Easy Ciabatta Bread Recipe with Garlic and Basil Bruschetta
If you haven’t ever tried Ciabatta bread, you are missing out! This light, airy, melt-in-your-mouth bread is a rustic bread lover’s dream. And with this Easy Ciabatta Bread Recipe you too can be baking loaves like a champ!
Ingredients
For the Bread
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/4 cups warm water not hot!, drier climates may require up to 1/4 cup more
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups bread flour or substitute for more all-purpose
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Bruschetta
- 2 cloves large garlic
- 2 teaspoon oil
- 3 medium sized tomatoes pick your favorite variety!
- 15-20 leaves fresh basil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Get that Ciabatta going!
- Mix the sugar, 2 1/4 cups of the water, and the yeast in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes
- After that’s nice and bubbly, mix with the flours and salt in a stand-mixer. My dough was a little too stiff, so I added another 1/4 cup of water at this time.
- Let sit for 15 minutes
- Switch to the dough-hook attachment and mix on medium speed until you start to see it pulling away from the sides nicely
- Transfer to a greased container to let rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2-2 hours. It should triple in size by then
- Transfer dough to heavily floured parchment, divide into two sections and shape roughly into desired shape*
- (*The dough rises a lot more than you’d expect! I suggest using different baking sheets (rather than having to deal with separating the dough masses (*cough cough*)
- It’s not going to look like much, but these babies are on their way to becoming delicious bread!
- Let the dough rise for one more hour, until they look nice and puffy
- Preheat oven to 500°. (If using steam method, place empty, shallow baking tray on the bottom rack now)
- Once the oven is fully preheated pour 1 cup of water into the not hot baking tray, creating an impressive amount of steam!
- Quickly put dough in oven and close the door to preserve as much as possible
- Bake for 25 minutes until nice and golden
- They will sound hollow when knocked on when baked completely through
During any of the rise times, get the Bruschetta going!
- Throw the garlic cloves into a food processor and run until finely-diced
- Add the tomatoes and pulse a couple of times, don’t over process!
- My favorite way to quickly cut the basil is to roll the leaves together and chop into “confetti”
- Add the basil, oil, salt and pepper to the food processor and pulse to desired consistency
- If you find the bruschetta is too wet, drain out liquid as needed
- Cut the bread, toast if you’d like, scoop the bruscetta, and you’ve got a beautiful and refreshing finger food.
Notes
Store bread sealed at room temperature to preserve moisture.
Store Bruschetta sealed in the refrigerator.
Store Bruschetta sealed in the refrigerator.