Pour warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the water, and let stand until the yeast begins to foam (5 min).

Gently stir in 2 c of flour into the water until combined.

Add the salt and 2 more cups of flour until the mixture forms a stiff dough, adding more flour if necessary.

Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. If necessary, use the additional ½ c of flour to keep the dough from sticking as you knead.

Transfer dough to a greased bowl, turn to coat the dough with oil, and let rise, covered, in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk ( 1 ½ hours).

Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Press gently to degas slightly. And, shape into a baguette, roughly 21” long. (I like to divide the dough into two and make two smaller baguettes, simply for ease of fitting them on a baking sheet.)

Place baguette(s) onto a baking sheet and let rise, lightly covered, for roughly 30 min.

About 20 min into this last rising time, preheat oven to 400F.

Using a sharp knife, make 3-4 diagonal slashes deep into the dough (roughly ½ inch). Sprinkle the top with cool water and sesame seeds if desired.

Bake 30-40 min or until deep golden in color.

Immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool.