Saturday, January 14, 2012

Homemade Ciabatta Rolls

Ciabatta Rolls

I recently made homemade ciabatta rolls.  They were actually quite simple to make.   There are a few steps involved and some time (you start making the dough the day before you want to eat the rolls), but mostly you can do what you want while the dough does “its thing”.

First thing, I didn’t know this, but you start by  making a starter called biga.  It’s simple.  After you mix up a few things, it rests overnight (and you do, too).   The biga just has some water, yeast and flour, much like a starter for sourdough.  For your enjoyment and learning, I took some photos of the process.  You should feel quite special about that. ;)

Here’s the biga ready for it’s sleep time.

Ciabatta Biga 1-2-12

The next day, it’ll look kind of soupy (forgot that picture), but you’ll add the biga to some water and yeast and rub your fingers through it and loosen it up into stringy blogs.  How fun is that!

Biga

After that, you just add some salt and the flour and stir (I let my Kitchen Aid do it all with the dough hook) until it becomes a thick, wet dough.  After a short rest, you again let the mixer knead the dough for 15-18 minutes.  Go about other business, but stay in the kitchen.  With that mixer working away, it gets a bouncing just a little and you don’t want it to walk its way off the counter!  That mixer is workin’ it.

Ciabatta Dough ready to rise

After it has kneaded itself into a beautiful dough, cover it and let it rise for 2-3 hours.  It’s worth the wait!  Here’s the dough after that first rise.  I ran to the store when it was almost at the 2 hour mark and by the time I returned, it was ready to go, almost deflated a little, but it worked just fine!

DSCF9225

The dough, with the help of a well-floured counter, forms beautifully.

Ciabatta dough ready to cut into rolls

You could actually just bake it like this and cut or tear off pieces if you’d like.  I wanted to make rolls, so I just cut it into rustic pieces and carefully moved them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Ciabatta dough rolls ready to bake The dough is very soft and bubbly.  Don’t deflate it, that’s what gives ciabatta that nice airiness.  I just carefully moved each one with a flat knife and my fingers.   I had two sheets full which was about 18 rolls.  Use your fingers to dimple the surface of the dough and let them rise uncovered for just 30 minutes.  Here’s a roll all ready for the oven!

Risen ciabatta roll dough

They are baked at a high temperature of 475 degrees which helps give them that nice crusty exterior!

Homemade Ciabatta Rolls 1-2-12

Inside a ciabatta roll

These made for some great barbeque chicken sandwiches, but were just as good slathered with some butter!

Buttered Ciabatta Roll

Wow!  That’s a lot of pictures!  I won’t do that to you every time.  It’s just not me.  But that was kind of fun to look back and see the progression of a ciabatta roll.  Give them a try!

Homemade Ciabatta Rolls

Okay, that’s all.  Are ciabatta rolls ever made with whole wheat?  I just might have to try that because I really only took a bite or two of one of these as I try to mostly only eat whole grains.  (Oh yes, treats and desserts are an exception there!)  More of that coming soon!

Oh, and the recipe for these rolls, I got from The Kitchn and followed it almost exactly, it a well-written post with lots of photos and tutorial that’s easy to follow.  

22 comments:

I'm At Home Baking said...

Wow, these look delicious!

Suzanne said...

Ciabatta! My fave.Love it with some olive oil & balsamic with some garlic and herbs. Maybe I can make this one work. You make it sound so easy!

cherie said...

Love all the pictures - no apologies. Ciabatta is number one on my 'stop wasting money on buying, just bake it' list.

I think I've seen whole wheat versions online before - post if you try it!

Leslie said...

I think they turned out beautifully!!! Especially with the butter slathered on them

Kayte said...

Oh, these look wonderful. I love ciabatta! See, we will get you baking bread with us before you know it...it's rather addicting. Put down that chocolate and come and bake bread with us on Twitter! We are making Vienna bread tomorrow. Yes, we are...you would love it. lol

Anonymous said...

Those turned out great! I made a King Arthur recipe for Harvest Grains Ciabatta not long ago. It was really tasty, but I didn't think it seemed like Ciabatta.

Ashley said...

Those are gorgeous! I've never made my own, but I've always wanted to:)

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

I've never made these before but I must try it. We love ciabatta bread to mnake paninis on.

Cookin' Canuck said...

These look so simple to make! We like to use ciabatta bread in our panini maker and it would be fun to use a homemade version.

Denise @ Creative Kitchen said...

You make these rolls look so easy! Love your step by step photos.

Denise @ Creative Kitchen

Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more said...

oh yum!

Di said...

Those look gorgeous! It's been way too long since I've made ciabatta--this post is great inspiration. =)

Snappy Gourmet said...

Oh yum! These look so delicious! I love homemade bread!

Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen said...

These are awesome! I love ciabatta bread, but I've never tried to make it.

Pratiksha said...

I've been wanting to make ciabatta since a long time. Your recipe looks wonderful! Will try them soon!

Luck,
Pratiksha @Honeyed Pandemonium (Blogspot)

Anonymous said...

These are really beautiful - I can only imagine how fantastic your house smelt! I bet those boys loved them!
Mary x

marla said...

My kiddos would go nuts for these with gobs of butter!

madison said...

So where do I find the recipe - please (have lost the one I got from ''the Baker Boys' and this is the closest I could get but I need to know the final ingredients (I have the bigs - sourdough starter)

Really appreciate it
athena

tenaw0068@gmail.com

madison said...

So where do I find the recipe - please (have lost the one I got from ''the Baker Boys' and this is the closest I could get but I need to know the final ingredients (I have the bigs - sourdough starter)

Really appreciate it
athena

tenaw0068@gmail.com

madison said...

Hej again

I've been making these Ciabatta Buns for over a year now, and they are good, but not as great as what your pictures seem to show. You;res seem to been more ''tough'' if you may, how do you accomplish this (and why are yours 'darker' in colour ? are you using something other than Italian or typical flour.

Look forward to comment
Best
Athena

Anonymous said...

Can you use sourdough starter instead of yeast?

Katrina said...

Anonymous, here's an article on another blog I found about using starters and yeast that might be helpful.