No Knead Ciabatta Rolls

Ciabatta bread is a type of Italian bread that uses high hydration dough with 80% water to flour ratio (by weight). It’s most famous for its open, airy crumb with big holes.

Just like Italian Panini bread, they are perfect to make panini or sandwiches on the go. Also serve them as individual bread rolls for dinner, dip in soups, stews or enjoy all on its own with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and light garlic rub.

These Ciabatta Rolls: What's So Special?

1. It’s impossible to fail if you follow all the steps and instructions of this easy ciabatta bread rolls recipe.
2. You need just 4 ingredients you already have in your pantry: flour, dry yeast, olive oil, salt and water.
3. You don’t need any special equipment to make these ciabatta rolls. All you need is just a big bowl and a fork.
4. It’s a no knead bread, which means it doesn’t require kneading by hand. Actual bread making process is super easy and beginner friendly.
5. This recipe for ciabatta rolls is very flexible: you can prepare the dough in the evening and bake ciabatta bread the next day or even in 48 hours.
6. You can make a big batch of ciabatta buns, store them in the freezer and use as needed.
7. Last but not least, you’ll get to fill your home with incredible aroma and enjoy fragrant, crusty and absolutely delicious ciabatta bread.

Like with all high hydration doughs, gluten development and careful dough handling are very important along with fermentation process.

So follow along for the detailed step by step process and top tips and FAQs on how to make the most delicious ciabatta rolls at home.

Ingredients

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

• Flour - he best flour to use to make ciabatta bread is bread flour. It’s perfect for long overnight dough proofing as it has higher protein content. High protein equals high gluten that form those epic ciabatta bread bubbles. Bread flour will also give your ciabatta rolls superior flavor, nutrient content and overall the best result.
  Having said, if you follow  my instructions and leavening process to a “T” you can make very good ciabatta rolls even with all purpose flour. If using all purpose flour make sure to use unbleached all purpose flour.
• Yeast - we use dry yeast for this recipe. You can use active dry yeast or instant dry yeast. The former should be dissolved in water, the later mixed directly with flour.
• Water - natural bottled water is the best.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil - use the best quality olive oil you have on hand but it can also be substituted with high quality vegetable oil.
• Salt - last but not least important ingredient in ciabatta bread is salt. Not only it gives the bread the perfect sapidity but it also balances out long leavening process without letting the dough over mature.

How To Make - Timeline and Step By Step Photos

The Night Before

Prepare The Dough - 5 min

The night before baking prepare the dough.

In a large mixing bowl add flour, water and dry yeast. Give a nice stir with a fork.

Add extra virgin olive oil and salt. Mix well with a fork until all flour is incorporated. Make sure to scrape the bowl to get all the flour stuck at the bottom of the bowl.

The dough result: the dough will be very wet, sticky and NOT manageable by hands.

It should still stick well to the fork and shouldn’t fall off easily. Cover the bowl with a lid or a plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.

Let rest for 30-60 minutes.

Fold the dough (1st time) - 2 min

Slide the spatula down the bowl on the side, pull it out stretching and folding the dough back on itself.

A few inches apart from the first fold do the same manipulation, repeating the folding process as many times as needed to finish a whole round around of the bowl.

The dough result: the dough still doesn’t have much structure (developed gluten) and doesn’t look attractive (yet!).

It’s very sticky and flat. It won’t stretch a lot without tearing. Don’t worry that it looks that way. It’s absolutely normal.  It’ll mature and get amazing bubbles during the next proofing and folding process.

Overnight Proofing In The Fridge

Cover the bowl with a lid or a plastic wrap. Place in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Next Day In The Morning

The dough result:  when you take ciabatta dough out of the fridge in the morning you’ll notice that it has at least doubled in size. You'll see a few air bubbles on the surface.

NOTE: I sometimes take ciabatta dough out of the fridge early in the morning and let it sit for 30-60 minutes before handling. You can do this too or start folding and stretching right away.

Fold the dough (2nd time) - 2 min

Using a spatula or wet hands do the stretching and folding process as before.

As you fold the dough you’ll notice how it’s now a lot more stretchy and starts to gain structure.

Cover the bowl with ciabatta dough with a lid or a plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.

Let rest until doubled in size.

Fold the dough (3rd time) - 2 min

Once ciabatta dough has doubled in size do stretching and folding process again.

The dough result: before you start folding the third time you’ll notice considerably more air and bubbles in the dough. It’ll be even more stretchable and holds its shape better than before.

