High Altitude Ciabatta Bread
These loaves of homemade ciabatta bread are crusty on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, with an airy porous texture that's perfect for soaking up herby olive oil, dipping in soup, or slathering with butter.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Baking Sheet + Parchment Paper
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Spray Bottle of Water
Ingredients
Starter
- ¾ cup (95g) all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ⅛ tsp instant or rapid rise yeast
- ½ cup warm water, between 110-115 degrees F
Dough
- 2 ½ cups (320g) all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp instant or rapid rise yeast
- ¾ cup warm water, between 110-115 degrees F
- ¼ cup whole milk, between 110-115 degrees F
Instructions
Make the Starter
- Since the starter needs to sit and ferment overnight, you'll need to plan ahead and make this the day before you plan to bake your bread. The starter also goes by names like poolish, sponge, biga and pre-ferment, and it gives the bread a stronger flavor, similar to sourdough.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, yeast and warm water until well combined. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 12 hours (overnight).
- The next day, the mixture will have increased in volume quite a bit.
Make and Proof the Dough
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, salt, yeast, warm water, warm milk, and the starter.
- Mix on medium low speed for 8-10 minutes, until you have smooth, sticky, stretchy dough.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, set it in a warm place, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 60-90 minutes.
Fold the Dough
- Wet your hands to keep the dough from sticking to your hands as you fold the dough. You can wet your hands as much as needed through the folding process. With your wet hand, gently scrape your fingers down the side of the bowl to grasp the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over on itself. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn (90 degrees), stretch and fold the dough again. Continue to rotate the bowl as you stretch and fold the dough, to perform 8 turns and folds.
- Cover the bowl again, set in a warm place, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- Now repeat the above step to stretch and fold the dough, again performing 8 turns and folds.
- Cover the bowl again, set in a warm place, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. After this rest period, the dough should be looking pretty bubbly from the folding process.
Shape the Bread
- Have two sheets of parchment paper ready.
- Generously flour your counter, and use a spatula to gently scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the flour. Dust the top of the dough with flour, too. Take care not to handle the dough too much, or you'll deflate the air bubbles.
- Cut the dough in half, then gently twist each half of the dough into a rustic loaf shape.
- Set the loaves on the parchment paper, dust the top of the dough with flour, and cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel. Let rest for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
Bake the Bread
- While the loaves are resting, set a large baking sheet on the center oven rack to preheat, and preheat the oven to 450F.
- Using oven mitts, take the hot baking sheet out of the oven. Use the parchment paper to transfer the loaves to the baking sheet. Lightly spritz the surface of the dough with water (using a clean spray bottle of water).
- Set the pan in the oven and bake the bread for 5 minutes, opening the oven door to spray the bread with water two more times, at 2 1/2 minutes and at 5 minutes.
- Continue to bake the bread for about 25 more minutes (30 minutes total), until the bread is golden brown and a digital instant read thermometer inserted into the center reads 195-200F.
- Let the bread cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Store the leftover bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
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