These White Whole Wheat French Baguettes are a breeze to make and only contain 5 ingredients!
While I don’t often make bread at home for just the three of us, I love making homemade bread when it comes to having company or taking something to a get-together with family and friends. My typical go-to french bread is done in the bread machine, which works perfectly when I need to make it ahead of time and set the timer. Essentially I can add the ingredients and let the machine do the work while I take care of others things. However, for a full-size loaf, it takes nearly 4 hours, so it’s not something I can decide to whip up last-minute.
This White Whole Wheat French Bread on the other hand, is ready start-to-finish in one hour! Other than mixing the ingredients, the only time-consuming process is allowing the loaves to rise for 30 minutes. Beyond that, they bake for 15 minutes and voila, fresh homemade bread WITHOUT the unwanted additives and preservatives found in so many store-bought options!
My sister is the one who originally shared this recipe with me. I made a few adaptions using 100% white whole wheat flour in place of white flour, honey rather than sugar, and lowered the salt content. For more info on the benefits of whole wheat flour versus white flour, check out the facts below!
Facts and Benefits of Whole Wheat Flour:
- Higher Fiber Content: Due to the refining process associated with white flour, which separates the fiber-rich grain from the rest of the grain, 1/2 cup of white flour only contains 1.3 grams of fiber, while an equal serving of whole-wheat flour contains 6.4 grams.
- Benefits of Dietary fiber: helps prevents constipation, lowers blood cholesterol and might help you lose weight, according to Colorado State University.
- Lower GI: Bread made with 100 percent whole-wheat flour has a GI of 51, according to Harvard Medical School, while bread made with white wheat flour has a GI of 71.
- Blood Sugar: High-GI foods lead to rapid blood sugar spikes and subsequent crashes that leave you hungry and irritable shortly after eating. Low-GI foods absorb more slowly to prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes, so you’re satisfied for longer after your meal.
- Higher Vitamin Content: Whole-wheat flour contains several vitamins, including folate, riboflavin and vitamins B-1, B-3 and B-5. Some types of white flour contain lower levels of these vitamins, since the processing involved in making white flour destroys the grains’ vitamin content.
White Whole Wheat French Baguette
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 1/2 tbsp rapid rise yeast
- 2 tsp raw organic honey
- 3 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Add warm water, yeast, and honey to medium bowl. Whisk together until honey and yeast have fully dissolved, then let sit for 5 minutes or until foam forms on top.
- Combine white whole wheat flour with sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add in the yeast mixture, stirring to combine. Mix until dough becomes a fairly smooth ball, then knead for five minutes. I did this by hand on a floured surface, but you can also use an electric mixer {Kitchen Aid} with dough hook.
- Cut the dough into two equal halves, then shape into baguettes. I love the rustic look of shaping them by hand, but for a smooth professional look, you can roll them into a rectangle using a rolling pin, then roll up lengthwise and pinch off the edges to seal.
- Place each baguette onto greased baking sheet {seem down if you rolled out}, cover lightly with plastic wrap or clean towel and set aside to rise for 30-40 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. For an authentic look, use a serrated knife to gently make slash down the length of each baguette or diagonal lines across the top as shown in pictures above.
- To keep the bread moist, add water to a SEPARATE baking sheet and place on bottom rack in oven, then bake baguette loaves for 15 minutes on center rack. For that golden/crispy outer edge, brush each baguette with melted butter halfway through baking process.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional facts taken from SFGate.
This looks delicious and so simple! Do you think I could freeze one of the loaves, unbaked, for later? Like frozen bread dough? Thanks!
This looks delicious and so simple! Do you think I could freeze one of the loaves, unbaked, for later? Like frozen bread dough? Thanks!
Hi Kim! I haven’t frozen one unbaked, but I do think it might work! I’d make sure to let it thaw before baking and I’d love to hear if you go that route and how it turns out! I’ve had more experience freezing bread that has been baked and then thawing it out and slightly warming it. I usually have great success doing it that way and always make sure to wrap the bread in a couple snug layers of plastic wrap then seal it up in a freezer bag. Hope that helps! :)
I made this today, delicious! The bread had a very nice crumb, soft and lots of nice holes. I used a double baguette pan that was perforated. That was a mistake, the dough was on the wet side and seeped through the holes abit. I had a little trouble getting it out of the pan. Next time I am going to add 1/4 to 1/2 cups of WWW flour. Have you ever done a second rise? I am thinking of trying that too.
Hi Jim, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment, I’m so glad you liked the flavor and consistency of the bread!! I’m sorry to hear it was too wet for the pan, I haven’t tried it with a baguette pan. I think your plan to add a little more flour might help it work in the pan better next time! I have not tried this with a second rise, but would love to hear your thoughts and feedback if you give it a try!!
When you say to add water to the baking sheet, do you mean right on the sheet pan versus in a cup? Won’t the water make the bread wet?
Hi Sheryl, I am SO sorry for the confusion, I just edited the recipe directions to hopefully it will make more sense, but you want to bake your bread on a greased baking sheet by placing it on the center rack. To keep the bread moist while it bakes, you’ll add water to a separate pan and place on the bottom rack. Does that help? :)
Hi! Is there a replacement for the sea salt? It’s difficult to get that where I live.
Hey Marcy! Kosher or table salt should work just fine. I hope that helps! :)
I will try this and message you back! Thanks for replying so soon! 😊
I will try this and message you back! Thanks for replying so much soon! 😊