Ciabatta Rolls
So I am in LOVE with Ciabatta. It is the perfect roll for yummy sandwiches. I have only ever bought my ciabatta from the store & now I know why…it’s a slightly time consuming recipe to make, but it is really fun to make your own. I was like a little kid looking in the toy section of the store as I peered through the glass window of the oven for the last 20-30 minutes when you actually bake the dough. I could not wait for these rolls to be done & I totally ate one with butter & jam when it was still warm.
Anyway, this recipe is long & might seem scary, but it’s not that bad. It is a two day process, so it’s perfect for a weekend & it really makes a lot. I did one loaf & 6 rolls. And rolls, as in: big enough for a sandwich roll, not a dinky dinner size roll.
Also a quick note of my own: I weighed my ingredients like the recommendation highly suggests & I didn’t quite have my dough ball up & slap the mixer like step 4 notes. (You can check out the original blogger’s step-by-step photos HERE.) So I might try measuring next time & see if it’s any better. I might have deflated my dough a little too much when I scraped it out of my bowl onto the flowered surface too. Anyway, mine didn’t have quite as much air bubbles as I prefer my Ciabatta to have, but I will definitely be trying this again! Love my crusty, airy bread! Another note: I used my pizza stone & it barely fit all of the bread on it, so I might use the back of a baking sheet next time. Just a little warning.
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P.S. This recipe is going to be part 1 of 3 inter-twined recipes this week & you won’t want to miss them. It’s going to be good!
Ciabatta Rolls
Ingredients
Biga
- 4 ounces (118 ml) water, (½ cup)
- ½ teaspoon active-dry yeast
- 5 ounces (120 g) all-purpose flour, (1 cup)
Ciabatta
- 17 ounces (207 ml) water, (2 cups + 2 Tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon active-dry yeast
- Biga
- 20 ounces (480 g) all-purpose flour, (4 cups)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- FOR THE BIGA: Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the flour and stir to form a thick, gloppy paste. Give it a good fifty or so brisk stirs to build up the gluten. Cover and let sit at room temperature eight hours or overnight.
- By the next day, the biga will look soupy with many big bubbles dotting the surface.
- FOR THE CIABATTA: Dissolve the yeast in the water in the bowl of a standing mixer. Scrape the biga into the water and break it up with your spatula or squeeze it between your hands. You don’t need to completely dissolve the biga; just loosen it up and break it into stringy blobs.
- Add all of the flour and the salt. Stir to form a thick, very wet dough. Let this rest for 10-20 minutes to give the flour time to absorb the water.
- Fit your standing mixer with a dough hook and knead at medium speed for 15-18 minutes (Level 5 or 6 on a KitchenAid). Keep a close eye on your mixer as it has a tendency to “walk” on the counter at this speed.
- The dough will start off sticking to the bottom and sides of the bowl. Around the 7-minute mark, it will start to pull away from the sides of the bowl, collect around the dough hook, and regularly slap the sides of the bowl. If it doesn’t, nudge your mixer speed up a notch. Also, if the dough starts climbing the dough hook, stop the mixer and scrape it down again. By the end of kneading, the dough will look smooth and creamy with a glossy shine. It will puddle back into the bowl once you turn off the mixer, and this is fine.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at 70 – 75 degrees for 2-3 hours, until tripled in bulk.
- Dust your work surface heavily with flour. Set two sheets of parchment near your work surface. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the flour, taking care not to deflate it too much. Dust the top of the dough with more flour. Using a pastry scraper or pizza wheel, cut the dough in two pieces for loaves or into 16 pieces for rolls.
- Brush your hands with flour. Working gently but swiftly, scoop the the loaves (or the rolls) one at a time from the work surface to the parchment. Press your fingertips about halfway into the dough to dimple the surface and slightly flatten the loaves (or rolls). Let the loaves (or rolls) rise, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes. When ready to bake, they should look pillowy with many big bubbles just beneath the surface.
- Preheat the oven to 475˚F while the loaves are rising. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven now.
- When ready to bake, slide the loaves, still on the parchment, onto a pizza peel or baking sheet. Transfer them to the oven to cook, either on the baking stone or directly on the baking sheet if you don’t have a stone. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Slip the parchment out from under the loaves and cool completely before eating.
Notes
- YIELD: 2 loaves or 12-16 rolls
- Tip #1: To freshen bread: Wrap ciabatta roll in a wet paper towel & heat in the microwave for 15 seconds.
- Tip #2: When you slice your bread in half for a sandwich, start at the corner using a serrated bread knife & watch your hand/fingers! (Using a cutting board is best.)
Did you make this?
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This is a keeper! I just printed this and hope I get such a beautiful result as you do 🙂
I love ciabatta bread. I know that the next time I feel like making some bread these will probably be the ones I try. Thanks for the recipe.