Easy Ciabatta Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is ciabatta bread soft or hard? ›

I've long loved ciabatta bread for its chewy exterior and soft crumb speckled with air holes. It's the perfect bread for dunking into soup, slicing horizontally and making a sandwich, converting to garlic bread, or for simply slathering with butter and eating until your heart's content.

Lubricate With Oil. One of the easiest ways our bakers follow to make bread soft and fluffy is by using 1-2 tablespoons of lubricant/fats such as vegetable oil to wet the ingredients. This will prevent the formation of excess gluten, as excess gluten makes bread chewy.

Ciabatta is baked with a much higher hydration level, making the holes within the dough much bigger than a baguette. Ciabatta is also baked with a much stronger flour, which has a more delicate and sweet taste. Baguettes also tend to be baked more golden brown.

You will know if you have over proofed your dough if it collapses when you touch it, or if it doesn't rise in the oven. It is also very important to make sure that your yeast isn't expired - to test this, place a little in some lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar, and check that it bubbles.

Ciabatta dough is wet and sticky with hydration levels often 80% or higher. Both the recipe below and this sourdough version are 82% hydration. (If you are unfamiliar: To calculate hydration percentage, simply divide the weight of the water by the weight of the flour; then multiply it by 100.

There's something magical about the bread you get at your local bakeries - they're always sooo soft and fluffy. Many of these breads, especially packaged ones, are made with a ton of chemical additives such as calcium propionate, amylase, and chlorine dioxide which help keep them soft, light, and fluffy for days.

Adding dry milk powder to your bread dough will help your loaf rise higher. In addition, the loaf will stay soft and hold moisture longer which again means it will last longer. It also helps brown the crust. If you want a lighter fluffier bread loaf just add 2 Tbsp of dry milk to the flour per loaf of your bread.

When you add milk to your dough, the lactose (milk sugar) will add a subtle sweetness to your bread, and the milk proteins will increase its nutritional value. Better still, the milk fats help retain carbon monoxide gases during baking, so your loaf comes out softer.

The name derives from its appearance, as ciabatta in Italian means 'slipper', referring to its long, flat shape. Although throughout history there have been many breads that resemble ciabatta, the exact bread variety is actually quite new on the scene in regards to other traditional Italian breads.

Italian bread is a type of bread that is traditionally made with a few simple ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast. The specific type of flour used can vary, but it is usually a high-gluten flour such as bread flour or tipo 00 flour. The yeast used can be fresh yeast, active dry yeast, or instant yeast.

Why do people like ciabatta? ›

Ciabatta's unique flavor and texture are the result of the bread's unusual baking process. The dough is made with a high hydration level, which makes it wet and sticky. The dough is then stretched and folded, which helps to create the bread's distinctive air pockets.

If baked too soon or too late, loaves can collapse and have a dense, gummy center. “There are so many factors that affect rise time, so exact time will vary for every baker.

Lack of gas and fermentation that makes the dough aerate results in dense and heavy bread. In these cases, it is either necessary to allow the dough to be proof longer or move it to the warmer room.

Transfer the dough to a large, oiled bowl. Cover tightly with cling film and chill overnight. Bring the dough up to room temperature before continuing with the next step. The dough is ready when bubbles are visible on the surface.

Ciabatta is high in hydration, which means it contains high amount of water. This makes handling the ciabatta dough little tough. To make making ciabatta bread easy, you can use a strong bread flour, which has high gluten levels and absorbs good amount of water.

For example, ciabatta bread has a higher water content, giving ciabatta an airier and lighter texture compared to sourdough bread. Ciabatta bread also has a crustier outer layer while sourdough bread tends to be chewier. These two types of bread also have differences in taste.

Brioche bread tends to be incredibly soft and tender due to its rich ingredients like butter and eggs. It's often praised for its delicate texture. Brioche is a French bread known for its rich, buttery flavor and a soft, tender crumb.

In the oven: Preheat oven to 200° or Warm setting. Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place on a baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes. In the microwave: Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place it on a microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 10 seconds.