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The recipe you’ve begged and pleaded for is finally here…I’m calling it Same Day Baguette, because I wanted you to be able to mix, bake, and eat it all in the same day. No overnight rise, no days of planning. Just delicious bread, same day, made by YOU.
I have been testing this for months (as in almost 20 months to be exact) and I finally believe we have hit perfection! I am beyond excited to share this recipe with you, because I am quite certain, it is going to knock your socks off!!!
It is crispy & crusty on the outside, soft chewy interior with gorgeous airy pockets. I love to slather a piece with a good butter right when it comes out of the oven & top with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. This right here is my love language!
The possibilities with this baguette are endless. I love to serve alongside soups or salads, or on an appetizer board with grilled veggies and whipped feta. My family loves tuna melts & I recently made them for dinner using the baguette and they were out of this world!
😍Why You’ll Love My Same Day Baguette
Making bread can be very intimidating and I wanted to make it completely approachable for the everyday home cook. No fancy equipment. No complicated steps. Just easy & delicious.
You can mix, bake, and enjoy it all in the same day. No overnight rise. No stress. Just warm, crusty delicious bread on your table, that will be devoured in minutes.This recipe is easy enough for beginners, but the results are brag-worthy.
🗒️ Ingredients
Instant Yeast– This is the magic that makes the dough rise fast. Instant yeast doesn’t need to be activated in water first, it goes straight into the flour and starts working quickly!
Sugar
A touch of sugar helps feed the yeast and encourages a strong rise. It also contributes just a hint of sweetness to balance the flavor of the crusty bread.
All-Purpose Flour
The base of your baguette! All-purpose flour gives the dough a great balance between softness and structure. For chewier texture, you can sub in some bread flour.
Kosher Salt
Essential for bringing out the flavor of the bread and controlling the yeast. Don’t skip it, it’s what keeps your bread from tasting flat or bland.
Warm Water
Water activates the yeast and hydrates the dough. Make sure it’s warm to the touch (around 105°F–115°F), not hot, so it doesn’t kill the yeast.
👩🍳 How to Make My Same Day Baguette
🥣 Mix dry ingredients then add in the water and mix with a wooden spoon. It should look like a loose & sticky bread dough, don’t worry this is what you want.
🥄 Add sugar, Kosher salt, and then AP flour and mix with a wooden spoon.
⏲️ Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
⏲️ Stretch and fold it on itself in the bowl, cover and rest again for 60 minutes.
🫧 When it has risen and is bubbling, very gently turn out onto a generously floured surface.
✂️ Cut in three with a bench scraper.
🌀Twist a bit and place in baguette trays, shaping lightly.
⏲️ Bake for 25-30 minutes at 450.
🎩 Tips & Tricks
For a Dough-Rising Trick, Use Your Oven Light! During both resting periods, I like to create a cozy little spa for my dough by placing the covered bowl inside the oven with just the oven light turned on. Don’t turn the actual oven on, just the light. That small amount of heat from the bulb provides the perfect gently-warm, draft-free environment that helps the dough rise beautifully. Just cover your bowl with a kitchen towel, tuck it into the oven, and let the light do the rest.
📓 Best served with
- Good Butter and Flakey Sea Salt
- A delicious creamy soup such as my Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup or Butternut Squash and Garlic Soup
- On a Cheese and Charcuterie board next to a whipped feta with hot honey
Commonly Asked Questions
Great question! It’s a technique to build structure in wet doughs. Reach under the dough, gently stretch it upward, then fold it over onto itself. Rotate the bowl and repeat 3–4 times. It helps create that airy, open crumb without kneading. The dough should look like loose and sticky bread dough, don’t worry this is what you want!
No problem—you can use a sharp knife or even kitchen scissors (oiled or floured) to cut the dough into three sections. A bench scraper is just handy for keeping the shape and not deflating the dough too much.
I would highly recommend using one. A baguette tray gives structure and keeps the dough from spreading too much. I have had a lot of luck with this baguette tray & swear by it. If you don’t have one, shape the dough and bake on a parchment-lined sheet pan. You can place rolled-up foil or a clean kitchen towel between the loaves to help them hold shape during the rise.
450°F gives you that signature crispy crust. If your oven runs hot, you could try 425°F and extend the bake time by 5–10 minutes. Just make sure the loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped.
For this recipe, because it is so exact, there really aren’t any substitutions.
Same Day Baguette
Equipment
- 1 Baguette Tray (with three baguette loaf holders)
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Instant Yeast
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 4 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- Warm Water
- Flaky salt (optional)
Instructions
- Mix sugar, flour, salt, and yeast with a wooden spoon. Add in 2 1/4 cups of warm water and mix to combine. It should look like a loose and sticky bread dough, don’t worry. It should be. If the dough doesn't look very wet, add in another 1/4 cup of warm water. I usually use 2 1/2 cups of warm water, personally.
- Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold it on itself in the bowl, cover and rest again for 60 minutes.