Even after stretching and folding it still retains a lot of air and and didn’t deflate much as opposed to previous fold.

Cover and let rest until doubled in size. This time around it should take the dough less time to rise to double in size compared to previous proofing.

Fold the dough (4th time) - 2 min

Repeat folding process as in previous steps and let ciabatta dough rise for the last time until doubled in size.

The dough result: now the dough is full of air with amazing big bubbles.

Shape Ciabatta Rolls

• Generously dust your work surface with flour.
• Flip the bowl upside down and let the dough come out assisting yourself with a silicone spatula scraping the sides of the bowl. The dough will hold its shape pretty well but since it’s a high hydration dough it’ll still be very sticky.
• The best way to hand sticky ciabatta dough is to generously dust it with flour and shape it using dough scrapers, dusting the dough with more flour if needed.
• Gently arrange the dough into a rectangular shape assisting yourself with dough scrapers.
• Using a floured dough cutter/scraper divide the dough first into 2 long loaves, then cut each loaf into squares.

Decide how big or how small your want your ciabatta buns to be. You can divide the dough into 10 squares to make smaller ciabatta sliders or divide the dough into 6 squares for bigger ciabatta bread sandwiches.

I divided mine into 8 squares which I find just perfect for any use. You can even leave it divided into 2 big ciabatta slippers to make similar to classic ciabatta bread. Make sure to slightly increase time in the oven.

Bake

• Once your oven is preheated to the right temperature, place your baking sheet on the middle rack.
• Immediately spray water on the bottom and on the sides of the oven using a spray bottle. This will create steam for the perfect rise in the oven.
• Bake ciabatta rolls in a preheated to 450F (230C) oven for 12 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 375F (190C) and bake for another 10-12 minutes.

Ciabatta Rolls FAQs

Are These Ciabatta Rolls Healthy?

Since we’re using the very minimal amount of yeast, these ciabatta rolls are more digestible. For more flavor and extra nutrients make sure to use unbleached bread flour instead of all purpose.

Why do we let the dough rise overnight in the fridge?

Placing the dough to rise in the fridge overnight is called long cold fermentation.

While it seems just a convenience to prepare the dough the night before and bake it the next day, slow cold fermentation does a number of amazing things to your ciabatta.

• It lets you use the very minimal amount of yeast which makes ciabatta bread more digestible.
• It helps develop a more complex flavor and aroma.
• It develops excellent gluten web which is responsible for those giant air bubbles and chewy crust.
• Cold fermented dough has a greater capacity to develop and rise in the oven.
• After cold proofing the dough is full of air and, if handled properly, it’s almost impossible it’ll collapse in the oven.

How To Keep Ciabatta Bread Soft After Baking

Let your freshly made ciabatta rolls cool completely. Then place them in an airtight container or a plastic bag.

How To Freeze

Once ciabatta rolls have cooled completely arrange them in airtight freezer bags and freeze. You can stack a couple of rolls in the same bag.

Whenever you need a roll of ciabatta bread for dinner simply take it out of the freezer and leave at room temperature. They defrost fast.

Depending on the room temperature, it’ll take about 30-60 minutes for ciabatta buns to completely thaw.

Another trick I use to thaw ciabatta bread  super quickly is this. Once it has been out of the freezer for 5-10 minutes, slice it the way you want to serve it. Make sure to use a sharp knife and pay attention to your fingers. 

How To Reheat

If you’re in a hurry, you can simply reheat frozen ciabatta rolls in a non-stick pan covered with a lid.

How To Make Ciabatta Crust Crispy Again

If your ciabatta roll crust has soften simply pop them in a preheated to 360F (180C) oven for 5-7 minutes.

If you want an extra crispy crust right after baking, once your ciabatta rolls are out of the oven let them cool a little, then bake again at 360F 180C for 5-7 minutes.

Ciabatta Bread Sandwich Ideas

Here are some of my favorite ciabatta sandwich ideas:

1. Basil pesto + mozzarella + tomatoes
2. Arugula pesto + mozzarella + turkey
3. Prosciutto crudo + arugula 
4. Prosciutto crudo + arugula + mozzarella
5. Prosciutto crudo + arugula + tomatoes
6. Lettuce + mortadella + stracchino (or Philadelphia)
7. Ham (prosciutto cotto) + cucumbers + ricotta
8. Tuna + arugula + tomatoes + mayo
9. Salmon + Avocado + Philadelphia
10. Salmon + Avocado + Philadelphia + Red Onion
11. Salmon + Avocado + Poached Egg