What if I told you you could make sourdough ciabatta bread rolls just as easily as a fresh loaf of sourdough bread? With my insanely easy no knead sourdough bread recipe you can modify the last step to create delicious sourdough ciabatta bread in less than 24 hours.
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I love cooking for my family but with three young children it can be hard to want to cook when a recipe is complicated or has a bunch of ingredients. That’s why if you haven’t tried my insanely easy no kneed sourdough bread recipe I would encourage you to try it first! It is so delicious and truly easy to make. By simply dividing the bread dough you can shape them into little rolls and have ciabatta bread rolls in no time at all.
Isn’t Sourdough super time consuming?
When making sourdough anything, or cooking in general I always want to make it as simple as possible. When meal prepping becomes tedious and recipes contain one-use ingredients it can make simple enjoyable tasks seem so much harder and frankly just not worth it.
Two years ago we took our children to Italy! If you didn’t know- their bread is incredible! After we got back I decided to try my hand at some different bread recipes. I love the gut benefits of sourdough, so I started with sourdough ciabatta bread rolls. While I found a specific recipe meant to make ciabatta bread, I discovered that I could simply shift the last step from my tried and true no knead sourdough bread recipe and get an excellent sourdough ciabatta bread. I even decided to make them into mini rolls, rather than one long loaf. If I’m being honest it’s because the long loaf felt like “too much” for me- so rolls it was!
Things you will need for the Irresistibly Simple Sourdough Ciabatta Bread Rolls
- Active sourdough starter- this is a really fun jar to keep it in!
- Dutch oven
- Parchment paper
- Baking Scale
- Cooking spray
- Unbleached all-purpose flour ( King Arthur)
- High quality salt ( I prefer Pink Himalayan salt or Redmond real salt)
- Large Mixing bowl (I love using a stoneware bowl)
- Large storage bag
First things first we have to make the bread!
Remove your starter from the fridge and feed it. You will feed it equal parts unbleached all-purpose flour and room temperature (filtered) water. I keep my starter in a 1 quart mason jar so I usually feed mine with 1/2c heaping flour and 1/2c water. Mix together and cover with tea towel. Place in a warm spot to rise.
Once your starter is active, bubbly and has doubled in size it’s ready to combine for your bread dough. (About 6-8 hrs later *this will greatly depend on starter maturity and room temperature).
In a large mixing bowl combine unbleached bread flour (or all-purpose flour), room temperature (filtered) water, active sourdough starter and pink Himalayan salt. Mix with hands or silicone spatula until everything is combined. Cover with tea towel and place in warm spot to rest for 30 minutes.
With wet hands take one side of the dough, pull up and gently fold over into the center. This is called a “stretch and fold”. You will turn the bowl just slightly and repeat this process all the way around the dough until a smooth side is formed underneath.
Flip the dough over (smooth side up) and cover with tea towel. Place bowl in warm spot and allow to rise 8-12 hours.
8-12 hours later…..
On and clean counter spray a light layer of evoo and then turn your dough out of the mixing bowl, sometimes I have to use a bowl scraper to get all the dough off the sides. I have one like this. Once your dough is out, divide your dough with the bowl scraper into roughly 8 equal portions.
Once your dough is divided gently shape your dough into 8 rectangular rolls. I do this by gently doing an envelope fold for each portion. To learn how to do an envelope fold look at my no knead sourdough bread recipe! Remember- sourdough does not have to be this art form, nor does it have to be perfect. Let this be fun. My goal with baking from scratch bread is that I have a healthy bread options for my family, not that I have a beautiful or perfect bread option.
Place the dough onto a slightly greased parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rise for another 2 hours. Often times mine will rise quicker depending on my room temperature.
Heat oven to 425°F. Then a large glass baking dish add water until half full, place dish on the lower baking rack (see above image). This will help steam the bread as it helps it rise. Next place the baking pan on the rack above and bake for 10-15 mins or until the tops start to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Slice and Enjoy!
How to store your ciabatta bread rolls?
Simple! There are several ways to store your ciabatta bread. You can simply place the left over ones in a glass baking dish with a lid, a large reusable gallon sized storage bag or simply a regular ziplock bag. I prefer the airtight storage method over allowing air circulation for my loaf, this allows the bread to retain the most moisture inside- with this method you do loose the crunch of the crust, however, I prefer this over harder bread. The most important aspect of fresh bread storage is to cool your bread completely before storing it!
When reheating to eat later I like to sprinkle water on my bread and heat it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 8 mins, or until warmed. Enjoy your sourdough ciabatta bread rolls within 3-4 days for optimal freshness!
