3-Hour Soft-Baked Ciabatta Bread

This soft-baked ciabatta bread has a beautiful open crumb and an airy, tender texture. Clocking in at just three hours start to finish (most of it hands-off resting time), this easy ciabatta recipe is a perfect option for a lazy weekend or evening baking project!

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 17

Resting Time (Total) 2 30

Total Time 2 57

Servings rolls

Ingredients

500 grams all purpose flour (plus ~20 grams more for dusting)
15 grams diamond crystal kosher salt
6 grams instant yeast (2 teaspoons)
425 grams warm water (90°F)
30 grams extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Mix. In a large mixing bowl (or a square dough container), whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast. Make a well in the center and add the warm water and olive oil. Use a dough whisk, fork, or small spatula to stir the liquid in the center, slowly incorporating flour from the sides of the bowl until it comes together in a messy ball with no dry patches of flour hiding inside.

Troubleshooting dry/wet dough: If your dough seems too dry, use wet hands instead of damp hands to incorporate more water while you're mixing or folding the dough until it looks like it does in my photos. This should definitely not feel like a dry dough. If the dough seems too wet, keep going with the recipe. Many of my recipe testers told me they thought their dough was too wet when it was actually just right. If your dough is SO wet that it is still tearing and not stretching during the second set of folds, then dust in a small amount of flour.

Bulk Fermentation. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1 hour, performing a set of coil folds every 15 minutes. After the final set of folds, cover the bowl and let the dough rest for an additional 1 hour.

One set of coil folds consists of four coil folds. To perform one coil fold, slide damp hands under opposite sides of the dough and lift straight up from the center, allowing the two ends to fold under the center of the dough. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat.

Preheat. Preheat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the center position. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set it aside.
Stretch. Dust your counter well with flour, then dust the top of the dough with flour too. Flip the bowl upside down over the floured countertop and let gravity pull the dough down. Gently lift the bowl off the dough, using your fingers or a bowl scraper to help any stuck pieces of dough release cleanly.
Cut. Dust the sticky top side of the dough lightly with flour. Cut the dough into two, four, eight, or 16 rolls. Cut in an up and down motion so the dough doesn't stick to your blade. Dust the newly cut sides with additional flour as needed to prevent sticking. Be patient, and don't worry about them being perfect. Cover the dough with a clean dish towel and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

If you're baking one large ciabatta loaf or 16 pull apart dinner rolls, do this step directly onto the parchment lined baking sheet and skip flipping them later.

Flip (Optional!). Dust any excess flour off the top of the dough, then slide a bench scraper under the ciabatta loaves in one quick movement. Lift and gently flip them over onto the sheet pan so the underside is now facing up. If you don't have a bench scraper, use your hands to flip it.
Bake. Bake until puffed up, light golden brown around the edges, and the internal temperature reaches 195°F, 17-19 minutes.

If baking 16 individual dinner rolls reduce bake time by 2-3 minutes.

Baking one large loaf or 16 pull-apart rolls may require an additional 2-3 minutes of bake time.

For crustier ciabatta, bake for 20-22 minutes.

Cool. Let cool completely before slicing. Even soft-baked ciabatta will seem very hard and crusty when it first comes out of the oven, but will become soft and fluffy as it cools. Transfer to a wire rack to cool faster.

RECIPE NOTES

Overnight rise: Cover the dough and place in the fridge after the final set of coil folds and let it finish bulk fermentation there.
Be gentle: The folding process is as much about incorporating air as it is about building strength into the dough. Once the dough has finished bulk fermentation, handle it as gently as possible to preserve as much of the air inside the dough as you can. Use "fingertip light" pressure to stretch and shape it.
Coil fold troubleshooting: If you find it easier to do stretch and folds, do those instead. It doesn't matter that you do the coil folds perfectly. It matters that the gluten network in the dough is getting folded at all. Do your best with the coil folds, but if there's a different folding method or technique that works better for you — use it!
Dust off excess flour before baking: Some people like a super floury ciabatta, while others prefer less flour on the outside. Whatever flour is on top of your ciabatta loaf when it goes into the oven is going to be there when it comes out. For a less floury ciabatta, use a pastry brush or your fingers to dust it off.
How to store: Baked ciabatta can be stored at room temperature for 4-5 days in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature with a paper towel to absorb moisture. It will begin to lose its super soft and squishy texture after about 2 days, but can be revived by toasting or popping it in a 350°F oven for a few minutes.
How to freeze: Ciabatta freezes beautifully. I usually just toss the loaves in a plastic bag and freeze them, but if you want to do it "right" and avoid freezer burn, wrap each individual loaf in foil or plastic wrap before putting them in a bag in the freezer. To reheat soft-baked ciabatta from frozen, unwrap the bread and place the whole loaf in a 350°F oven for 5-10 minutes.
On a baking steel/stone: To bake on a baking steel, preheat the oven for 1 hour at 450°F. Launch the ciabatta loaves onto the steel using a pizza peel with or without parchment paper and bake for 15-17 minutes.