How to Make Ciabatta Bread! | Recipe from Scratch | Bake Along w/ Anna Olson

*Recipe below—bake along!* Warning: when making ciabatta bread dough, get ready to get sticky! This Italian bread dough is intentionally wet, sticky and sloppy, which produces a flat style of bread with giant airy holes and a well-developed taste from the Italian biga. The starter sits on your counter and transforms from a dense paste to a bubbling liquid in under 24 hours.

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*• Recipe •*
Makes 2 loaves
Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus rising
Cook Time: 40 minutes

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*• Ingredients •*

Biga (12 to 18 hours ahead):
½ cup (125 mL) lukewarm water
½ cup (75 g) bread flour
½ cup (75 g) whole wheat flour
Pinch of instant dry yeast

Dough:
2⅓ cups (580 mL) lukewarm water
3¼ cups (485 g) bread flour, plus more for shaping
1½ tsp instant dry yeast
2 tsp coarse salt

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*• Directions •*

1. For the biga, stir the water, bread flour, whole wheat flour and yeast together in a bowl with a wooden spoon until evenly blended (the biga will be quite dense). Cover and set this starter aside on the counter for 12 to 18 hours—it will be soft and bubbly by this time, and the longer it sits, the better the flavour of the bread.

2. For the dough, stir the biga and water with a spoon or even better, with your hands, in a large bowl so that the biga breaks down a little and becomes softer (but it won’t fully dissolve). Add the flour and yeast and mix by hand with a wooden spoon. The batter will be very wet, not like a traditional bread dough that can be kneaded by hand on the counter—this one will have to stay in the bowl. Once combined, let the dough sit, uncovered, for 15 minutes, then add the salt and stir in vigorously until the dough feels stretchy.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter for 2 hours, until doubled in size.

4. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and dust them with flour. On a well-floured work surface, turn the dough out (it will be very stretchy and still sticky). Using your hands and/or a bench scraper, and lots of flour, divide the dough in half and shape each of the pieces into a rough 8 × 12-inch (20 × 30 cm) rectangle about 1½ inches (3.5 cm) tall. Transfer each piece to a baking tray and let the dough rest for 30 minutes, uncovered.

5. Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Dust the tops of the loaves with flour and bake the bread for about 30 minutes, until an even golden brown. Turn off the oven and leave the bread in for 10 minutes (this sets the crust). Transfer the loaves from the baking trays to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing. The bread is best enjoyed the day it is baked, but is great for toasting or grilling the next day, or can be frozen.