Easy Homemade Ciabatta Recipe

Most people think that bread-making is a labor-intensive process, making them shy away from ever trying to make a loaf themselves. However, this recipe for ciabatta bread will prove you wrong because bread making can be easy to make — the proof is in this recipe. How do 10 minutes of prep time and 20 minutes of bake time sound? This recipe yields eight slices and you can use the ciabatta however you wish. Whether you want to make sandwiches or to use the bread dunk in your soup on a cold winter night, it hits the spot.

Recipe developer Miriam Hahn came up with this easy and delicious recipe that will satisfy all of your bread cravings. "I love this recipe because it is so simple and I always have the ingredients on hand so can whip it up at a moment's notice. It is delicious and there is nothing like fresh homemade bread! Makes the house smell amazing!" Hahn raves. "This recipe is great for a beginner! There is no kneading involved and you don't need a stand mixer. One of the easier bread recipes for sure!" And let's be honest: Homemade is always better than store-bought. "Homemade is so much better than store bought because there are no preservatives and it just tastes so fresh," Hahn says. "Plus you can eat it soon after baking while it is still warm!"

To make this recipe, you will only need a handful of items. Just pick up warm water (which you should have at home), active dry yeast, all-purpose flour, and salt.

Once you have those things, you can make this easy homemade ciabatta.

Take out a small bowl and toss in ¼ cup of warm water and the yeast. Double-check to ensure that the water is not too hot because if it is, it will deactivate the yeast, which we don't want. Do not mix the two together just yet. Once you add the water and yeast to the bowl, let it sit for 5 minutes, and then stir to mix. 

For this step, you will need to take out a large bowl. Add two cups of all-purpose flour and your salt first. Then, make a well in the center of the flour and add the yeast mixture as well as the remaining water. Use a wooden spoon or a Danish whisk to mix everything together to form the dough. 

Please note that the dough will be a little sticky in this phase, so you will want to add 1 ½ tablespoons of flour on top.

As with any bread recipe, you will need to give this ciabatta dough some time to rise. Cover the bowl with your dough with a large, damp tea towel. Then, be sure to stick the bowl in a nice warm area and let it rise for at least 1 ½ hours. If it's a nice warm day outside, you can also set the bread there and let it rise. 

It's getting closer to baking time, so go ahead and preheat your oven to 425 F. At this point, you can also line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the dough from the bowl to the prepared baking sheet and form it into an oblong loaf. 

Place the sheet with dough in the top rack in the oven. Then, get a deep baking dish and fill it with about 10 ice cubes. Put that dish in the bottom rack of the oven. The purpose of this is to create vapor as they bread cooks. Continue baking the bread for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Once you remove the baking sheet from the oven, allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes. Then, you can slice and serve. "I love to serve this a few different ways. It is a great appetizer paired with olives, tomatoes, hummus, or pesto. You can cut the slices in half or keep them whole on a charcuterie board," Hahn shares. "I love dipping this bread into a thick chunky soup (corn chowder is pictured) and it is also so great with a big bowl of pasta! Also pairs nice with Caesar salad!" 

One more note from Hahn. "This bread is best eaten the same day it is made. The loaf is not huge so it is easy to finish this up in one family meal. If you do have leftover you can store them in a ziplock and it will still be good the next day but not quite as good as it is that first day," she shares. "If I do have it leftover beyond a day or so, I usually cut it up and make croutons out of it." Yum!