French Baguettes Infused With Rosemary

Oh my! The smell of Baguettes baking the the oven brushed with butter and fresh Rosemary is simply irresistible. 

The greatest thing about making them is that they are actually very quick and easy.

The secret to making the best Baguettes is creating lots of steam in your oven.  

I do two rises with the dough. The time will be much shorter than with regular bread dough. 

Preparation

Before you begin to put together your ingredients, go ahead and take a 9X12 baking dish and fill it half way with water. Turn the oven on to 450 degrees and place your dish on the bottom rack. 

This will get the oven nice and hot and get that steam going. You can chose to make to nice size Baguettes by only dividing the dough in half with this recipe or divide the dough into 4  or even 6 pieces for breadsticks.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbs. active dry yeast
2 tsp. sugar or honey
3 1/4 cup organic unbleached flour
2 tsp. Rosemary Salt
Drizzle of Olive Oil

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

3 Tbs. unsalted butter for brushing

1 Tbs. Rosemary Salt for brushing

Directions

In a small bowl mix the warm water with the yeast and sugar.Cover with plastic wrap and a towel in a warm spot. Set the timer for 20 minutes. Your starter will become bubbly and foamy. 

In your mixing bowl combine the flour and salt. Gradually add the yeast mixture. Add a drizzle of Olive Oil. Mix with dough hook or knead by hand until dough becomes nice and smooth.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel in a warm place. Set the timer on 30 minutes to rest and rise.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Roll out each half into a nice triangle shape and then roll your dough up lengthwise and tuck in your ends.

Place your dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet with the seam and tucks on the bottom. Cover with towels and set your timer for another 30 minutes to rest and rise. 

While you are waiting for the dough, go out to the garden and cut a sprig of Rosemary. 

Get out a small saucepan and put in the 3 Tbsp. butter, kosher salt and with scissors cut tiny snips of the Rosemary sprig. Turn the burner on low for the butter to melt.

With a very sharp knife make a slash down the length of each baguette. I do not slash the breadsticks. 

Brush with the melted butter mixture and place in your hot steamy oven. Set the times for 7 minutes. 

Take out the the oven and brush again using up the rest of the butter. Place back in the oven for 8 minutes to finish baking.

Take out of the oven and cool on wire racks.

Breadsticks

Have even more fun and whip up some of your favorite herbal butters to serve with your Baguettes. 

They also make wonderful gifts to give to family and friends. 

Happy Gardening!

Pammy