Anna Karin baguettes
Easy and simple recipe to make rustic baguettes at home.
Ingredients
- 25 gr fresh bread yeast (or 10gr dried bread yeast)
- 600 ml lukewarm water
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1050 ml all purpose wheat flour plus more, to sprinkle
- 250 ml oats and fibre
Instructions
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Crumble the yeast and add the lukewarm water, salt and honey, stir well until yeast has dissolved.
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Add the oats and stir. Then add flour and stir well with a wooden spoon.
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Sprinkle flour over the dough, cover with a kitchen towel, leave to rise for at least 1h30.
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Preheat oven 1h after leaving to rise (30 mins before baking), at 260ºC.
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After rising, split in 4 equal portions, shape into swirled baguettes and place on a baking tray.
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Bake at 260ºC for 12-15 mins, then lower to 150ºC and bake for another 12-15 mins. Use bread crust colour as a guide, not just time.
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Remove from oven and cover with a towel, let the baguettes cool down and enjoy 🙂
Notes
The measurements are in litres because in Sweden they use volume to bake. They actually use dl (decilitres), which was so new and strange to me at first! I mean, it still is, but we get used to almost anything 😉
In July 2019 I realised how deliciously comforting making homemade bread is. I used to think it was trip-to-the-moon difficult and I’m so glad I was wrong. It can be so easy!
For a a few years now I visit Sweden every Summer. We always spend time in the kitchen making yummy stuff, serving it outdoors and enjoying it under the sun. Every time I visit I leave having cooked or baked something new that I had never tried before. This time, it was these beautiful baguettes. It was actually one of the highlights of my summer. Before, I thought of homemade bread as a complicated and time-consuming thing. Learning to bake this bread reminded me of why I love home cooking so much: the excitement that comes with experimenting, the fun of doing it with someone, the realisation that happiness can be found in basic things like flour and water…
I fell in love with how simple the process is, and of course how nice they turn out. Simple, humble food makes my heart sing, for some unknown reason. And when it comes to food, it doesn’t get much more simple or humble than bread.
So I spent the rest of the Summer finding reasons to make these baguettes for different people, in different places. I then thought about sharing the recipe here, but at the time, and until now, this place has been on an isolated corner in my mind, waiting to be noticed and nourished again.
With the current times come worries, anxiety, stress and fear. I notice people trying to stay active, healthy and connected to others. Staying at home comes with a need to adapt, to make our lives livable despite new limitations. We are all naturally exploring what our edges and limits are, and those of the people we live with. I’m happy to be home, and not in Thailand, where we almost got stuck in. I’ve organically been drawn back towards the kitchen, food and recipe research and experimenting.
To bring this place back to life, and because I actually got to make baguettes with Anna Karin yesterday, here is the first recipe of what I hope will be more to come.
