Simple Sourdough Ciabatta Bread
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Last month, while posting a photo of this brioche loaf on Instagram, I posed a question: If 2020 was the year of banana bread and focaccia, what will be THE bread of 2021?
Which bread, I asked, did everyone want to learn how to make most?
Of all the responses, which included everything from fougasse to hoagie rolls, a crusty baguette was the most frequently cited, ciabatta following closely behind.
I’m excited to say today, after a few weeks of experiments, I have a wonderful sourdough ciabatta recipe to share. It has a thin, but crisp crust, a beautiful honeycomb crumb, and a lovely lightness and chew. It’s perfect for sandwiches.
And best of all: it’s truly simple. Made with four ingredients, this recipe requires neither an autolyse nor preferment, neither a preheated Dutch oven nor baking stone. If you have a sheet pan, you’re good to go.
What’s more, there’s no shaping or scoring, no balling up dough or creating tension. Truly, after the bulk fermentation, which includes some fridge time, you turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, pat it into a rectangle, and divide it into 8 roughly equal pieces. You then transfer those pieces, irregularly shaped and all, to a sheet pan, and bake them one hour later.
But can I tell you the most exciting part? This dough makes a decent — a more than decent — baguette! It’s not super crusty, but it’s a nice baguette nonetheless, flour-dusted and unscored, with a crumb and flavor better than any other I’ve attempted previously.
Friends, I hope you love this recipe. It’s on par with this sourdough focaccia recipe in terms of simplicity and effort, but it’s a totally different animal. I can’t wait for you to give it a try.
PS: If sourdough isn’t your thing, please try this yeast-leavened ciabatta bread recipe.
This post is organized as follows:
- 3 Tips for Sourdough Success
- What is Ciabatta?
- Sourdough Ciabatta, Step by Step
- Ciabatta Sandwich
- Sourdough Ciabatta “Baguettes” 🥖🥖🥖
3 Tips for Sourdough Success
Before you get started with this recipe, here are my three tips for sourdough bread baking.
- It starts with your starter.
- This will sound obvious, but: it starts with your starter. Before you mix a loaf of sourdough bread, you must ensure your starter is bubbly and active. I like to feed my starter at night before bed, let it rise and fall overnight; then feed it again in the morning. By midday, it’s ready.
- Use a digital scale.
- I say this all the time, but using a scale to measure the ingredients for a loaf of sourdough bread makes all the difference. So much of sourdough bread baking is simply a matter of using the precise amount of water given your environment and given the flour you are using. If you use cups to measure you are simply not being precise, and as a result, you will not be able to make meaningful adjustments should the recipe as written not work out perfectly.
- Use a straight-sided vessel for the bulk fermentation.
- With sourdough bread baking, one frequent problem bakers run into is over-fermentation. If you let the first rise go too long, the dough will over-ferment and become a sticky, unsalvageable mess. A straight-sided vessel allows you to see when your dough has truly increased in volume by 50%, 75%, 100% or whatever volume increase you are after.
- The vessel I use in this recipe, similar to this one, is 8 cups. Most grocery stores carry storage vessels similarly sized.
What is Ciabatta?
- Originating from the Lake Como region of northern Italy, ciabatta means “slipper” in Italian. Traditional ciabatta is characterized by this slipper shape as well as an extremely porous and chewy texture.
- Traditionally, ciabatta dough is very wet, calls for very little yeast, and requires a long, slow rise.
- Traditional recipes, too, often call for making a biga (a preferment), which helps produce that light, porous texture.
Sourdough Ciabatta, Step by Step:
Gather your ingredients: bread flour, water, salt, and a sourdough starter. I am a proponent of buying a starter (see recipe box for sources), but if you are up for it, you can build a starter from scratch in just about 1 week.
For this recipe, you’ll need: 100 grams sourdough starter, 360 grams water, 450 grams flour, and 12 grams salt. It’s 80% hydration.
Mix together the water, sourdough starter, and salt.
Add the flour and mix to form a sticky dough ball.
Cover the bowl and let rest for 30 minutes. Then perform a set of stretches and folds. See the video above or in the recipe box for guidance. This is what the dough will look like after one set of stretches and folds.
This is what the dough will look like after 4 sets of stretches and folds.
Transfer dough to a straight-sided vessel (this one is 8 cups, but anything similarly sized will do) for the bulk fermentation (the first rise):
Mark the height of the dough on the vessel, cover the vessel, and let the dough rise until it increases in volume by roughly 75%.
When the dough has increased by 75% (roughly), place a lid on the vessel, and transfer it to the fridge for 12-24 hours.
When ready to bake, remove the vessel from the fridge.
Dust the top of the dough liberally with flour. Dust a work surface liberally with flour, too.
Turn the dough out onto the prepared work surface.
