Roasted Garlic Ciabatta Bread
This crusty, airy ciabatta bread has a flour-swirled crust packed with roasted garlic flavor. Serve it sliced thin to dip in oil or topped with bruschetta, or slice loaves in half and top with your favorite sandwich fillings. Looking for a plain ciabatta? Check out my soft-baked ciabatta recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 garlic bulb (roasted, cloves removed)
- 30 grams olive oil
- 540 grams flour
- 2 teaspoons diamond crystal kosher salt (use half as much of any other brand)
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds (optional)
- 1 teaspoons instant yeast
- 355 grams warm water (90°F)
Instructions
- Roast a bulb of garlic. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice the top off a bulb of garlic. Place in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil (and fennel seeds, optional). Gather the foil loosely around the bulb in a teardrop shape. Roast for 40-45 minutes.Turn the oven off.
- Mix the dough. Combine flour, salt, yeast, and fennel seeds (if not roasted with the garlic) in a large, sturdy mixing bowl. Add the water, olive oil, and roasted garlic cloves (squish them out of their papers), and mix well with a bowl scraper or spatula, smashing the garlic cloves as you go. Keep mixing until a messy wet dough forms. Gather the dough into a ball in the bottom of the bowl.
- Bulk fermentation & folding. Cover the dough and let it bulk ferment for the next 3 hours, with folds in the bowl every 30 minutes (a total of 6 sets of folds). To do a set of folds: Grab the top edge of the dough and stretch it away from you, then fold it down over the center of the dough. Rotate the bowl and repeat all the way around.
- Preheat the oven. When the final set of folds is complete, let the dough rest for a final 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500°F.
- Shape ciabatta. Generously flour your countertop and gently release the dough from the bowl onto the counter. Loosely stretch it into an 8″x10″ rectangle approximately 2″ high. Dust the top generously with flour too.
- Cut the loaves. Use a knife or a sharp-edged bench scraper to cut the dough into 2 long loaves, 4 medium loaves, or 8 rolls. Cover the rolls with a clean dish towel and let rest while the oven preheats, at least 30 minutes (up to an an hour is fine).
- Flip the loaves. Trim parchment paper to size. Flip the loaves over to reveal the beautiful flour patterns and gently place onto parchment paper.
- Bake. Bake for 500°F for 5 minutes, then reduce the temp to 450°F degrees, and continue baking for another 20-22 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown on top, firm on the sides, and feel light for their size. They should sound hollow when you tap the bottoms.
- Cool. Let cool on a wire rack before eating. The loaves will soften as they cool.
RECIPE NOTES
- If you don’t have a baking stone or baking steel, use a preheated inverted cookie sheet.
- Ciabatta tends to dry out or harden quickly. These are best consumed within a few days of baking. To revive them on day 4 or 5, you can cut them in half, run the halves quickly under water, then place in a 250°F degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until the water evaporates. I know, it sounds weird. But it totally works.