Rose, if your mixer had trouble kneading the dough, I suspect it was much too stiff; this would also explain its toughness, and its probable (from what you say) lack of large holes in the interior. We weigh our flour at 4.25 ounces per cup, which means you used an extra 1/2 cup+ flour in your baguettes compared to the ones pictured in this blog post — which would certainly make your dough a lot stiffer than ours was. I hope you try these again, pegging your flour at 4.25 ounces a cup — I think you'll be much more pleased with the results. PJH

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