Note that with this recipe you can choose to make either the batard or the baguette type of French bread. You can also decide to use the alternate recipe at the end of this recipe to make instead sesame seed topped crusty soft rolls. Whichever size/shape you choose you will be quite pleased. All you do is adjust the size/shape of the dough prior to rising and also check the internal temperature of the loaves during baking to get exactly the right internal temperature of 190 °F.

French batard bread is about a foot long and about four inches wide on either end and six inches wide in the middle of the loaf. It is known as the crude form of a baguette, where the baguette is typically almost twice as long and uniformly thin from end to end. Thus, a baguette has somewhat less soft chewable interior for a given amount of dough. And the crusty soft rolls option makes individual servings easy as there is no need to cut a loaf or a baguette.

The batard has a crispy crust but it is soft and doughy inside, which makes it perfect for sandwiches, garlic bread, or sliced as a side for a meal. The crisp baguette is better used for tearing and dipping in seasonings in olive oil, served warm, but if you decrease baking time for the baguette you can get a somewhat chewy crust and make great sandwiches with that bread also. The crusty soft rolls are simply served fresh, warm and with butter.

I found a fairly authentic (and simple) recipe for the batard bread on the Internet and I decided to make a few improvements and breach the authenticity by adding a small amount of vital wheat gluten to the given recipe. Why? For starters I have no real knowledge of the gluten content of flours used in Europe (vs. in the USA) for making baguettes or batards, and I don't want a bread dry in the interior of the loaf that will go stale within a day. Note that some baguette/batard recipes are complex and I chose to avoid them.

One of the sought characteristics of this European style bread is a soft, chewy internal texture with large holes. That is achieved by limiting the variety and effect of ingredients on texture and the number of times the dough is made to rise before baking. In other words, fine texture breads typically have three rising periods for the dough, while the batard texture is gained by having a very long single rise to greatly expand the dough volume. Then the risen dough is handled carefully when forming it into a loaf so as not to lose most of the effect of the first rise. A short second rise is allowed to compensate volume loss from handling the risen dough and forming it into the batard loaf shape. Thus, when it comes to letting the dough rise, be patient. The initial rising time can be quite long.

Plan on 3 to 5 hours for the rising portion of the bread making process. The time variation is related to whether you let the dough rise at room temperature (72 °F) or instead use a 100 °F proofing oven. Obviously the warmer environment hastens the rise.

During the first and longest rising time the dough will develop significant air pockets. You will form the dough into a loaf or a baguette at the end of that period (or not if you are making crusty soft rolls), thus eliminating the largest air pockets. The smaller air pockets are what will make the dough inside the bread airy when it is baked. If you choose the crusty soft rolls option you already have the final roll shapes and merely need to press the risen dough pieces lightly, individually, to eliminate any large air pockets.

The trademark aspect of batard bread is the large, irregular holes inside the loaf, so you want to avoid squeezing the dough too much during handling.

But, once the dough has risen initially, you do need to shape it into a batard shaped loaf (or into a baguette shape, or have crusty soft rolls per the last part of this recipe).

Then it is time for a short final rise and then the baking. Simply follow the directions below.

Note that you can easily make a half recipe of the ingredients shown below, which is smart if only a few people are eating what you make. No one wants day old stale French bread or rolls ... you want all of the product to be eaten (or frozen) on the day it is baked.

Ingredients: (makes 2 batard loaves or 2 baguettes or 24 crusty soft rolls)

1 ½ cups of lukewarm water (105 °F)

3 ½ cups of bread flour

4 tsp. of vital wheat gluten

2 1/4 tsp. of activated dry yeast (one small package)

2 tsp. of sea salt

Vegetable oil

Corn meal

Melted butter (optional)

Raw sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

For making the dough:

Combine the yeast and the 1 ½ cups of lukewarm water in an electric mixer bowl. Ensure that the water is warm enough to activate the yeast – at about 105°F. Use an instant read thermometer to ensure the correct tap water temperature. Mix the yeast into the water with a spoon to moisten all of it and then allow the yeast to proof (become slightly foamy, sort of) for five minutes before continuing.

Combine the salt, the flour and the gluten with a whisk in a 2 quart bowl, then add that mixture to the water and yeast mixture slowly while mixing on low to medium low speed using the electric mixer paddle attachment. Then increase the mixer speed to medium after the flour mixture is added. If necessary, temporarily stop the mixer and scrape down the inside of the mixing bowl with a soft spatula to assure the ingredients get evenly mixed. Then continue mixing.

Once the dough ingredients are well blended/come together, stop the mixer and then knead the dough for three to five minutes using the mixer dough hook attachment on medium speed, until the dough takes on a kind of bouncy quality. If you can press your finger into the dough and it bounces back, it is ready for the long initial rising period.

If you are making the batard loaves or the baguettes continue with the next instructions. If instead you are making Crusty Soft dinner rolls, go to the end of this recipe for the Alternate recipe directions.

