Easy Ciabatta Bread
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This delicious ciabatta bread is soft and tender, chewy and delicious! It’s perfect for sandwiches or garlic bread, and tastes amazing!
At this point, I would say I’m a pretty experienced bread maker. I make some form of bread nearly every day, whether it’s our favorite sandwich bread, fresh homemade tortillas, or these breadsticks we can’t get enough of. Even with all of my experience, though, artisan bread making still feels so intimidating! It’s a much slower process, which feels like it allows a lot more room for error. Usually the recipes just have four main ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast) and the different outcomes depend on the ratios, method, and fermentation time. It feels like more of an art AND a science than the breads I typically make. All of that is to say, as much as I love a good ciabatta bread, I’ve never attempted it before. And then I found this simple and (relatively) quick recipe, and decided to give it a try. The result? Exactly what I was hoping for… crisp, chewy, soft, delicious bread!
The method for making these ciabatta rolls is pretty simple, although it does have four separate rise times, so you will definitely need to plan ahead and make it on a day when you have time to check in on it regularly. Anyone who has made sourdough before is probably familiar with the stretches and folds, and it’s the same technique here. It’s important to wet your hands before touching the dough, since it’s pretty sticky and difficult to work with otherwise. It may seem like a lot of steps, but it all comes together pretty easily. The end result is totally delicious, and perfect for making sandwiches or garlic bread. This ciabatta bread is a new staple at my house!
Easy Ciabatta Bread
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 cups bread flour
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the warm water and yeast. Let stand five minutes, until foamy.
- Add the salt and bread flour, and mix until the flour is all moistened and the mixture has come together into a shaggy dough. Cover and let rise for one hour.
- After one hour, uncover the dough. Dip your hand in cool water, then pull up one side of the dough, stretching it gently and folding it over the dough ball. Turn the bowl about a third of a turn, and repeat the stretch and fold, then turn it and repeat again. Cover again and let rise for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, repeat the stretch and fold process once more, then cover and let rise for 45 minutes.
- After the dough has risen, gently tip it out onto a floured surface and pat gently into an 8 x 12 rectangle, taking care not to squish out the bubbles in the dough. Cut the dough into 8 pieces using a bench scraper.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment and gently move each of the ciabatta rolls to the sheet, spacing 1-2 inches apart. Cover with a towel and let rise 30-45 minutes.
- Toward the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 425 with a pan of water on the bottom shelf. Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown and crusty.