Pat the dough into a rectangle.
Cut the rectangle into 8 roughly equal portions.
Transfer the portions to a parchment-lined sheet pan. Let rest for 1 hour. Then transfer to a 475ºF oven for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 450ºF and bake for 10 minutes more.
Transfer the rolls immediately to a cooling rack, and let cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting.
How pretty is that crumb?
Ciabatta Sandwich
I have written about this favorite sandwich before, so forgive me if you know the story. It comes from Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Bones, and Butter, a favorite book, and it’s something Gabrielle’s ex-husband, Michele, made for her during their courtship. If you have the book, the story is on page 163.
In short, the success of the sandwich relies on a delicate balance: “the perfection of three fats together — butter, olive oil, and the white fat from prosciutto or lardo.” To make it, spread good bread with “cool waxy butter,” top with prosciutto (more than you think), and arugula. Drizzle it all with good olive oil.
Sourdough Ciabatta “Baguettes” 🥖🥖🥖
To make baguettes, follow the same process, but instead of dividing the rectangle of dough into 8 portions, divide it into two. I find an extra-large sheet pan to be necessary to bake both baguettes at the same time. If you don’t have an extra-large sheet pan, I would bake one baguette at a time, and orient it at a diagonal angle from one corner to another.
Bake the baguettes at the same temperature and for the same amount of time as the rolls.
Not bad for the effort, right?
These ciabatta “baguettes” would be great vessels for giant sandwiches. I’ve been craving Bahn mi since
Simple Sourdough Ciabatta Bread
- Total Time: 24 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 Rolls
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Notes:
- You need an active sourdough starter. You can build a starter from scratch in just about 1 week. But I am a huge proponent of buying a starter. Here are two sources:
- As always, I highly recommend investing in a digital scale before beginning any bread baking adventure.
Flour: I have had success using all-purpose flour, but if you can get your hands on bread flour, that is ideal, especially if you live in Canada or abroad. Moreover, if you live in Canada or abroad, you may need to reduce the water amount. Consider holding back some of the water during the mixing process to ensure you don’t end up with a soupy mess.
Straight-Sided Vessel:
- The vessel I use in this recipe, similar to this one, is 8 cups. Most grocery stores carry storage vessels similarly sized.
- Using a straight-sided vessel for the bulk fermentation will help prevent over-fermentation because it allows you to see when the dough has truly increased by 75% (or slightly more or less) in volume.
Ingredients
- 360 grams (about 1.5 cups) water
- 12 grams (about 2 teaspoons) salt
- 100 grams (about 1/2 cup) active sourdough starter, see notes above
- 450 grams (about 3.5 cups) bread flour, see notes above
Instructions
- Mix the dough: Place the water in a large bowl. Add the salt and stir briefly. Add the starter and stir briefly to incorporate. Add the flour, and stir until you have a wet, sticky dough ball. Knead briefly with your hands if necessary to incorporate the flour. Cover with a tea towel or cloth bowl cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Stretches and folds: With wet hands, grab one side of the dough, and pull up and to the center. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat the grabbing and pulling. Do this until you’ve made a full circle. (Watch the video for more guidance. I do a few more pulls and turns in the video.) Cover the bowl. Repeat this process three more times at 30-minute intervals for a total of 4 sets of stretches and folds over the course of two hours. (In the video, I switch to coil folds for the last two sets of stretches and folds.)
- Bulk fermentation: Transfer the dough to a straight-sided vessel. Cover the vessel with a towel. Let rise at room temperature until the dough nearly doubles in volume (shoot for a 75% increase in volume). Times will vary depending on your environment and the strength of your starter. Recently, this has taken about 4 hours for me, but don’t worry if it takes longer for you. Cover vessel with a lid (ideally) or a towel (if you are using a towel, slick the top of the dough with oil to prevent it from drying out.) Transfer to fridge for 12-24 hours.
- Shape: Remove vessel from fridge. Remove lid. Sprinkle top of dough liberally with flour. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Pat dough into a rectangle. Sprinkle top with flour. Use a bench scraper to cut the dough in half vertically. Then make three cuts equally spaced in each half to create 8 small rectangles.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. With floured hands, transfer each rectangle to the prepared pan, gently pulling outward. Cover the pan with a towel. Let stand for one hour.
- Bake: Heat oven to 475ºF. Transfer pan to oven and bake for 10 minutes. Lower heat to 450ºF, rotate pan, and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove pan from oven. Transfer ciabatta rolls to a cooling rack. Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American, Italian
Keywords: sourdough, ciabatta, starter, simple
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
394 Comments on “Simple Sourdough Ciabatta Bread”
I’m looking forward to making these ciabatta rolls. Will they freeze well?
★★★★★
Yes!
The receipe is so easy and simple to follow. My first attempt today and it turns out beautifully. Thank you Ali for sharing.
