Sourdough Baguette

ByNatalya Syanova Updated
56 Comments
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It might seem like an easy task to bake a perfect baguette, but in reality it’s one the most challenging things for a baker.

And I’m so into challenges… that’s why I’ve been mastering the formula over and over again. I asked professional chefs questions, looking for details… attempted to bake it many times and experienced so many failures…

Every time I felt I was so close to the right result, there still remained so much to learn…

And today I am finally ready to share with you my go-to formula…

Easy and delicious.

Ready in: 
24 hours		Serves: 
8-10 people
Yield:  
4 x 250g Demi baguettes 		Units: 
US, EU

Sourdough starter (night before)

I always feed starter with 90% all purpose flour and 10% rye. Which makes it nice and strong.

Please note, summertime ratio for overnight feeding is higher (1:10:10) compared to wintertime( 1:7:7), because of the temperature difference. Depending on the strength of the starter, you can change the ratio.

Learn how to make starter from scratch here.

Main Dough

  • 100g sourdough starter (20%)
  • 400g  bread flour (80%)
  • 100g whole grain whole wheat flour (20%)
  • 355g water total (71%)
    • 340g(68% will be used for autolyse + 15g will be added with salt)
  • 10g salt (2%)

Directions 

Starter preparation steps.

Night before:

  • 10 pm add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let sit at room temp 70-75F till next morning until it reaches the peak (10-12 hours), it should at least double (starter isn’t strong enough), or triple in size(strong starter).

Baguette dough preparation steps.

Next morning:

  • 8 am mix water with flour, using spoon, cover, let rest 1-2 hours for autolyse (during the autolyse stage the flour absorbs the water, becoming fully hydrated. This will activate gluten development).
  • 10 am  Add sourdough starter. Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 min until well incorporated.
  • Cover, let rest for 30 min.
  • 10:30 am add salt and extra water. The process of adding extra water calls bassinage it helps to tighten up gluten. Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 5-6 min until well incorporated. The dough should come up together, but still be sticky on the bottom. We will continue gluten development and structure building by performing stretches and folds during warm fermentation period.
  • Spray container with water, transfer dough into container, close lid. 
  • Leave to rest 30 min. At 74-78F /23-26C.

  • 11 am wet your hands and perform 1st stretch and fold.
  • 11:45 am 2nd stretch and fold.
  • 12:30 pm 3rd stretch and fold.
  • 1:15 pm 4th stretch and fold.

Performing stretches and folds will help to continue gluten development.

After the final stretch let the dough rest for 15 min. You should see some bubbles on the surface, the dough has to become lighter. We are looking for 30%-40% rise. Some bakers prefer to push fermentation to 50% rise.

If, for some reason, the dough doesn’t feel proofed enough, add 1 more stretch and a fold, after that go to the next step.

  • 1:30 pm transfer dough to the fridge for cold slow fermentation.

Next day

Baguette preshaping steps.

Remove the dough from the fridge, turn container on the flourless surface. Using the of scraper divide the dough in 2 equal parts, then each part divide in 2 equal parts again. The weight of each dough piece should be around 240-250g.

Round each piece of dough with help of a scraper. And let rest uncovered for 30-45 min.

Baguette shaping steps.

 Baguette loaf shaping requires a technique for proper proofing and achieving a beautiful looking loaf.  

  • Turn the dough round on to floured surface. Pat it down roughly, form a rectangle.
  • Along the longer side, fold the upper third part of the rectangular dough toward the bottom third, then press down the folded section with your palm for it to flatten.
  • Now fold the bottom third toward the top, then press down the folded section with your palm for it to flatten.
  • Then use your thumb to make a crease in the middle of the rectangular dough, then fold it in half.
  • Seal the edges with your fingers, then roll the dough back and forth starting from the center towards the end until you achieve the desired length (about 24-28cm long). Generously sprinkle proofing couche with rice or semolina flour to prevent sticking.
  • Now transfer each shaped dough onto a proofing couche sealed side up. Cover baguettes with kitchen towel. Let them proof for 1 hour 30 min. It could take little more or less time. 
  • Perform poke test to check the readiness. Give the dough a gentle but assertive poke. If the dough springs back right away, let it rise for a few more minutes. If the dough springs back slowly, like it’s waking up from a long nap, and your poke leaves a small indentation, it’s ready to go.
  • During proofing time start to preheat oven 500F with baking stone inside and iron tray on the bottom rack for 1 hour.
  • When the oven is hot and baguettes are proofed enough, flip them over on a parchment paper, score with 3-4 cuts.

