whole grain ciabatta bread
I've mentioned it here before, but I'm really not a very confident bread baker. Baking is such a science, and I'm much more of a dash-of-this, dash-of-that kinda girl. That doesn't work so well when you're trying to recreate precise chemical reactions.
The irony of this is that we actually do a lot of bread baking in this house. We stopped buying bread years ago and make almost everything "in-house". Craig is the master of sandwich bread (someday I'll get him to post that recipe), and I tackle our other loaves. And while I still don't feel 100% confident in my yeast-wielding skills, I do feel pretty comfortable with a few of my go-tos-namely pizza crust, focaccia, and this whole grain ciabatta.
I know, it sounds silly. I mean, really, ciabatta bread isn't supposed to be whole grain. Ciabatta is meant to be crusty and fluffy and the whitest of white breads. And while I'm not afraid to dig into a great loaf of crusty white bread on occasion, I prefer to add whole grains wherever I can. And the great thing about this whole grain loaf is that it stays crusty and fluffy, just like its white flour cousin.
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I love tearing off a hunk of this bread to eat with soup. It also makes an awesome sandwich bread if you slice it lengthwise. A grilled cheese made with this bread, extra sharp cheddar and lots of butter? Yum. And this bread really holds up well to sauces making it a great option for pizza bread or bruschetta.
This dough is a little bit fussy to work with (as are many ciabatta doughs). It's very sticky and very wet, making it nearly impossible to mix and knead by hand. I used the dough cycle of my bread machine, but you could easily mix and knead it in a stand mixer fit with a dough hook, too. The recipe also requires a biga starter-which sounds fancy, but is really just mixing some water, flour and yeast together and letting it ferment for a day to add a bunch of great flavor and help add the airy, open texture that ciabatta is famous for. Between making the starter, the two rises and baking time, it takes over a day to make this bread (mostly inactive). But since this recipe makes two decent-sized loaves that freeze well, and they are incredibly delicious, I promise it's worth your time.
And if you come back later in the week, I have a way for you to use up that second loaf (if you can keep from eating it between now and then). Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Whole Grain Ciabatta Bread
Ingredients
For the starter:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup water
- Pinch yeast
For the bread:
- All of the starter
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1½ teaspoons yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup milk
- ¾ cup lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together all the starter ingredients until well-incorporated. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and stash in a dark, cool place (not the fridge) for 24 hours.
- To prepare the bread, combine all the remaining ingredients plus the starter into the pan of a bread machine set to the dough cycle or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. If using the stand mixer, mix on low until well-combined, then knead on low for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth (but it will still be sticky). Let rise until double in volume, about 90 minutes.
- Deflate dough, dump out onto a lightly floured surface, and using floured hands, divide into two pieces. Form each piece into a 10-12" log and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 5-6" apart. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise an additional 90 minutes, or until the loaves are large and puffy. Toward the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- After rise time, spritz the tops of the loaves with water (to help add a crunchy crust) and bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool then cut each loaf into 8 slices.
Amazing recipe 🤩 if made into buns how long do you think the bake time will be? 😅 My boyfriend loooves buns because of all the crust on it 🤣
Hi Luanna! Thanks so much! We're so glad you love the recipe. If you want to make this into buns or rolls, the baking time will probably be about the same. You might want to start checking around the 10-minute mark, but it will likely still fall somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes. Your still looking for that beautiful bronzed/brown crust and for the buns to sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. If you give it a go, please let us know how they turn out for you!
Thank you for this recipe! Quick question: are the first three ingredients (1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup water, Pinch of yeast) the starter? It's slightly unclear for me and I want to make sure I do it right. Thank you!!
are the first three ingredients the biga? why doesn't your biga include a bit of sugar to activate the yeast? have you ever used lava rocks in the oven to create some steam?
I am a little confused. .Maybe I am reading something wrong. In your directions it says NOT to put the biga in the fridge but in a cool dark place but some of the comments says they put it in the fridge. I followed the directions as written and will see how it turns out. 🙂 I will update tomorrow.
