Ciabatta Bread

I have been enjoying this bread for several years now and wanted to comment in response to some folks who have had trouble with the stickiness. It IS sticky, and I usually don't have time to be bothered with shaping sticky dough into loaves, so my solution has been to pour the dough from the bread machine pan directly into a lightly greased 9x11 pyrex. Then (with oiled hands) I push and pull the bread to spread it evenly across the pan, trying to be as ginger as possible so as not to lose the lovely air pockets. Then I cover it with a tea towel and slide it into a warm oven to rise (a minute at 200 degrees usually does the trick). Then, pull it out to preheat and bake as usual (maybe a bit longer than normal due to the thickness of the "loaf"). I realize that the finished product isn't nearly so traditional, but it has been a simple, fool-proof solution for me, and makes a tasty pan of bread! Thanks for the great recipe!!!

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Lovely bread - I made it exactly as described... well, I did replace one cup of white bread flour with wheat bread flour. I definately think spritzing the bread while in the oven is important, and I also had a cast iron pan in the oven with water in it, too. Thanks for the easy recipe - I'm using it as a base for one of my ZWT recipes! PS - definately read Eadaein's review on how to handle the dough - I'm very glad I did!

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5 stars is not enough!!I make this twice aweek,thanks

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Works and tastes great! Especially good if you use a baking stone (or pizza stone).

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I live at 7000 feet. Therefore, I usually have to adjust for extra dry air and quick rising. I adjusted the flour by only using 3 even cups. The power went out during step 8 and I had a 2.75 hour rise time. That said, this was the BEST bread I have ever made. My husband is incredibly impressed. I will try again soon with standard rise time.

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Enjoyed both MAKING and EATING this bread! It's soooo easy! Took the advice of AlaskanAmateur (sort of - thanks!) and used a 17x11 pan, sprayed with Pam, then lined with foil, then buttered, before putting the dough in. I then patted it out (with oiled hands) as much as possible. Turned out great. Used 2-day old leftover pieces to top off French Onion Soup. I sliced pieces of the bread in half through the middle and used for sandwiches. Uses for this bread are limitless! Would also be great for dipping in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Used some for garlic bread for my sister's birthday dinner (along with Penne ala Vodka). I'm making a second batch tonight--just to have on hand because it's so versatile. Thanks for sharing Tish!

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Oh my goodness this is delicious bread! I don't have a bread machine so I just mixed it up by hand. By far this is one of the easiest breads to whip together I have ever made. The dough was very wet, and I made a mess out of shaping it. So when it came out of the oven it looked like a mishapen blob. My husband looked at it doubtfully! One taste was all it took - this stuff is good. I made it early this afternoon and I am not sure there will be any left for dinner... Oh - I forgot to spritz it but no fears, it came out great. I will definitely be making this often. If I can learn to shape it into buns I will be in heaven! Thanks for posting.

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1/2011

Have made several times now.. EVERYONE WANTS A LOAF! a

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Delicious and easy! My only complaint was putting the dough on parchment paper while baking. Mine stuck and I had to cut all the bottoms off because of it. Thanks! I know I will get plenty of use from this recipe :-)

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I made this tonight to go with Italian Wedding soup. Great bread. I bake bread every week but I've never made Ciabatta bread. This went perfectly with our soup. I will be baking this again. I did forget to spritz the bread with water until the very end but no worries it still was crusty and tasted great. Thanks so much for posting!

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I made this recipe today and although I made a major mistake, the mistake turned out to be very pleasant. By accident, I pressed the sweet bread setting instead of the dough setting on my bread machine & walked away w/o even checking I had done everything correctly. When I came back to take the dough out of the machine I discovered my mistake. I found a gorgeous looking loaf of bread waiting for me. My husband and I had it tonight & it was absolutely wonderful. I still intend to make the traditional ciabatta bread by the end of the week. Am sure it will be as delicious as my 'mistake' is.

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This was great. Made 1/2 a batch and made it into four rolls. It was delicious! Will definetely be making again.

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It was impossible to handle the dough without adding flour! I am waiting for it to raise now but discouraged. What does "dimple the dough" mean?

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easy and delicious. made just as posted except that i separated the dough into 6 steak roll size portions and used them - fresh and hot from the oven - for philly cheesesteak sandwiches. because the dough was split into 6 smaller portions, i only had to let it rise 20 mins the second time. they turned out perfect!! my hubby said twice that he thought the bread was awesome! a keeper recipe, for sure. thanks for posting.

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I really don't know how this recipe had gotten so many good reviews. I followed it exactly and it came out an awful mess. The bread did make somewhat of loaf but there was no flavor to it at all. I am really disappointed. I've never had any problems with any other breads that I've made until now. Won't be doing this one again.

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Perfect!! I love Ciabatta Bread, and this turned out to be better than I can buy, so will be making it from now on. Thanks so much.

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This was the very first bread I made in my new breadmaker and it came out perfectly. I had dough not batter, but I did use real bread flour as the recipe recommends. I used some of the other rater's hints: Left it in the machine with it unplugged for the first rest period, shaped it into dough right onto my baking stone, and sprayed the plastic wrap with non-stick spray. The results were fantastic! The only thing I didn't do was spray the crust every 5 minutes. Based on the finished product, there was really no need!

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Excellent ciabatta bread recipe! I'm glad the recipe instructs to NOT add additional water or I would have been very tempted to. The result is a wonderfully crusty bread with a fantastic texture on the inside. Thank you, Tish!

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