettes may split or burst on the sides due to several reasons. The most common one is lack of scoring or improper scoring. Another big reason is underproofing the dough.
More sourdough bread recipes
Sourdough Baguette Recipe
Ingredients
Levain
- 40 g sourdough starter
- 40 g all-purpose flour
- 40 g water
Dough
- 440 g all-purpose flour all-purpose flour, minimum 11% protein
- 320 g water
- All the levain or around 100g active starter
- 9 g salt
Instructions
- In a bowl, stir together your starter, flour, and water until fully combined.
- Transfer to a clean jar, cover loosely, and let sit for at least 4 hours until it’s well-doubled but before it collapses.
The Dough
- When the levain is nearly doubled, begin the autolyse. In a large bowl, mix your main bread flour and water with wet hands into a shaggy mass. Cover and rest for 1 hour.
- Add the levain and salt. Using wet hands, squeeze and fold until everything is evenly incorporated. Using wet hands, knead and squeeze briskly for 2–3 minutes and give it a few slap and folds on the counter to kick-start gluten development.
- Let the dough rest in the bowl for 10 minutes, then perform one set of stretch-and-folds (or coil folds; see notes).
- Every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours, repeat one more set of folds (total of 4).
- Cover and ferment in a warm spot (around 25 °C/77 °F) for 2–4 hours, until the dough has risen about 50%.
Pre-Shape
- Gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two equal pieces.
- Take one piece and pat it into a rough square. Fold each corner into the center to form a parcel.
- Flip it seam-side down, cup it between your hands, and roll in small circles on the bench until a smooth ball forms.
- Place each ball on the floured surface, cover with a tea towel, and rest for 30 minutes until slightly puffed and passing the poke test (a gentle press leaves a slow-closing indentation).
Shaping
- Working one ball at a time, place it seam-side up on a floured board and gently press into a horizontal rectangle.
- Fold the top third down to the center, seal with your fingertips, rotate 180°, and repeat.
- Starting at the top right corner, fold small flaps down in succession. Press with your palm heel and pull slightly to lengthen. Aim for a 30 cm (12″) log.
- Roll the log under your palms toward you, tapering the ends into classic baguette points.
- Transfer each loaf seam-side up into a baguette pan or between heavily floured kitchen towels (use the towel edges as “walls” if you don’t have a pan).
- Dust the tops generously with flour, cover and cold-proof in the refrigerator for 8–24 hours.
Baking
- Preheat your oven to 230 °C (450 °F) with a baking sheet or stone on the middle rack and an empty pan on the bottom.
- Remove the baguettes from the fridge.
- Dust a floured board, invert each loaf seam-side down onto it, and score at least three angled slashes with a razor or sharp blade.
- Dust the baking sheet or stone with flour, then slide the loaves onto it. Pour around 1 cm of water or a few ice cubes into the bottom pan to generate steam.
- Bake 30–35 minutes, until deeply golden. Be cautious when opening the door because steam will rush out.
- Cool on a wire rack before slicing (or tear into that crisp crust while still warm!).
Hello, thanks for the recipe. I was wondering when you put the baguettes in the fridge, do you cover them with plastic film or a towel? Or just leave it open?
Thanks!
Hey I cover them with a lightly dampened tea towel 😊
thanks!! and one more question, because it says to bake at 250 but then in the recipe says at 230, which one should I follow for a fan-bake? Thanks 🙂
230 for fan-bake, I’ll change that in the post 😊
Can I cut the recipe in half?
Yup absolutely 😊
Hi Elien, Thanks for your detailed sourdough baguette recipe and procedure. I have just finished my first bake, and the baguettes have turned out well . However, one problem I encountered was that although I used only 600g water, I still found the dough too wet at steps 6 and 7, making it very sticky when trying to form and shape. Any suggestions?
Heya 😊, have a read of this post, it could be your starter, https://homegrownhappiness.com/sourdough-bread-trouble-shooting-guide/
What will happen if I skip the overnight step?
Done this 3 times now. Such easy to follow instructions, and great results every time. Thank you
Thank you. This is a really well done tutorial.
I made these and I love your detailed instructions! I was wondering g if you wouldn’t mind saying though how long about each baguette should be? I think I made mine to skinny and long??? They are each just over a foot long.
That sounds about right! They’ll puff and fatten when they’re baked 😊
Hi! I want to try your baguette recipe! I was wondering how many baguettes this is I tended to make? Also, I do not have a convection(fan) oven so would I increase the oven temp a little bit? Thanks can’t wait to try!
Hey it makes about 4 depending on how big your roll them. You could increase the temp a bit but the main thing about a convection oven is the fact that they give a more even bake. If your breads are browning unevenly, turn the tray in the last 10 minutes or so to give a more even browning 😊
Ony think that I am trying to figure out why sometimes baked loaf from insode is sort like gom or little bit wet I dont know would like to get more dried from inside bit then if I bake longer it will burn outside or this os just who needs to be with soirdough or maybe moer proofing in fridge needed I keep for 8 hrs .. not sure about this one 😔
A gummy texture can be from a few causes.
An underproofed loaf, you may need to keep it on the bench to bulk proof a little longer before placing in the fridge. Was it bulked out by 50%, does it bounce back when touched with a wet finger?
At the same time it could be overproofed and risen too much and too fast before placing in the fridge. If it’s very hot in your kitchen can be an issue. An overproofed dough will loose its structure and become slack and spread out.
Lastly it can also be that you are cutting it too soon. If the bread hasn’t cooled down properly, the steam trapped inside the loaf can make it gummy when cut.
Oh ok yes I bake in dutch oven also will tey next time with fan bit for color I am putting 1/2 tsp liquid malto it gave nice crust and color to loaf I am baking 30min covered on 230c and then 20min opened also 230… I dont like to hard baked sort like birned but stil I get nice color and I guess because of malto 😉
Thanks for this excellent, easy to follow post. I have successfully made these twice now.
Thanks so much for letting me know Ann! That’s great to hear!
the dough is very soft and sticky i could not put any tension on it when rounding it and making it long. i think tomorrow i will have flat baguettes because there is no tension on it…