  • Prepare 10 ice cubes.
  • Act fast, open the oven, transfer baguettes on to the baking stone, dump the ice cubes into the tray and put it on the bottom rack, close the oven door.
  • Bake for 10 min.
  • Lower the temperature to 475F, open the oven door, remove tray with excess of water. Bake for 15 more min.
  • Let your baguettes cool for 1 hour.
sourdough baguette

Enjoy 🙌

Sourdough Baguette

1832kcal
5 from 2 votes
Share Print
Prep 45 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Rise & Rest Time 1 day 1 hour
Total 1 day
Light, airy, and boasting an exceptionally crisp, shatteringly thin crust, this classic French baguette uses a dual-stage hydration method (bassinage) to build gluten alignment and a slow cold overnight fermentation to yield complex grain flavors and an open crumb.
Servings 4 Demi-Baguettes
Cuisine French Artisan Bread

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter Levain (Night Before)
  • 5 g Sourdough starter
  • 50 g Water
  • 45 g All-purpose flour or bread flour
  • 5 g Rye flour
Main Baguette Dough (Next Day)
  • 100 g Active sourdough levain 20% – from stage above
  • 400 g Bread flour 80%
  • 100 g Whole grain whole wheat flour 20%
  • 340 g Water 68% – for initial autolyse
  • 15 g Extra water reserved for bassinage
  • 10 g Salt 2%

Equipment

  • Kitchen Scale
  • Stand Mixer (or KitchenAid mixer)
  • Baking Stone / Baking Steel
  • Linen Couche (baker’s canvas cloth for horizontal proofing)
  • Scoring Lame (razor blade for scoring)
  • Parchment Paper & 10 Ice Cubes (for oven steam generation)

Method

  1. 1. Night Before: Build Starter Levain (10:00 PM) Dissolve 5 g starter in 50 g water. Add 45 g bread/AP flour and 5 g rye flour. Mix well, cover loosely, and let sit at room temperature (70–75°F) for 10–12 hours until peak (tripled in size).
  2. 2. Next Day: Autolyse, Mixing & Bassinage Autolyse (8:00 AM): Mix 340 g water with 400 g bread flour and 100 g whole wheat flour until fully incorporated. Cover and rest for 1–2 hours. Levain Integration (10:00 AM): Add 100 g active sourdough levain. Mix on low speed for 2–3 minutes (or KitchenAid speed 3 for 3–4 minutes). Cover and rest for 30 minutes. Salt & Bassinage (10:30 AM): Add 10 g salt and 15 g extra water. Mix on low speed for 2–3 minutes (or KitchenAid speed 3 for 5–6 minutes) until the dough comes together cohesive but slightly sticky on bottom. Bulk Fermentation & Folds: Perform 4 sets of stretch-and-folds spaced 45 minutes apart at 11:00 AM, 11:45 AM, 12:30 PM, and 1:15 PM. Rest 15 minutes after the final fold until you see a 30%–40% rise. Cold Retard (1:30 PM): Transfer dough container to refrigerator for overnight slow cold fermentation.
  3. 3. Following Day: Dividing, Shaping & Baking Preshaping: Turn cold dough onto a un-floured counter. Divide into 4 equal pieces (~240–250 g each). Round each piece with a scraper and rest uncovered for 30–45 minutes. Shaping: Flatten each portion into a rectangle. Fold the top third down, then bottom third up. Use thumb to crease the center, fold in half, seal edges, and roll gently from center outward to 24–28 cm (10–11 inches). Transfer to a floured linen couche, seam-side up, and proof for 1 hour 30 minutes. Steam Bake Setup: Preheat oven to 500°F (260°C) with a baking stone inside and an iron tray on bottom rack for 1 hour. Bake: Flip baguettes onto parchment paper, score with 3–4 overlapping cuts. Transfer onto baking stone, toss 10 ice cubes into the bottom iron tray, and slam door shut. Bake with steam for 10 minutes. Lower heat to 475°F (246°C), remove water tray, and bake uncovered for 15 minutes until golden-brown and crisp. Cool 1 hour before slicing.

