When Your Sweet Tooth Calls, A French Baguette Treat Can Answer

If you're looking for a sweet snack to tide you over before dinner, we've got you covered with a delicious French treat that's super-simple to prepare but tastes phenomenally moreish: Squares of creamy chocolate sandwiched between the soft, open crumb of a freshly baked baguette. Enjoyed by French children post-school as part of an afternoon snack tradition called le goûter, which bridges the gap between mid-afternoon and dinner, this sweet sub is fast, fuss-free, and delightfully pleasurable.

To make this French treat, simply split open a fresh baguette, lay it out like an open book, and place a few squares of your favorite chocolate inside. Close it back up to create a cute little sweet sandwich that you can savor on the trot or pull out of your bag at a moment's notice to pre-empt and prevent an oncoming tantrum from a hungry pre-schooler.

Bear in mind that opting for a rich, dark chocolate, with 70 to 85% cocoa solids, makes for an intensely-flavored snack with a mildly bitter edge, perfect for grown-up chocolate connoisseurs. However, a creamy, milk chocolate with a softer, lighter texture is the ideal alternative for kids who prefer a sweeter treat. Feeling adventurous? Select chocolate flavored with anything from orange and mint to salted caramel and almond to create a new goûter for every day of the week. You could even choose a chocolate that contains nuts, raisins, or wafers to create more textural interest alongside the crunchiness of the crusty baguette.

In France, it's common to slather the split baguette with a touch of salted butter before laying on the chocolate to make a sweet and salty treat that hits every tastebud. The combination of rich, salted butter and creamy milk chocolate levels up this simple treat into a scrumptious pick-me-up with a deeper flavor profile. The thick layer of butter often causes the chocolate to squeeze out of the bread as it's being devoured too, but pushing the squares back into the baguette is part and parcel of all the fun.

If your baguette isn't as fresh as you'd like, try warming it up first before spreading the butter inside and sandwiching it back together with your squares of chocolate. The heat from the interior crumb of the baguette will melt both the chocolate and the butter to create a dreamy, gooey treat that's guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth on the very first bite. No matter whether you use bittersweet, semisweet, or milk chocolate, this continental snack is a winner eaten just outside the school gates, at work alongside a coffee, or at home as a midnight morsel when the kids are tucked up in bed.