About our ciabatta recipe
The classic staple, that is a warm ciabatta surely has to be the bake to master if you want to experience the best of bread baking? The versatile loaf is another artisan Italian bread which goes perfect with almost anything.
Why not create your own ciabatta garlic bread, or the perfect accompanyment to hot soup on a cold winters' day?
Are ciabatta and foccacia the same?
Focaccia is lightweight and cake-like where as ciabatta has a dence dough and chewy texture. Focaccia is also baked as a flatbread, whilst ciabatta is baked as a loaf and can be sliced into pieces.
Ciabatta makes the perfect sandwich with chewy crusts, whilst focaccia is a yummy antipasto or appetizer. I don't know about you, but our tummies are rumbling.
Method
Step 1:
Put the flour, sugar, salt and yeast into a bowl. Mix to a soft dough with the oil and water.
Step 2:
Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
Step 3:
Divide the dough into two pieces. Stretch each piece into a rough circle about this size of a dinner plate and then fold like an envelope to give the traditional ciabatta shape.
Step 4:
Place the loaves on a greased baking tray and leave covered with a tea towel until slightly risen. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6).
Step 5:
Dust liberally with flour and bake in an oven for 15-20 minutes until well risen and puffy.
Step 6:
Leave on a wire rack to cool.
Ingredients
- 50g Very strong white bread flour
- 450g Allinson's Strong white bread flour
- 2 tsp Unrefined golden granulated sugar
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 1.25 tsp Easy bake yeast
- 4 tbsp Olive oil
- 285ml Warm water
Recipe Reviews
Whatever these loaves are it isn’t ciabatta. This is the only recipe from this website that hasn’t worked for me even though I followed the recipe to the letter. I used both Allinson’s flours and the yeast. The result is very doughy and dense and there’s no open crumbs. They are soft like a stottie cake. What have I done wrong?
Hello,
Doughy and dense would say to me that the dough has been overworked and not baked for long enough. Maybe try adjusting the kneading time and the bake time and see if this makes a difference.
Happy Baking!
I’ve made lots of bread from this site but this was my first attempt at Ciabatta
I made mine in to 8 small loafs more the size you would get from the supermarket perfect for sandwiches and it was absolutely delicious. The wife said she will let me make it again 😂
I wasn’t sure what the instruction fold like an envelope meant. The dough didn’t rise much and the ciabatta were too dense, I’ll try the recipe again when I know how to fold the two pieces.
Hello,
Folding like an envelope is to pick up one of the sides of the dough (on the right or the left) and fold it a third of the way over the rest of the dough. The second fold is like folding a letter. Pick up the opposite side of the dough that you folded and stretch it over the first fold, laying it on top. To make the third fold, grab the top edge of the rectangle (the side farthest from you) and pull in toward you, folding it one-third of the way.
I hope this helps,
Happy Baking!
Very nice and very easy! Great!
Tried this and it works very well indeed. This will become my 'quick bread for lunch' recipe to go with a soup or plough mans.
Ingredients
- 50g Very strong white bread flour
- 450g Allinson's Strong white bread flour
- 2 tsp Unrefined golden granulated sugar
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 1.25 tsp Easy bake yeast
- 4 tbsp Olive oil
- 285ml Warm water