Nutrition

Calories1832kcalCarbohydrates372gProtein60gFat8gSaturated Fat1gPolyunsaturated Fat3gMonounsaturated Fat1gSodium3518mgPotassium625mgFiber17gSugar2gVitamin A8IUCalcium91mgIron6mg

Notes

– **The Purpose of Adding Rye Flour:** Traditional French baguettes rely primarily on high-quality white wheat flour. However, blending 10% fine rye flour (or whole wheat flour) into the autolyse stage serves an important artisan purpose. Rye flour introduces essential natural enzymes and minerals that feed the wild yeast cells, subtly shifting the flavor profile toward an authentic, rich old-world grain depth without weighing down the open, airy structure.
– **Mastering the Baguette Scoring Angle:** The spectacular blistered “ears” and symmetrical diamond shapes on a bakery baguette depend entirely on your blade angle. Never slice straight down into the dough at a 90-degree angle, as this causes the dough to flatten out wide like a football. Holding your lame flat at a shallow 45-degree angle slices a thin flap of dough skin that peels backward cleanly under steam, directing the oven spring upward.
– **The Core-Tension Rolling Method:** Extending a baguette rope requires creating high internal core tension. When folding the dough cylinder over itself and pinning down the seam, you are trapping air and tightening an outer skin. When rolling out the length, ensure you are rolling from the middle outward using the palms of your hands. If the dough snaps back aggressively, do not force it; cover it for 5 minutes to let the gluten relax before finishing the roll.

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56 Comments

  1. Hi Natasha:))
    I usually bake more than one loaf, and when I prepare my starter (if it’s not a sweet starter), I build it at a 1:5:5 ratio for around 20 loaves and take the starter from there. What do you think about this approach? Or would you recommend keeping a separate starter just for baguettes?
    Also, I bake in a micro-bakery deck oven that has a built-in steam chamber. When I load the bread, I add water to the steam reservoir and the loaves are steamed automatically via a spraying system. In this case, do you still recommend using the same baking temperatures, or would you suggest adjusting them when using this type of steam injection?
    Thank you so much

    Reply

  5. Hi Natasha-

    When you reference a 30-40% rise – I get a little confused

    To help me understand is 50% rise the dough doubles its original mark if it were in a container

    Reply

  6. Hi Natasha-

    When you reference a 30-40% rise – I get a little confused

    To help me understand is 50% rise the dough doubles its original mark if it were in a container 🙂

    Reply

  11. Hi, Thank you for you simple easy to use guides and site. I have had much success with baking loaves and baking baguettes. Hoever I am plagued with the question Why is bulk ferment shorter for baguettes vs loaves? Does it have to do with the proofing of the baguette for the desired shape and crumb?

    Reply

    1. Hi! Thank you for feedback. Baking baguettes is completely different story from loaves. It requires different timings and approach.
      Happy baking!

      Reply

  12. Hi Natasha! I’m a big fan of your bakes. Is it possible to make this recipe without the cold fermentation step?

    Reply

  13. Hi Natasha.
    I’m going to make your recipe but I don’t have a stone can I make it on my cookie sheet? Thank you

    Reply

  14. Hi Natasha,
    I want to say thank you for this amazing recipe.
    I’ve been making sourdough bread on my own and this baguette is far the best one I’ve ever made. It is very moist inside and has crispy crust.
    Thank you for selflessly sharing this.

    Reply

      1. 5 stars
        I usually cold proof more than 24 hrs to suit my schedule and I find that the doughs rise too much in the fridge sometimes become overproofed. What should I change if I want to cold proof long? Thx.

      2. If your dough is rising too much in the fridge, most likely your refrigerator temperature is higher than 4°C. If possible, try lowering it to around 3–4°C. At that temperature, fermentation will slow down significantly, so the loaves shouldn’t overproof during a longer cold proof—they’ll mostly be developing more flavor.

      3. 5 stars
        Thank for your quick responses. Yes my fridge is cold like 3, 4C. Perhaps it happened to the recipe I used 30% levain. I think when cold proof long we perhaps cut bulk proof shorter.

        I also like the method of using ice cubes too, boiling water is too scary with burst of scorching steam when pour.

        Do you have YouTube videos too?

