Homemade Baguettes and Rolls using Boule Dough

The original post can be found on my blog: http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/1765649-homemade-baguettes-and-rolls-

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Homemade Baguettes and Rolls!!!
This was my first attempt at making homemade bread and I was absolutely TICKLED with the results. This dough was so easy to manipulate and tasted so good after it was finished baking. I recommend this to anyone and everyone. It is so simple. I know that working with yeast can be intimidating, but I promise you it's not. I am a complete novice in this realm of baking. Trust me. Use the boule dough recipe I have recently posted to make baguettes, rolls, or any shaped bread your heart desires! I promise you will not be disappointed. I couldn't keep enough of this bread on the table. It was eaten up so quickly! It remains soft for quite some time, unlike what is purchased in a store. DO IT. DO IT NOW. MAKE THIS BREAD. :o)

Homemade Baguettes
Courtesy: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

1. Use a grapefruit sized amount of Boule Dough.

2. Here are the instructions, verbatim, from the cookbook: "The gluten cloak: don't knead, just "cloak" and shape a loaf in 30 to 60 seconds. First, prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal (or whatever your recipe calls for) to prevent your loaf from sticking to it when you slide it into the oven. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour.

3. "Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough, using a serrated knife. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands.

4. "Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it's not intended to be incorporated into the dough. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out and adhere during resting and baking. The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive. The entire process should take no more than 30 to 60 seconds."

[SIDENOTE: Okay, so I didn't have a pizza peel (it is on my list of things to get by the time I'm married), but you can make it work- either transfer the dough VERY CAREFULLY onto your baking stone by hand or slide it on by using a cornmeal covered cookie sheet.]

5. Work the dough so that it is cylinder shaped, approximately two inches in diameter. Make sure your work space is well floured. Once the dough is the correct shape and size, allow it to sit for 25 minutes. At this time, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

6. Place a baking stone and empty broiler tray into the oven AS IT IS PREHEATING. Put the baking stone in the middle of the oven, and place the broiler pan below it, on another rack.

7. Once the dough is finished 'sitting,' use a pastry brush and brush water onto the top of it, so that you can cut diagonal slits on the top of the dough using a serrated knife (I found this a touch difficult to do, but try your best).

8. Once the oven is ready to go, CAREFULLY put the dough onto the baking stone. Right after you put the dough onto the baking stone, put a cup of warm water into the broiler tray so that it steams. Quickly shut the door so that the steam stays inside of the oven.

9. Bake the bread for 25 minutes, or until it is golden brown and firm to the touch. Once it is finished baking, place it on a rack to cool. Once it is cool, it is ready to slice and enjoy!

Homemade Rolls!
Also courtesy: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

The next day, I had enough dough left over to make individual rolls for lunch! There are minor differences to the recipe above.

The dough only needs to be shaped in a ball. It must sit on a cornmealed surface again (either a pizza peel or cookie sheet) for 30 minutes. Place whole wheat flour on top of the dough as it sits. Use the serrated knife again to make the slits (the difference with the baguettes in this section of the recipe is that traditional baguettes do not have flour on top of the bread, so water is used instead). Preheat the oven to 450 degrees again with the baking stone and broiler tray in the same places as noted for the baguette recipe above. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to the touch.

Enjoy!! It is truly delicious!!!!