★★★★★
Great to hear, Agnes! Thanks for writing 🙂
These were super easy and looked beautiful on the outside! The flavor was delicious but I didn’t get a big airy crumb. Is this from over proofing or could it have anything to do with high altitude?
★★★★★
Hi Emily! It could have been any number of things and altitude definitely could have played a role.
Questions: are you using a scale to measure? what type of flour are you using? have you made other sourdough breads successfully?
Hi! Yes, I used a scale. I used all purpose flour but added some vital wheat gluten (and adjusted flour weight accordingly) so it was more like bread flour. I do make sourdough country loaves often as well as other naturally leavened baked goods. But this was my first run at ciabatta. 🙂
Great to hear about the scale! I wonder if the vital wheat gluten is affecting the crumb? I’ve never baked with it so I can’t really speak to how it affects crumb structure, but my suggestion would be to try making it without the vital wheat gluten and see how it turns out.
I am an newbie cook, and have your cookbook, and like it a lot. Your website however has way, way, way too many ads to develop a communication and relationship with your recipes online. BTW i thought my ciabatta sourdough rolls would have been a bit bigger, but they look great. Can’t wait to serve them tonight.
Hi Alexandra, thank you for a great recipe. Do you have any suggestions on how to get a softer crust? Does steam or lower temperature help?
★★★★★
Is it crusty all around or is the bottom side too brown?
easy to make. crumb was soft and airy with a nice thin crispy crust. i used all purpose flour with added vital gluten. used the ciabatta to make panini sandwiches with halloumi cheese. turned out great.
★★★★★
Yum! Sounds delicious. Thanks for writing 🙂
Hi Ali, thank you for this recipe. I made baguettes the first time, following the recipe exactly. They were excellent, great airy crumb and the crust was beautiful with just the right crunch. The only issue was the dough was very wet and sticky making it difficult to work and the finished shape was more of a flat oval than I would have liked. I made the ciabatta the 2nd time and reduced the hydration quite a bit to 65% and the end results were also excellent and the shape held up much better but the dough is still quite sticky when working. I’m using Central Milling Artisan flour and weighing everything. The big difference for my baking is that we live in the mountains at 8,000′. Any thoughts on how much I can adjust hydration without negatively affecting the outcome?
Oops, I forgot to provide a rating with my precious comments. Definitely a 5 star. I’m working on fine tuning to adjust for high altitude baking.
★★★★★
Thanks for all of this, Glenn 🙂
So from what I’ve heard from others who bake at high altitude, the keys are high hydration doughs (because the air is dry) + long slow fermentation. However, it definitely sounds as though your dough is stickier/wetter than ideal, so I think reducing the water is a good idea. It’s also possible that the Central Milling Flour absorbs less water than KAF bread flour, making for a wetter dough, which is another reason to reduce the amount of water.
When you do the stretches and folds, do you find that the dough transforms and becomes more elastic and less sticky by the end? Or is it still very sticky?
One thought would be to try a different brand of flour like KAF bread flour just to compare the differences in texture. I know Central Milling is wonderful, tasty flour, so if you’d rather not experiment with other brands, I get it.
Thanks for your reply Ali. I didn’t notice much difference in the stickiness after the stretch and folds. I’ll pick up a small bag of KAF on our next trip to the city so I can experience the difference. We’ll let you know the results.
It is very dry here and also never gets hot so we’ve adapted our baking by using a Brod & Taylor proofing box and an Anova steam oven. Both were game changers in controlling how the processes. We can consistently get the sourdough starter active in about 5 hours and proofing is easily controlled. BTW… the Brod & Taylor works excellent for slow cooker cooking since you can accurately control the temps.
Great tip on the B&T proofing box. I have been meaning to get one. I’ve heard such good things about it over the years. Keep me posted on your trials. I’m thinking that reducing the water should help you see a difference in the texture of the dough during the stretches and folds — that’s perplexing me. It’s also possible that the flour you are using absorbs water more slowly. So as time goes on, it gets wetter.
It would be my first try and would be curious to know if no steaming is required. Thanks
No steaming required!
Love this recipe! It makes amazing buns! The family gobbled them up. Will try the loaf next time. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Great to hear, Shelley!
This is by far my favorite recipe for sourdough bread!!!! & very easy to follow instructions + great video tutorial! 🙂
★★★★★
Have you waited longer than 24 hours in the refrigerator to bake? I was going to bake tonight, but something came up, so it looks like they’ll be resting in the fridge for more like 37 hours.
Should be just fine! Go for it 🙂
These turned out great! Beginner here and also only used plain flour with success. Well loved and eaten by the whole family. Followed recipe exactly, may try a bit of garlic for a savoury batch next time.
★★★★★
Great to hear, Tara!