Is the starter supposed to be dry and and ball dough. Mine for some reason is so darn dry.
Same problem. A starter is usually pretty wet. It would be nice to hear back from Cassie.
Hi Chris! The whole wheat flour can make the biga pretty stiff, but it shouldn't be a dry dough ball. If you find that your starter/biga is too dry, it could be how you're measuring the flour (we recommend the fluff, scoop, and level method) or the brand of flour you're using. Are you having trouble getting it to ferment? Is the final dough also too dry?
I am having the same problem as Anita and i already added some extra flour 🙁
HI Cassie, thanks for sharing this recipe. I followed your instructions to make the biga starter and then used my bread machine to make the dough. But at the end of the dough-making cycle, the "dough" was still VERY wet...It was like a puddle of wet flour, not really dough-like. Is that normal? Or did I miss anything ? Thanks for your help.
Thanks for this recipe! It was incredibly easy to make with a stand mixer and came out perfectly. Do you know if it matters what kind of milk is used? As in, whole milk, 2% etc…
I usually have whole milk around here, but I don't think it matters.
Hello,
i love your recipe for whole wheat ciabatta and i tried it several times, but i can't get these big holes like you did, and would be very glad if you could give me some advice how to get them 🙂 Just to mention that i am kneading them by hand.
Thanks forward!
do you ever save starter and go the sourdough route? I'm a huge fan of sourdough, but unfortunately have several whole-wheat-sourdough-fails under my belt. Just curious if you've tried/have any luck with that!
Cassie, the overnight in the fridge is recommended by Rose Levy Berambaum not only because of the convenience of continuing with the bread making when your schedule permits the next day, but especially because the long rise in the fridge adds fantastic flavor.
My friend makes whole grain ciabatta all the time and it's so good! This looks lovely. I'd smear goat cheese and veggies on top, if it were mine 🙂
That looks great! Here we call a biga 'a sponge', I think biga sounds nicer! Quite happy to play with yeast, have been experimenting with sourdough over the last couple of months and I feel like a magician! Making bread from nothing but flour, water and time! It's very similar to this recipe and you do have to care for your starter, but it's fun...
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I like to use "white whole wheat". Have you used it? The recipe I bake most often is the "wonder bread" from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Birenbaum, often using half white flour and half whole wheat. It's also very delicious all whole wheat! Easy,tasty bread--good, as is, or for sandwiches. I mix it in the evening, put it in the refrigerator overnight, then proceed the next day. It can stay in the fridge until you have the time, very adaptable. Please post more of your baking recipes and please ask Craig to share his recipes, as well.
I have used white whole wheat, and it's really nice (although unfortunately, also pretty expensive around here). I've never tried the overnight rise in the fridge, but it sounds so simple!
This looks great! I love ciabatta (who doesn't??), and I'd totally love to try your whole wheat version.
I make all of my own bread, too! I found an amazing recipe for super fluffy buns which I just doctored slightly to include wheat flour. It took a few experiments to find the right balance to keep it fluffy. 🙂 I do kind of cheat, though, in that I make 95% of my breads by using the dough setting on my bread machine. It turns out perfect every time, though, so I don't feel guilty! 🙂
I love, love, love the dough setting on the bread machine! There is something nice about doing it by hand every now and again, but when you're just trying to get some bread done for dinner and you have a million other things to do? The bread machine is where it's at.
I've never made homemade bread that involves yeast! This looks delicious though. My family loves a good sturdy bread for dippin', sandwich makin', or just eating with a good schmear of [nut] butter!
Yummmm that looks delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Begging Craig for the sandwich bread recipe! So excited to try this one. I love ciabatta but really try to focus on whole grains. My best yeast dough is my pizza dough but it is definitely not whole grain. Love your blog, Cassie!
I love me some yeast bread! I blame my momma for getting me good at it... I've been baking bread and such for years! I make an amazing rustic Italian bread that is SUPER similar to this, just totally whitey-white. I'm making this ASAP! I love whole grains and see no reason not to be using them in traditional bread. And tell Craig we are really looking forward to that recipe 🙂 Much love! M.