Easy 4 Ingredient Vegan Baguette

Making baguettes from scratch at home can seem intimidating, but it’s really not! This Vegan Baguette has a perfectly crisp crust and light airy interior making it perfect for Bahn Mi sandwiches or alongside a Vegan Mushroom Bourguignon.

There’s something so deliciously satisfying about pulling a freshly baked baguette out of the oven. A nearly perfect food, the baguette can be eaten in millions of ways, and I’ve probably tried them all.

What is Baguette?

In France, baguette isn’t just a long skinny bread.

There is an actual law standardizing the baking and selling of their national treasure. The 1993 Décret Pain has a couple of guidelines all boulangerie must follow.

The law states that baguettes must be made in the same place they are sold. It also requires a true baguette to only contain four ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast.

The bread also can not be frozen at any stage to be considered a traditional french baguette.

Since the traditional ingredients are vegan, it’s reasonable to assume all baguette is too – but be wary.

While Vegan Baguette is common, some recipes still include honey or butter.

I am obviously not a French baker. But since this recipe includes those same four ingredients, and my family usually eats the baguette within hours of coming out of the oven, c’est ce bon pain regardless!

Vegan Baguette: Ingredients

• Flour – Bread flour has a higher gluten content (12 to 14%) which helps to build the structure of your bread. I used King Arthur Bread Flour for this recipe, but have had success with Lilly White too.

• Water – Normally I don’t bother using filtered water, but with so few ingredients it feels important to make every ingredient count.

• Salt – I love baking with flaked Himalayan pink salt

• Yeast – No tricks here, just make sure your yeast is fresh! You can test a small amount in a tablespoon of water with a little sugar and wait for the bloom if you are unsure.

How to Make Vegan Baguettes from Scratch

For bread baking, a little preparation can go a long way. While the active time is pretty minimal, the bread does have a long bulk fermentation (12 to 15 hours) so it’s better to start the night before.

The night before you bake

In the bowl of a stand mixer weigh out your flour, yeast, and salt. Mix around a bit with a fork until combined.

Set the mixer to low, and begin to stream in the water. Depending on the humidity of your kitchen you may need a bit more or a bit less.

Mix for three to five minutes until the dough starts to pull from the sides. It should clean the bowl, but still be quite loose and stretchy.

After it’s mixed, set it on the counter covered by a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for about two hours.

Two or three times during the rest, perform a couple stretch and folds. I have detailed instructions for this technique in my post on Simple Sourdough Bread.

After two hours, cover your bowl with a silicone bowl cover or plastic cling wrap, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Shaping Vegan Baguette

A few hours before you are ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge and let it warm up a bit on the counter.

Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into two.

Take one of the pieces and gently flatten and stretch to about 14 inches in length on a floured surface.

Once it’s sort of a long oval, pull the sides up and begin to pinch in the center creating a seam.

Once the entire length is pinched closed, flip the loaf over.

Proof and Bake

Now it’s time to make the couche.

A couche is just a tea towel used to provide gentle support while your baguette prooves again.

Pinch the center of a long clean tea towel to make a little ridge.

Place your two loaves so they are separated by the center median. Dust with flour, and cover with plastic wrap trying to keep it off the bread as much as possible.

Allow to proof for about an hour, until it passes the poke test.

Gently poke the loaf, and if it springs back quickly, it’s not ready.

After about an hour, set the oven to 450 degrees. Fill a bread pan with water, and place it in the bottom rack of the oven.

This will create steam and is critical for developing the characteristic crackle and crust of a baguette.

When the oven is hot, move the baguettes to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Score down the center with a very sharp knife or lame.

Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove the bread pan, and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden, and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Allow to cool, and then eat them all!