This looks so good! What a great bread on its own or for a sandwich!
I can’t wait to make! What other sandwich toppings does it go well with?
Hello Ali.
I tried making your ciabatta recipe and they were good! I did get a bit worried when I took the dough out of the fridge after the bulk fermentation because I saw a bit of liquid on the bottom of the container, around the dough. Thank goodness it didn’t have any negative effect on the dough.
I did have both the written recipe on + the youtube version while making the ciabatta, just to make sure I follow it right especially with the folding.
This will definitely be my “go-to ciabatta recipe” from now on!
★★★★★
Great to hear, Anna!
This is a very easy recipe which produces great results. I’ve made yeast ciabatta with great success but this was my first go at sourdough. My yeast recipe is from Peter Reinhart and includes olive oil. I may add olive oil to the next batch just to experiment, but this is quite good as written.
★★★★★
Great to hear, Suzanne! Thanks for writing 🙂
I have made the baguettes many times and they taste wonderful. I make them for friends and family because I am gluten free.
The only thing that I am wondering is why is my dough so flat when I make it into loaves for the cookie sheet or baguette pans? I was reading and it says that this recipe you do not need to score. However when I use the baguette pans the dough seems to protrude out one side. I have tried scoring it and not scoring it but the dough really is too wet to score.
Any suggestions?
Again I love the recipe and it is easy and tastes great. I just want it to look great also.
★★★★★
Hi Michele,
This dough definitely is too wet to score, but that is the nature of ciabatta – it should be on the flat side and kind of rustic looking. My only thought, however, would be to reduce the amount of water slightly. Are you using a scale to measure? And what type of flour are you using?
Hi,
What do you mention that of from Canada, we might mees to hold back on water? Is it because bread flour in Canada is known to be different from elsewhere? Or is it because our humidity is different (higher I would assume)?
Also, i think your recipe is 82% hydration, not 80% as you did not factor the sourdough which would add 50g flour and 50g of water which would make 410g water / 500g flour which gives 82%, or Im I wrong calculating it that way?
Regards,
Martin from Canada 🙂
Hi Martin! Yes, it has to do with the flour and not the weather. When I’ve troubleshooted with some Canadians over the years, some have had success simply using bread flour for ap flour; others have had to in addition to switching to bread flour to also hold back some of the water.
I will check the hydration… I’m sure you’re right 🙂
Ali – My friend Mandie just gave me some of her sourdough starter. I immediately wanted to make your ciabattas. My first 2 batches of ciabattas turned out wonderfully…… except for the fact that every inch of the rolls is covered in “stuck” parchment paper….. Of course, I didn’t realize I might be able to spray the parchment paper before trying to tear each of the rolls off the paper…… Do you have a fool-proof method with parchment paper that I don’t know about…. I have never had luck with this paper not sticking and should have known better. I love all of your recipes for using the starter and discard – can’t wait to taste my rolls, even if I have to spit out a bit of paper now and then. I’m onto your pizza dough next! Thanks for a GREAT website!!!
★★★★★
Terry, such a bummer to hear about the sticking! I’m afraid it comes down to the brand of parchment. I bought a bulk pack that turned out to be a disaster bc it was low quality. I’ve had luck with the If You Care brand, Reynolds, King Arthur Flour, and a few others, but I would advise reading the reviews before purchasing. Do you recall off hand which brand you used?
Thank you for your kind word! Means the world 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wonderful recipe! Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
Thank you so much for this simple recipe. I added rosemary. So delish 😋
★★★★★
Great to hear, Rossana! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Hi Ali!
Do I absolutely have to put it in the fridge? Or can I skip to the next step? I was hoping to make these for dinner.
Apologies for the delay here! What did you end up doing? You can skip the fridge step, but the bread might not come out as airy/light.
I made this following the recipe exactly as written. Oh my!! This is so good. For such a simple bread, it’s so flavorful. Nice thin crust. Nice chew. I wouldn’t change a thing. This is going into my permanent recipe file. Thanks for this recipe.
★★★★★
Great to hear, J.T.!
I am very impressed with the flavor and forgiveness of this recipe. The flavor and texture of this recipe is immaculate — I made them for sandwiches, but found myself unable to resist eating an entire roll with some butter not long after they came out of the oven. I tried following instructions exactly, but I misread the bit about allowing them to rest for 1 hour on the baking sheet and instead allowed the dough to rest for an hour before cutting and placing them on the tray. They still turned out perfectly airy and spongey like in the photos above — something that I cannot say about other bread recipes, where there’s a lot less forgiveness for mishaps like that. For the amount of work involved, this recipe has a very high payoff, so I will definitely be making these again. My house smells amazing and my only complaint is that I know they won’t last long!
★★★★★
So nice to read all of this, TM! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. Glad the process is forgiving 🙂