Bilbo and Frodo lived in the Shire, in the village of Hobbiton, in their home called Bag End. For those who don’t know their last name was Baggins and Bag End was a play on their name. While I love both the books and movies, I actually prefer Bag Uette. No one lives there, but everyone loves them anyway.

These are classic French Baguettes made with AP flour for the soft interior and baked hot for the crisp crust. They require at lease 12 hours of fermentation so it’s best to start it the night before you plan to devour them.

Baguettes Classic French

INGREDIENTS

• 500 g all purpose flour
• 360 g water
• 10 g salt
• 3 g instant yeast about 1 tsp
• 25 g honey about 1 Tbsp

METHOD

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
2. Over a period of 1½ hours, do 3 sets of stretch and folds, flipping the dough upside down after each set.
3. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight for about 12-14 hours.
4. Turn the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 3 equal parts and shape into rectangles each ~10 inches long. Cover and let rest for 45-60 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 500F, with a baking stone positioned in the upper half the oven and a bread pan filled with hot water on the bottom rack.
6. Stretch each dough rectangle slightly and fold into a cylinder, sealing the seams as you roll. Using your hands, roll the cylinders gently stretching them from the center towards the ends to desired length, about 14-15 inches.
7. Place on a lightly floured couche, seam side up. Cover and proof at a room temperature for about 30-60 minutes, or until the dough has sufficiently proofed. Press dough with a finger. If it springs back slowly it is sufficiently proofed.
8. Transfer the baguettes to a piece of parchment paper, seam side down and dust off excess flour. Using a bread lame, a sharp knife or a razor blade, make 5 diagonal scores on each baguette. When scoring, use a swift and firm motion to ensure nice and clean cuts.
9. Open the oven, taking caution not to get burned by steam, and slide the baguettes and parchment paper off onto the baking stone. Close the oven and reduce temperature to 475F. Bake for 15 minutes.
10. Remove the water pan, rotate the baguettes, drop the temperature to 450F and continue baking for another 15 minutes or until deep golden brown.