Baguettes with olive flour

Eva, author of Bake-Street, brings us the recipe to prepare perfect olive baguettes. If you like getting your hands into the dough and are bread lovers, don't miss making them: At home they'll disappear!

With the arrival of good weather it's always nice to take trips to the countryside and bring some good homemade sandwiches, and if the bread is homemade, even better. Today we'll see how to add a twist to traditional baguettes and how to prepare baguettes with olive flour.

Surely many of you have thought, olive flour? Yes, that's it. It's a type of flour made from the milling of olive pits. The flavor it provides is very pleasant and intense, making our breads transform completely.

I do want to make a small recommendation about the use of olive flour, so that your breads have the best result when baking with it. It's a type of flour that we shouldn't overuse; in fact I don't recommend adding more than 5% of the total flour weight. I know it may seem like a small amount, but it's a very powerful ingredient and excessive addition can harm the final result. Not only in flavor but also in volume and crumb softness.

It's not a flour that's easy to bake with on its own; we should use it as a seasoning to add flavor and aroma. Additionally we can add, if desired, some olive seeds to the dough to further enhance and texture our baguettes. That said, in that case remember they should always be added at the end of kneading, when our dough already has the gluten fully developed.

To carry out this recipe I recommend you take a look at the post on tradition baguettes, in which I explain in full detail the steps of the baguette process; pre-shaping, shaping… That way it will be much easier for you.

A good baking is important for our baguettes to come out perfect and, in this step, the Emile Henry oven will be of great use. I know many of you have asked me about how to use it. I mentioned it in the post on tradition baguettes, but we'll do a quick summary.

We must not place the baguettes in the cold ceramic oven and then put it in the oven; doing so will result in a soft and not at all crispy baguette. We must always preheat it to promote the bread's expansion as well as achieve a thin, crispy crust. The end of the bake should be with fan, that way we further promote an exterior crispness and an even browning.

Remember that every oven is different; if with the time and temperature I specify in the recipe the baguettes don't end up crispy, in that case, extend the final baking time with fan to obtain a perfect bake.

Olive flour and seeds La Chinata, Bérard flour scoop and Mediterránea glass.

Ingredients (for 3 baguettes)

• 300gr bread flour with a strength W=180-190
• 18gr of La Chinata olive flour
• 32gr of low-protein pastry flour
• 240gr of water
• 1gr of dry yeast or 3gr of fresh yeast + 5gr of water
• 6.3gr of sea salt

Preparation

We prepare the dough for our olive baguettes:

1. In a bowl add the three types of flour and mix with the help of a silicone spatula.
2. We add the water and mix until both ingredients are completely integrated; there should be no dry flour remaining.
3. To mix it we can do it manually or in a stand mixer using the hook. We will always mix at the lowest speed for a maximum of 2 minutes.
4. We cover the dough with a cotton cloth and let autolyse for 60 minutes.
5. After this resting time we add the yeast. We dissolve the yeast in the 5gr of water and pour over the dough to fully homogenize.
6. We add the salt and proceed to knead again until integrated.

We do the first fermentation and/or bulk fermentation:

1. We place the dough in an airtight container or a bowl previously greased with olive oil. We cover with its corresponding lid or cling film to prevent the dough from forming a crust, and let a first fermentation of 3 or 3 and 1/2 hours in bulk.

During these 3 hours we will have to do folds in the dough during the first hour every 20 minutes. The next 2 or 2 and 1/2 hours we will let the dough rise without touching it at about 27-28ºC maximum.

Pre-shape and shape the baguettes:

1. We flour the work surface and turn out the dough.
2. We divide into three equal portions, they will be around 190gr each, and pre-shape.
3. We cover the pieces with a cotton cloth and let rest for 15-20 minutes. After this time, we proceed to shape our baguettes.
4. We will have prepared a couche of linen or, failing that, a large linen or cotton tablecloth and flour it generously. Set aside.
5. For shaping the baguettes you can read it in detail in the post on tradition baguettes.
6. Once it's shaped, we place the baguette on the couche. Repeat this step with the other two pieces.
7. Dust a little flour over the surface, cover and let rise about 60-90 minutes. You should see them almost double in volume.

Pre-shaping the baguettes

We bake the baguettes:

1. When there are 45 minutes left to bake the baguettes, we preheat the Emile Henry oven. We place the ceramic oven, base and lid, on the rack located in the lowest part of the oven and preheat to 250ºC.
2. We uncover the baguettes and proceed to make the cuts before transferring them to the oven. We will do this with a blade or lame slightly moistened to prevent it from sticking to the dough and tearing it.
3. The cuts should not be inclined; they are practically straight and we should make 3 to 4 cuts on the baguette with a quick, confident motion; we must not hesitate or re-cut over a cut.
4. Once we have scored the three baguettes, we spray a little water over them and place them in the oven.
5. With some oven gloves we remove the lid of the ceramic oven and set it on a surface that won't be damaged, the glass-ceramic hob for example. We transfer the baguettes, as quickly as possible, to the Emile Henry oven, and place them over the compartments.
6. We cover again with the ceramic oven lid, close our oven and bake for 10 minutes at 250ºC.
7. After this time we lower the temperature to 240ºC and bake 10 minutes more.
8. Finally we remove the lid of the ceramic oven, always using gloves, and bake about 5 minutes with fan at 220ºC.
9. We take them out and let cool on a rack.

Storage:

This bread has a short shelf life; ideally consume it the same day it's made.

Ceramic oven for baguettes by Emile Henry and bread knife

Important notes

• If we don't have a peel to transfer the baguettes from the couche to the oven we can do the following. Place a strip of parchment paper over the couche and on it place the baguette, so that once it has risen it will allow us to move it to the oven without handling it with our hands, since we risk damaging it.
• We must not let the baguettes rise inside the baguette oven, as specified in the manual, because we need to preheat it well before using it to obtain good results after baking. Otherwise they would turn out soft or gummy.
• The cuts or scoring of the baguette should be done just before baking. We cannot score the baguettes a few minutes before putting them in the oven.
• The final baking must be with fan because it helps even browning of the baguettes and removes excess moisture, allowing us to obtain a thin, very crispy crust.

These baguettes with olive flour are ideal to enjoy a good sandwich, accompany weekend tapas or enjoy a good tomato, fresh cheese (which by the way, here you have how to make at home) and a good drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy!