If you love ciabattas you MUST try making these Easy Ciabatta Rolls. 10 minutes hands-on time & a result to rival your local bakery. No fancy skills or equipment required.
More of our favourite bread recipes include: Best Ever Kalamata Olive Bread, Super Fast 30 Minute Rolls or Feta and Caramelised Onion Focaccia Bread.
Quick look at Ciabatta Bread Rolls
- ⏲️ 10 minutes hands-on time.
- 🛒 Ingredients: Just 4!
- 🍽️ Makes: 8 ciabatta rolls.
- 🧑🍳 Difficulty: Easy - kid-friendly recipe.
- 🗃️ Make ahead: Keep for 3 days or freeze for 3 months.
- 💵 Cost: About 50c a roll.
Soooooooo good! I made these today and we used them as hamburger buns with a turkey patty, lettuce, beetroot, cheese and cranberry sauce. Best burger ever!
Had it with a side of sweet potato chips cooked in coconut oil.
Dinner was a hit! :o)
- Matt
I had no plans to share this recipe the first time I made it as I truly thought it would be sub-par on first attempt but my first ciabatta rolls were most definitely blog-worthy.
Let me tell you, this is one of the easiest bread recipes I've ever made with the best result first go.
I think if you put a bakery ciabatta and a homemade one (using this recipe) up to a blind taste test you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference and compared to the $4 rolls at my local shop they are a bargain at just under 50c a roll.
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Recipe Ingredients
To make these simple ciabatta rolls you will need:
- Bakers/bread flour
- Fine semolina (durum wheat) flour (option to use all Bakers flour below)
- Dried/instant yeast
- Fine sea salt - we use Celtic sea salt
- Fridge cold water
- Rye flour, for dusting (or more Baker's flour)
No time to chill the water? Ice it. Pop some ice in the measuring jug and then pour the water in over the top.
I've never made a yeasted dough that didn't call for warm water so this was a little something different.
Yes you will need to get your hands dirty too. It's actually really satisfying squelching all the ingredients together.
Variations
If you don't have any semolina, you can use all Baker's flour just reduce the water by 5%.
How To Make Easy Ciabatta Rolls
Step 1 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flours, yeast and salt together.
Step 2 - Pour over the chilled water.
Step 3 - Mix to form a sticky dough. It’s easiest if you do this with one hand and use the other to hold the bowl. Really squelch the mix through your fingers until evenly combined.
Step 4 - Scrape off your hand and cover the bowl with a tea towel (or a big plate). Allow to rest for 15 minutes.
Step 5 - Give the dough a quick knead in the mixing bowl.
Step 6 - Just fold it over itself a dozen or so times by lifting the dough on one side then...
Step 7 - Folding it down on top of itself. Repeat until it is reasonably smooth.
Step 8 - Scrape your hand off again and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate. Allow to prove until well risen. This could take up to 3 hours depending on your kitchen temperature/humidity.
Pro Tip
If you need the dough to rise a little faster, put the oven on for 10 minutes then turn it off and put the dough in there to rise (make sure it's covered).
Step 9 - Once the dough is nearly risen, preheat the oven to 250C fan-forced. The dough is ready when it’s puffed up and airy.
Step 10 - Flour the bench & gently scrape out the dough then use your fingers to flatten it into a rough rectangle.
Step 11 - Fold the top of the dough into the middle.
Step 12 - Fold the bottom over to top forming a long rectangle.
Step 13 - Dust with a little more flour & cut dough into four pieces (each one serves 2). For individual rolls, divide into 8.
Step 14 - On individual pieces of parchment paper, flatten each piece of dough out to about 2cm thick, seam-side down. Spritz the top of each one with a little water. Turn oven down to 220C fan-forced. Bake for 20mins on a pizza stone or upturned oven tray.
Step 15 - Remove the baking paper, lower the oven temperature to 175C and bake for a further 20 minutes or until the loaves are crusty and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom.
Step 16 - Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Pro Tip
If you don't have a pizza stone, turn your oven tray upside down in the oven.
Recipe FAQs
The main difference is the water content. Regular bread rolls are about 60% water where ciabatta rolls are 75-80%. It makes for a chewier bread. They're also more of a free-form shape than regular sized rolls.
They're pretty similar in healthiness. I would say maybe ciabatta has slightly less calories per gram than regular bread rolls due to the higher water content.
Ciabatta rolls are versatile and perfect for multiple uses. Our favourite is always as a fresh or toasted sandwich. They're also great for dipping (try our Walnut & Beetroot Dip), sopping up soups and stews (like our Mushroom, Beef & Red Wine Casserole) and if it gets a little stale, they make great garlic bread or croutons or even DIY bread crumbs.
Storage
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days or freeze in a ziplock bag.
If you love ciabattas you MUST try making these. It's literally about 10 minutes hands-on work and that's if you're slow.
You might also like our sourdough ciabatta recipe.
Recipe
Ciabatta bread rolls
Ingredients
- 500 g 3½ cups Bakers flour
- 500 g 3½ cups fine semolina (durum wheat) flour - or more Bakers flour (reduce water by 5%)
- 7 g 1¾ teaspoons dried/instant yeast (or one sachet)
- 18 g 2¾ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 750 g 3 cups fridge cold water
- rye flour for dusting
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, yeast and salt.
- Add the cold water, and mix the ingredients together to form a sticky dough. It's best to do with your hand. Really squelch the mix through your fingers until there are no dry bits. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plate and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Give the dough a quick knead in the mixing bowl. Just fold it over itself a dozen or so times, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate. Allow to prove until well risen – this might take up to three hours depending on the temperature/humidity in your kitchen.
- Once the dough is nearly risen, preheat the oven to 250C (480F) fan-forced. If you’re using pizza stones, place them on the racks to heat up. Tear off four sheets of baking paper. If you don’t have pizza stones, use upturned oven trays.
- The dough is ready when it’s puffed up and airy.
- Heavily dust the bench (it's a very wet dough) and your hands with rye flour or fine semolina (or Baker's flour), then gently scrape out the dough.
- Fold the top of the dough into the middle then fold the bottom over to enclose it and make a long rectangle.
- Dust the top of the dough with more flour, then use the scraper to cut it into four equal pieces.
- Dust your hands again with flour. Pick each piece of dough up by the ends, give it a little stretch, and then place it on an individual sheet of baking paper to go onto the pizza stones, or onto the upturned baking tray.
- Spritz the top of each loaf with a little water.
- Turn the oven down to 220C (425F) fan-forced, and bake the loaves for 20 minutes. Rotate the trays (or the loaves), remove the baking paper & lower the heat to 175C fan-forced.
- Bake for another 20 minutes, or until the loaves are crusty and hollow-sounding when tapped.
- Allow the loaves to cool on a wire rack before cutting.
Notes
- If you don't have a pizza stone, us an upturned oven tray.
- For individual rolls, cut the dough in 8 pieces.
- To speed up the rise, turn the oven on for 10 minutes then turn it off and put the covered dough in the oven to rise.
Claire Cameron says
Seriously better than bakery ciabattas and so very easy to make.