Pap Steve Cooks: Same-Day Baguettes

(The Baguette Pan Makes It Foolproof)

Listen up, crew – we’re usin’ the KitchenAid Classic with the dough hook AND the exact perforated baguette pan I use that turns “pretty good” into “shut-the-front-door good.” I’ve burned through three different baguette pans in my life. This one right here is the keeper.

The Gear That Matters

• KitchenAid Classic stand mixer with dough hook (you already know)
• THIS exact baguette pan
  (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases – full disclosure, if you buy it through that link Pap Steve gets a couple nickels for his coffee fund. Worth it.)

Ingredients (don’t change a damn thing)

• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2¼ to 2½ cups warm water (I use the full 2½ every time – wet dough = big holes)
• Flaky salt for the top

KitchenAid + Perfect-Pan Instructions (2025 Edition)

1. Throw flour, yeast, sugar, and kosher salt in the KitchenAid bowl. Do a quick mix on low with the dough hook.
   
   
2. Mixer on speed 2, slowly pour in 2¼ cups warm water. After 45 seconds it’ll still look shaggy – keep going. Bump to speed 4 for 15 seconds, then add extra water a tablespoon at a time until it’s a sticky, shiny mess. Knead on speed 2 for exactly 2 minutes. Done. Arms saved. (Note you may need to use a spatula to work the flour off the sides and into the path of the dough hook)
   
3. Cover and walk away 30 minutes (bowl in the oven with just the light on).
   
4. Uncover, run mixer on speed 2 for 20–30 seconds to do the stretch-and-fold for you. Cover again, 60-minute nap.
5. Preheat oven to 450°F and get your perforated baguette pan ready.
   
   (Seriously, click that and thank me later. The holes on the bottom give you that pro-level crust and the shape holds perfect every time. No more flat sidewalk baguettes.)
6. Flour the counter like you’re hiding a body. Gently dump the bubbly dough out, divide into 3 with a bench scraper.
   
7. Take each piece, give it a couple gentle twists and stretches lengthwise, and lay it right in the channels of that magic pan. Sprinkle flaky salt on top because we’re not animals. Some people bake them right away, but Pap Steve puts them back in the unheated oven to rise for 15 more minutes and then heats up the oven to 450 degrees and bakes for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven. Just keep an eye on ’em!
   
8. Optional pro move: toss a cast-iron skillet with a cup of water on the bottom rack for steam. Slide the pan in. 25–30 minutes later you’ve got golden, crackly, hollow-sounding perfection.

Pap Steve’s Final Verdict

★★★★★ (and the extra star is 100% because of that pan)
I’ve made these on a plain cookie sheet – they’re good. I make ‘em in THIS perforated baguette pan and suddenly the neighbors are leaving thank-you notes in my mailbox.

(Quick legal thing: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases when you use that link. Costs you nothing extra, just helps keep the garage lights on and the flour flowing.)

Now quit stallin’. Click the link, order the pan, fire up the KitchenAid, and get ready for your family to start callin’ you “Chef Pap.”

Game’s on in two hours and these baguettes wait for no man.

– Pap Steve
(Currently fighting our dog Pepper for the last heel)