      4. Yes, exactly! With 30% levain, fermentation will move faster, so if you’re planning a long cold proof, try keeping the warm bulk a little shorter before refrigerating.
        And yes, ice cubes are definitely easier and safer to handle than boiling water 😊

  19. Hi Natasha, thank you for sharing!
    From your experience how much difference makes the baking stone? My baguettes are not raising in the oven. My regular breads do but I bake them in the dutch oven.
    Thank you!
    Yulia

    Reply

    1. Yulia, hi!
      I’m having same problem.
      My oven can’t keep the steam. I’m getting better results, if I bake Demi baguettes in Dutch oven.

      Reply

  20. dear Natasha,

    I noticed that for your recipe, u always leave your loaves uncovered after preshape. Is there a reason for that? To form a skin?

    Reply

      1. I love your website, thank you. Would ice decrease the oven temperature? I pour boiling hot water. Perhaps some good benefit or reason for using ice cubes?

      2. Thank you so much! ❤️ Yes, ice can temporarily lower the temperature a little, but I like using it because it melts gradually and creates steam for a longer period of time. Boiling water works great too and creates steam immediately. Both methods can work well—I just find ice cubes very easy and convenient.

  23. Dear Natasha,
    I did the baguettes and they are perfect, thank you very much.
    During cooking, and it is not the first time, I have the sides of the baguette soft, not crunchy, why?
    I have to leave to dry in the open oven for 15 minutes.
    🙂

    Reply

    1. Erica, hi!
      Thank you for your feedback.
      It could be that baking stone isn’t hot enough, or your oven releases the heat.
      But anyway, great, that you Are baking them longer.

      Reply

  24. Hi Natasha. If i want make only 2 baguette.Do I need to do half starter of the specified or only for dough?
    Thank you

    Reply

  25. when you say mixing maching 2-3 min and kitchen aid type mixing maching 4-6min what kind of mixing do you mean with the first with short time one? I have a bosch similar kitchen aid with mouse tail mixer accesorie, and will follow kitchen aid ratios. But I am courios the other mixing machine you reference. Thanks a lot.

    Reply

    1. Hi!
      My regular old mixer (some generic brand), somehow mixes the dough faster, than KitchenAid, that’s why I recommend longer mixing time with KitchenAid.

      Reply

  26. Hi Natasha, I have noticed that you use the electric mixer to mix the levain and then again when adding the salt but you don’t use it when mixing up the water with the flour for autolyse. You use a spoon instead. Is there a specific reason why you don’t use the paddle to mix the flour with the water? Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Daniel, hi!
      Yes, you don’t need to use mixer, to incorporate water and flour for autolyse, , unless you wanted too.
      Dough stays lumpy, but after autolyse, nice gluten development happens by itself 😊

      Reply

  27. Hi Natasha,

    These are gorgeous, can’t wait to try tomorrow. My starter is 1:1:1 ratio. Would I use the same amount in the recipe? I’m still relatively new to this, so still figuring out the ‘science’ part 😜 Thanks so much!
    Amy

    Reply

    1. Amy!
      Hi!
      If your starter still new, than feeding 1:1:1 or 1:2:2 definitely will work.
      Good luck 🙌

      Reply

  28. hi natasha, thanks so much for the recipe. i’ve been following u for someitme now. i live in very hot climate, temp of my dough is usually 80-82F, should i shorten the warm ferm by 45min? do u thnk it’s enough? i’m planning to shorten the time between each stretch and fold by 15min, comes to 45min. thank you!

    also i find that even if i feed 1:10:10 my starter tends to be pretty hungry in the morning, so i feed it 1:2:2 first thing in the morning then use the levain in the afternoon around 4-5 hours later, what do u think of that?

    Reply

    1. Jac!
      Hi!
      You are doing everything correct!
      For hot climate you definitely have to shorten time of warm fermentation, and final warm bulk before baking
      Also I liked the idea of quick feeding 1:2:2 before adding starter to the dough.
      Good luck 🙌

      Reply

  30. tks a lot for this recipe, is it possible to use this recipe for a loaf of bread? what have I to change or to do ? thank you

    Reply

    1. Sure! You can use it just for a loaf without any changes. Maybe a little longer warm proofing time 🙏

      Reply

      1. Bom dia! Magnifico seus videos, suas explicoes bem detalhista e podemos desfrutar dessas delicias aprendendo perfeitamente com suas explicacões. Encantado parabens e sucesso

5 from 2 votes

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