Add the yeast, sugar and warm water into a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to go frothy.
7 g yeast, 3 tsp sugar, 210 ml warm water
Note: By letting your yeast go frothy you are testing that it is active and going to work in your recipe. If it doesn’t go frothy then don’t use it, you’ll need to try another yeast.
In a large bowl add the flour and salt, stir to combine.
350 g strong white bread flour, 1 tsp salt
Add the olive oil and stir again to combine. You may see little globules of oil within the flour but this is fine.
2 tsp olive oil
Once the yeast mix is frothy, add it to the flour mixture and stir it in. The dough should come together and pick up most of the flour from the bowl. You shouldn’t need to but feel free to add a touch more flour or water as necessary.
Lightly flour a surface and your hands and knead the dough for 7 minutes until it is smooth and elastic, kind of like the texture of bubblegum!
Put the dough in a clean bowl, cover it and set aside in a warm place to rise (prove) for 1 hour, when it should be roughly double in size.
Lightly flour a smooth surface and your hands. Turn the dough out onto the surface and divide it into two roughly equally sized sections.
Roll each section of dough into a baguette shape, approximately 25-30cm long.
Place the two baguettes on a lightly floured tray and cover with a tea towel. Set aside in a warm place to prove for 45 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional / 400°F / gas mark 7).
Bake the baguettes for around 12 minutes until golden all over and sounding hollow when you tap their base.
Set the baguettes aside on a cooling rack to cool completely.