- When it has risen a lot and bubbling, very gently turn out onto a generously floured surface. The dough will be very wet, so be generous with flouring the surface, your hands, and the bench scraper.
- Cut in three with a bench scraper.
- Twist the dough, stretching gently lengthwise as you do, so it almost fills the baguette tray. Place each loaf in the baguette trays. I often sprinkle with flaky salt now, this optional, but it's a nice salty crunch on the top of the loaves.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 450 degrees.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So easy and so yummy! Will make again and sent the recipe link to multiple people.
Yay Amy! So glad to hear you enjoyed it! xo, Kat
Incredible! My son wants me to make this every day, and honestly, it’s easy enough to do! Would love to know if this method could be used for sourdough!
Hi Jo! So glad you both enjoyed the recipe! I am not sure about sourdough, as I have never tried it…however I think you should give it a try… It may totally work! Keep me posted. XO, Kat
Absolutely OUTSTANDING! I’ve made them twice and while the 1st time they turned out well for a beginner, the second time I was much more confident and they were even better. My husband and I ate one tonight for dinner. I had some good butter, flaky salt and some oil and vinegar and some cheese. Best dinner ever. I think these baguettes are going to be my go to “party trick”. Thanks Kat for creating and sharing this amazing recipe!
Love this feedback Gina! I could live on your dinner menu, haha. Nothing better than butter, flaky sea salt and good olive oil and vinegar! xo Kat
Yes the dough is very wet, but it baked up beautifully. When you take it out of the bowl to divide and shape, just make sure your hands and surface are covered with flour and add some to the surface of the bread. I don’t have the baguette pan so I used a cookie sheet and added dividers with tea towels, covered in parchment (thanks, Google!)
Great idea Jenn! Glad you had success! xo, Kat
Delicious! I was surprised at how easy they were to make! My husband and I both agree that they needed more salt. I used two teaspoons of Morton Kosher salt. Will add more next time. Still, it is amazing! Thanks so much!
Love to hear it Cyndy! So happy you two enjoyed! xo, Kat
Excellent recipe! First time and it out amazing:)
Woohoo Sue!! Great news, thank you for sharing! xo, Kat
I made the recipe twice , first time this past Sunday with gluten free flour and they did not come out. Today I did the same thing with regular flour and they are amazing.
Hi Cheryl! So good to know…I am going to start testing GF options at some point, so this feedback is great. Hope you enjoyed the baguettes that did turn out! xo, Kat
I am so wanting a good gluten free baquette – ignore your work and your husband and your children, Kat, and make one for us sad little GF people.
Haha, its on my to-do list~!!! xo, Kat
I am still trying to figure out how to handle the dough as it is so sticky and soft. I cannot cut it with the bench scraper or shape it at all. It just sticks to my hands. I must need to add more flour or use a bit less water. I follow the recipe exactly (I have made it 3 times), flour the surface generously but way too sticky to do anything with. It just sticks to my hands, the surface, the scraper. Help!
hmmmm…..maybe switch the kind of yeast you are using? What brand is it?
This couldn’t be easier! I have been baking bread for many years but have been intimidated to make a baguette – now I wonder why! It was so easy and came together with little effort. Thank you Kat for making baking so approachable!
Love it Eleanor! So happy to hear 🙂 xo, Kat
I love bread. I make sourdough regularly but really wanted a good baguette recipe, so I was excited to try this! I have a couple suggestions. First – can you add what type of kosher salt you prefer? I know they are all a bit different! Second – should we spray the pan? Third – can you add the weights to the recipe? I calculated the AP flour to be 120 g/cup (from KAF site) so I used 480 g of flour. When I mixed it, it was very loose; your notes said that it would be, so I wasn’t worried. But when it came time for the stretch and fold, it was still too loose to hold or stretch. I added a couple Tbs of flour and did my best folding with a flexible bench scraper. When it was time to shape it, the dough was still too wet, and I plopped it onto the pan (too wet to twist!). I didn’t want to give up on this!
The dough bled through the holes in the oven and stuck to the pan. A bit of a nightmare, but I ripped it out and we still enjoyed it!!
Next time I’ll use a dry measuring cup and be more heavy handed with the flour. 🙂 I may also swap out some AP flour for bread flour so it’s chewier, like you suggested.
Despite my issues with my first batch, I’m excited to try again! Thank you!
I, too, would love weights. I also used the standard 480g, and it’s far too loose.
I’ve asked for weights before and the response was that “US publishers don’t include weights.” I was hopeful that Kat might include them in the recipes that aren’t part of her cookbooks. I think we’re just going to have to experiment individually and figure it out.
Hi Meg! Thank you for your questions, my answers are below:
1. Kosher salt brand does not matter.
2. Dont need to spray the baguette pan!
3.. I dont use grams, however an online converter would be able to convert for you.
Don’t give up! I encourage you to try it again! xo, KAt