Paul Hollywood is one of the biggest names in bread making. I love watching him on the Great British Bake Off so much because I learn a whole lot from him. There is a lot of wisdom behind those piercing blue eyes! So this week I decided to attempt his recipe for homemade ciabatta because it looked so good. It was a technical challenge on the show a few seasons back and I am making it part of my tribute to the show. I’ve already made kouign amann, lemon poppy seed drizzle cake, and homemade English muffins and it has been such a blast to recreate these recipes from the show. The ciabatta bread was no different.
Oh my goodness, there is nothing like fresh and homemade bread. This homemade ciabatta had such fantastic flavor and texture. It made a lot so that I had sandwich bread for days. Whatever I didn’t need right away, I froze for later. I stayed very close to Paul’s recipe here, and I was so glad I did! Hope you all have fun trying your hand at making homemade bread too. xoxo
Homemade ciabatta bread is much easier than you think to make! The ingredients are simple and you get a crusty exterior with a fluffy interior.
- 500 grams bread flour plus additional for dusting
- 10 grams instant dry yeast
- 10 grams salt
- 1 3/4 cups cold water divided
- olive oil for coating the container
- semolina flour for dusting
- First, make the easy dough. Set up a stand mixer with a dough hook and pour the flour in. Then add the yeast and salt, but keep them separate in the bowl. Finally, add about a cup of the cold water and turn the mixer on low speed. Slowly add more water until you have a soft dough. You may not need all of the water. Continue to let the dough hook do its work for 8-10 minutes. Then get out a large (at least 3.3 liter) square container with a lid and lightly drizzle it with olive oil. Turn the dough out into the container and make sure it is even. Put on the lid and set it aside at room temperature to almost triple in size for 1.5 hours.
- When the time is up and the dough is huge, dust a clean work surface really well with more flour and semolina. Also get out two sheet trays and line them with silicone mats. Dust them well also. Turn the dough out gently onto the work surface gently, without deflating it or making it lose its shape. Dust more flour and semolina on the top. Cut it lengthwise into 4 equal loaves, then stretch each of them out just a bit to be a little longer. Transfer two loaves to each of the prepared sheets and set them aside to rise for another half hour to 45 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 425 when they finish rising. Bake the loaves for about 25 minutes, they should become crisp on the outside and sound hollow on the inside. Let them cool completely on racks, then serve immediately! It will also freeze well to use as you need it.
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This is fantastic! The ciabatta are baked to perfection! What did you serve it with?
Oh I’ve been using it for sandwiches, to mop up pasta sauce, you name it!! Thank you so much for the kind comments 🙂
Yummy! Can’t wait to make these. Had no idea it was so easy.
Thank you so much!!
I love the smell of fresh bread baking and that ciabatta looks so yummy! Great pictures too.
Oh thank you very much, that means a lot!
Wow, this ciabatta bread looks delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe! I’m curious about the woven mat you used under the bread. Wondering what is that made out of?
Oh it’s just a regular old silicone baking mat. I don’t know what I would do without those things now. They can be found in any kitchen section at Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Amazon, you name it! Thanks so much for the comment and kind words :-).
I’m going to need to try this recipe out! I’ve only ever made buns for soup or boughten bread… I need to stop being lazy and make my own bread! However I’d probably end up eating a whole loaf to myself… lol! Thanks for sharing!
Oh it took all of my willpower not to eat an entire loaf warm out of the oven, so I get it! Thanks so much for stopping by :-).
Nothing is more comforting to me than fresh baked bread, and this one looks delicious! I like to bake but bread has always intimidated me. I might have to give your recipe a shot!
Oh definitely give it a shot, don’t be intimidated! It’s really fun to make. Thanks so much for stopping by!!
This looks amazing. I am not a bread maker and I don’t have instant yeast. Can I use Active Dry Yeast if I bloom it in water before adding to the flour?
I’ve never tried it but it is worth a shot since all yeast is hard to come by these days!