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Would you believe it if I told you that ciabatta can be easy? Follow my Easy Sourdough Ciabatta Rolls recipe for a thin, crispy, golden crust a deliciously soft, chewy, open crumb with the beautiful sourdoughy after taste that we all love!

What, Why and How?

What is Ciabatta bread?

Ciabatta literally means ‘slipper’ which refers to the original shape the ciabatta was baked in.

Ciabatta bread is a traditional bread from Italy and interestingly was inspired by the Baguettes from the French. The main difference between these to delicious breads are that the ciabatta is made with a higher hydration dough and not usually shaped in any way. Where the baguettes also use a somewhat high hydration dough, but still manageable to be able to shape. Ciabatta is known for its thin, golden, crispy crust and soft, pollowy and chewy crumb. Such a delight to eat! It can also come in different sizes, from the ‘slipper’ large size that can be cut into slices like a normal loaf of bread, or you can get ciabatta rolls, which are individual shaped portions that you can cut lengthwise like a bun to add your favourite toppings.

Why is Ciabatta so special?

When eating a properly prepared ciabatta you won’t need to ask this question, but let me try to explain. Ciabatta bread has the perfect combination of thin, crispy crust and soft, chewy inside that you get to experience with every bite. Now add a good quality grass fed butter, and your favourite sandwich toppings and you have a meal that you will reach for time and time again, I promise!

When you bake your ciabatta yourself there are a kind of nostalgia to it that makes you think you are part of the famous bakeries in Italy. Just imagin if you baked your beautiful, aromatic, homemade ciabatta/s and share and enjoy them with your family and friends, you bring those far of bakeries (a dream to visit maybe once in your lifetime) right into your own home.

How do I bake my first Sourdough Ciabatta?

Now let’s get down to business.

Some bonus tips to bake your first Easy Sourdough Ciabatta Rolls:

First, you will need a nice and active Sourdough Starter.
Then get comfortable working with high hydration dough.
A secret to handling high hydration dough is to make sure you wet your hands before you touch it! Keep your hands wet while working with the dough.
Develop good strength in the dough by a series of coil folds (they seem to work better in high hydration doughs than stretch and folds), in my experience 5 coil folds work well, but you can do less or you might need one more, depending on your flours protein content.
Now you want to let it bulk rise until you can see small bubbles under the surface of the dough, about 30-50% rise.
It is best to shape at this stage and not any later as later will damage the bubbles that already formed. You don’t want to burst that precious bubbles!
When done shaping and placed upside down into prepared overnight bowls, you let it rise again before putting it in the fridge for the night.
You want to again start seeing bubbles under the surface of the dough, and it must be very jiggly.
Cold ferment is recommended because it just makes the flavour POP that extra bit!

Next day BAKING tips

Make sure you preheat your oven nice and hot, as these smaller surface breads love heat all the more that usual sourdough bread.
When handling the ciabatta dough at this stage be extra gentle and use enough flour to make sure the dough does not stick to you or the the working surface.
Use a dough cutter to cut into portions and transfer to a baking sheet lined with baking paper, or better yet if you can bake them on a pizza stone!

Ingredients for Easy Sourdough Ciabatta Rolls

365g Water
560g Unbleached White Bread Flour
50g Active Sourdough Starter
10g Non-iodised Salt
25g Olive oil

Instructions for Easy Sourdough Ciabatta Rolls

Mix all ingredients into a shaggy dough. It will be very wet.
Cover and let rest for 20-60min.
Do 3 sets of coil folds 20-30min in between.
Cover and let sit at room temperature for 6-8hours, until beautiful bubbles start showing on top.
Divide and shape into 656g dough balls.
Prepare proofing containers with a cloth and well dusted rice flour.
Final shape ciabattas to get good tension and place into prepared containers.

8. Cover and place in fridge to develop flavour.

9. Next day, set on counter for final rise, let rise until bubbles visible on the top of the dough.

10. Place in fridge while oven is preheating.

11. Pre-heat oven to 265°C (I open bake on pizza stone with top and bottom gas burners, I preheat bottom at 265°C and top at 225°C.

12. If you don’t have a baking stone, prepare a cookie sheet with baking paper and rice flour.

13. Dust your counter top with flour and dump dough carefully onto the counter.

14. Cut with a dough scraper into 6 triangles.

15. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 20-25min until golden brown top and bottom.

NOTES

This is a very delicate dough. Be very careful when handling it, use enough flour so it does not stick to your hands or to the table.

Easy Sourdough Ciabatta Rolls

Ingredients

365g Water
560g Unbleached White Bread Flour
50g Active Sourdough Starter
10g Non-iodised Salt
25g Olive oil

Instructions

Mix all ingredients into a shaggy dough. It will be very wet.
Cover and let rest for 20-60min.
Do 3 sets of coil folds 20-30min in between.
Cover and let sit at room temperature for 6-8hours, until beautiful bubbles start showing on top.
Divide and shape into 656g dough balls.
Prepare proofing containers with a cloth and well dusted rice flour.
Final shape ciabattas to get good tention and place into prepared containers.
Cover and place in fridge to develop flavour.
Next day, set on counter for final rise, let rise until bubbles visible on the top of the dough.
Place in fridge while oven is preheating.
Pre-heat oven to 265°C (I open bake on pizza stone with top and bottom gas burners, I preheat bottom at 265°C and top at 225°C.
If you don’t have a baking stone, prepare a cookie sheet with baking paper and rice flour.
Dust your counter top with flour and dump dough carefully onto the counter.
Cut with a dough scraper into 6 triangles.
Place on cookie sheet and bake for 25-30min until golden brown top and bottom.