These are sourdough baguettes on a weeknight schedule. The starter is there mostly for flavor, and a teaspoon or two of instant yeast does the heavy lifting, so they rise in about an hour and a half instead of all day. Unfed starter works too: it just adds flavor while the yeast takes care of the rise. Bake them with steam for a crackly crust, then let them cool in the turned-off oven.

For the slow, all-starter way, with no added yeast, see the Tartine Country Bread.

King Arthur Baking’s Sourdough Baguettes, written out here in my own words.

Recipe by Willy Bear

Prep: 15 min
Bake: 30 min
Rest: 4 hr
Total: 4 hr 45 min
Makes: 6 baguettes
Level: medium

Recipe originally written in US cups. These are the original measures.

Ingredients

1¼ cups (283 g) water, lukewarm
2 cups (481 g) sourdough starter, ripe (fed) or discard
4½ cups (540 g) all-purpose flour, unbleached, up to 5 cups (600 g)
2½ tsp (15 g) table salt
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp instant yeast, or up to 2 teaspoons, depending on how lively your fed starter is
4 tsp vital wheat gluten

Equipment

Large mixing bowl or stand mixer
Baking sheets lined with parchment, or baguette pans
Cast-iron pan for steam
Lame or sharp knife
Wire rack

Method

Start the dough. In a large bowl, mix the water, starter and 3 cups (360 g) of the flour until smooth.
Finish the dough. Stir in the salt, sugar, yeast and gluten, then another 1½ to 2 cups (180 to 240 g) of flour, only as much as it needs to pull away from the sides of the bowl. A slack, sticky dough makes a light loaf.
Knead. Knead about 7 minutes in a stand mixer, or 8 to 10 minutes by hand on a lightly greased surface.
Rise. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and leave until doubled, about 1½ hours.
Shape. Gently deflate the dough and divide it into 6 pieces for thin baguettes, or 3 for thicker Italian loaves. Shape each into a 16 inch loaf (15 inches for baguette pans) and set them at least 4 inches apart on parchment-lined sheets, or in greased baguette pans.
Second rise. Cover with greased plastic wrap and leave 1½ to 2 hours, until nicely puffy. Heat the oven toward the end. For an extra-crusty crust, put an empty cast-iron pan on the rack below to heat too. Oven: 450°F / 230°C (210°C fan)
Slash. For the classic look, cut three diagonal slashes about ¼ inch deep in each loaf. Skip the slashes for taller, rounder loaves.
Bake. Put the loaves in, and if you are using steam, pour about 1 cup of boiling water into the hot cast-iron pan and shut the door quickly. Bake about 25 minutes, until rich golden brown.
Cool in the oven. Turn the oven off (take loaves out of baguette pans first and put them back without the pan), crack the door open a few inches and let them cool in there, which keeps the crust crunchy. Then cool completely on a rack.

Baker's notes

Feeding the starter first gives a better rise, but unfed starter is fine: it adds flavor and the yeast does the rising. For just 3 baguettes, halve everything except the yeast, which stays at 1 teaspoon.

Storage + make ahead

Keep leftovers in a paper bag for a day or so; paper keeps the crust crunchier than plastic. Freeze for longer.

ricottabear.com/sourdough-baguettes · US measures, metric in brackets

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Sourdough Baguettes