1 t heaping, of salt
1/2 t sugar
1 T flax
1/2 t scant, of yeast (use 1/4 t if doing overnight rise)
1 1/2 c liquid (milk, water, honey... or whatever :)
Whisk dry ingredients together in large bowl.
Heat water in measuring cup to dissolve honey, if using. Add cold milk to liquid until it measures the 1.5 cups.
Mix liquid into the dry ingredients and knead well. I kneaded it right in the bowl. Who needs a dirty counter? The original instructions say the dough "shouldn't be sticky or dry, but tend toward sticky." Too funny, I've no idea what that means. My bread turned out fine regardless. Roll dough in flour and let rise in covered bowl. This can all be done in the first bowl you started out with. Rise time is whatever. Do something, come back when you want to knead the dough more. I went with a conventional hour, but am looking forward to the overnight rise.
Punch down, knead well, cover and let rise again until convenient. This time I spread flour generously over a cutting board for kneading. I also used a smaller bowl so that the dough would rise upwards instead of outwards, this had the nicest effect of letting me see very clearly that the dough had doubled, as it was rising out of my bowl. :)
Punch down again, knead ( I just pressed it out into a rectangle instead of actually kneading), shape, slash top, brush with milk or water, let proof (rise) or just put it in the cold oven. I proofed it briefly while the oven warmed but want to try the cold oven.
450 for 30 minutes then lower temp to 425 for 5-10 minutes. My baguette was done in 25 @ 450. Ovens.
I shaped the baguette by pressing a rectangle, dog earring two corners, and then rolling it up like a cinnamon roll dough. I made a long baguette but a short one might make a higher loaf and longer cook time.
I expect this to make one small loaf in a loaf pan, and doubling the recipe would yield two loaves, maybe to be rolled and baked in an 8x8. Tripling in a 9x13. Just a rumor I've heard that the bigger pans will work that way. Excited to try that and freeze the extra.