Cut the dough in half on a lightly floured cutting board and form each piece into the shape of a ball.

Transfer the dough balls into two, 2 quart bowls that have been lightly oiled with vegetable oil. Roll each dough ball around in the oil to coat the entire surface.

Cover the bowls loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature (72 °F) or in a 100 °F proofing oven. You will need about 3 to 5 hours, until the dough balls are triple their original size.

For shaping the dough:

Dust the cutting board with a bit of flour. You can also dust your fingers with flour if necessary to prevent the dough from sticking to them as you work with it.

Place the dough balls on the floured area. They may have developed large bubbles during the rising time, and these bubbles are okay to pop. Then gently and lightly lengthen the dough balls and let the air out where any other large bubbles have formed.

Shaping the dough can be slightly tricky. Form each lengthened piece into a slightly oblong shape, ergo slightly thicker in the middle and somewhat thinner on each end. The pieces should be a bit shorter than a foot, so don’t stretch the dough beyond one foot in length.

Conversely, if you want baguettes instead of batard loaves you can lengthen the dough balls to 17" and make them uniform in diameter end to end.

Fold the ends of each piece of lengthened dough inward to eliminate any areas on the ends that are too thin.

Once that is done, you can roll the pieces back and forth very gently, if necessary, to even them out.

Optionally you can sprinkle the tops of the batard loaves with raw sesame seeds.

For Baking:

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Place an oven proof bowl of two cups of water into the oven on a low shelf while it is preheating.

Place parchment paper flat on a 12" x 17" baking sheet, sprinkle it with corn meal, then place the shaped batard loaves (or the baguettes) on the parchment paper, separated from the sides of the baking sheet and from each other evenly by 2" or more on all sides.

Allow the loaves/baguettes to rise at 72 °F room temperature for one hour or in the proofing oven for 30 minutes, covered with a light weight damp cloth (muslim or a dish towel), for 30 minutes. Then remove the cloth carefully.

Slash the top of each loaf in three places diagonally and evenly spaced along the width of the loaf (see the recipe picture) with a sharp knife, about 1/4" to 1/2" deep, to get a classic baguette look (and to avoid having the crust crack during baking). If you are making baguettes then make six diagonal equally spaced cuts on each baguette.

Use a spray bottle of water and lightly spray/mist the surfaces of the batards or the baguettes immediately before putting them into the oven.

Bake the batards/baguettes on a high oven shelf for about 20 minutes, turning the tray around after the first ten minutes. They are done when the internal temperature is 190 °F (Use an instant read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the center of one of the loaves/baguettes). Then remove the baking sheet from the oven.

If you want you can lightly brush melted butter on the crusts with a pastry brush while they are hot. Then let the batards/baguettes cool to about room temperature before cutting them. Use a serrated edge bread knife to cut the loaves.

You now have warm and delicious French batard bread or baguettes.

Enjoy!

Alternate Directions for making Crusty Soft Rolls:

Weigh the dough and then divide it into 24 equal weight dough balls. They will be about 1 1/3 ounces each. Put the balls on two parchment paper covered baking trays in a 4 x 3 ball pattern with equal spacing between the balls and from the sides of the baking trays.

Spray the balls lightly with Pam® or a similar vegetable oil in spray form. Then spray or lightly oil two pieces of plastic wrap, each large enough to cover a baking tray.

Place the oiled pieces of plastic wrap over the dough balls, oiled side on top of the dough balls, and start the 3 to 5 hour rising period either at 72 °F or in a 100 °F proofing oven.

When the dough balls have spread out and risen in size to 2" in diameter the first rise is done.

Remove the plastic wrap pieces and then individually press on the dough in each ball gently to eliminate any large air pockets.

Optionally sprinkle raw sesame seeds on top of the dough. Trust me, this is a great idea.

Again cover the dough with the plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise a second time for one hour at 72 °F or 30 minutes in a 100 °F proofing oven.

Remove the risen dough from the proofing oven if you used one. Let the dough rest while you preheat the oven to 450 °F, ideally on a convection oven setting.

Place an oven proof bowl of two cups of water into the bottom shelf of the oven while it is preheating.

Remove the plastic wrap pieces from the risen dough.

Use a spray bottle of water and lightly spray/mist the exposed surfaces of the risen dough.

Put the baking trays of risen dough into the top two shelves of the oven. After five minutes reverse the shelves for the baking trays and turn them around front to back.

Bake for five minutes longer then again turn the baking trays around front to back and bake another five minutes.

Remove the baking trays from the oven and let the rolls cool to a warm temperature.

For best results, serve the rolls while warm soon after baking, along with butter. They should be eaten the same day they are made. OMG! They are fabulous ... I bet you can't stop eating them until most (or all) of them are gone!

Yes ... Enjoy!