For more tips and tricks for sourdough bread check out my insanely easy no knead sourdough bread recipe.
Timeline for my incredibly easy sourdough ciabatta bread
8 pm: Remove starter from fridge and feed equal parts Unbleached All-Purpose Flour and Room Temperature (filtered) water. Cover with tea towel let rise 8-12 hours.
8 am After starter is bubbly and doubled in size (Time will depend on maturity of starter) combine your bread dough.
30 min rest
8:30am Stretch and Fold. Place dough smooth side up, cover with tea towel and let ferment in warm place until dough has doubled and become bubbly- typically 8 hours depending on room temperature and maturity of starter.
That afternoon
3:30pm Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with EVOO, set aside. On a clean counter, lightly spray EVOO and turn dough out of bowl. Divide dough into 8 equal portions. Do a light envelope fold for each dough portion and place on the baking sheet with parchment paper. Cover with a tea towel and allow dough to rest for 1- 2 hours in a warm spot.
5pm Heat oven to 425°F. Place a large pyrex dish filled halfway with water on bottom rack of oven while oven is heating. This water will help the bread rise. Place the risen ciabatta bread on the rack above the pyrex dish. Bake for 10-15min or until the tops are slightly golden brown.
Remove from oven and place bread on cooling rack. Once bread has cooled slightly, slice and enjoy!
Incredibly Easy Sourdough Ciabatta Bread
This sourdough ciabatta bread is sure the be a crowd favorite !
Ingredients
- 600g Unbleached Bread flour or all-purpose flour (4 1/2 cups)
- 400g Room Temp Water (Filtered)
- 150g Active Sourdough Starter
- 13g Pink Himalayan Salt
Instructions
- Once your starter is active, bubbly and has doubled in size it's ready to combine for your bread dough.
- In a large mixing bowl combine unbleached bread flour (or all-purpose flour), room temperature (filtered) water, active sourdough starter and pink Himalayan salt. Combine with hands or silicone spatula until everything is combined. Cover with tea towel and place in warm spot to rest for 30 minutes.
- With wet hands take one side of the dough, pull up and gently fold over into the center. This is called a "stretch and fold". You will turn the bowl just slightly and repeat this process all the way around the dough until a smooth side is formed underneath. Flip the dough over (smooth side up) and cover with tea towel. Place bowl in warm spot and allow to rise 8-12 hours.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and grease with EVOO spary. Set aside.
- Turn dough out onto clean counter that has be lightly sprayed with EVOO. Divide dough into 8 portions with bowl scraper. Gently do an envelope fold for each portion of dough by taking one side and gently pulling up then tucking into the opposite side. You will do this for each of the four sides of dough. Then flip the dough over (smooth side up), place the dough on the lined baking sheet. Repeat for all 8 portions of dough spacing the dough about 1inch in between. Cover dough with tea towel and allow to rise for 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 425°F
- In a large glass pyrex dish fill 1/2 full with water. Place dish on the lowest rack in the oven.
- Uncover dough and place baking sheet into the oven above the dish of water. Bake the bread for 10-15 mins or until the tops are starting to become golden brown.
- Place bread on cooling rack. Allow bread to cool and enjoy!
1. Feed your starter
Remove your starter from the fridge and feed it. You will feed it equal parts unbleached all-purpose flour and room temperature (filtered) water. I keep my starter in a 1 quart mason jar so I usually feed mine with 1/2c heaping flour and 1/2c water. Mix together and cover with tea towel. Place in a warm spot to rise.
2. Mixing your dough
3. Baking
Notes
Ciabatta bread is the perfect bread for french dips! If you haven't made this together what are you waiting for?! This is my go to french dip recipe.
To reheat your sourdough ciabatta bread simply sprinkle bread with water and bake in the oven at 350 °F for 5 mins or until warm.
It's important to remember that your room temperature, and starter maturity can affect the time it takes for the starter and bread dough to rise.
You can allow the bread to do an additional bulk ferment for 12 hours in the fridge after the first 12 hour ferment if you would like. The longer it ferments the more sour the bread may become and the more beneficial the gut benefits are.
- Dutch oven
- Parchment paper
- Large mixing bowl
- Baking scale
- Tea towel
- EVOO spray
What to make with my ciabatta bread?
Our favorite thing to make with our ciabatta bread is french dips! My kids love this meal and request it almost weekly. We pair top ours with Havarti cheese and add sides of mashed potatoes and green beans. It’s delicious! This is my go to recipe for my cooking my french dip meat.
