Loaf 8 – Ciabatta Mini Baguettes
Batch 2 done - better shapes.
This is the same recipe as my prior ciabatta bread, minus the olive oil.
This time I used a scale to measure the flour rather than a measuring cup. The recipe calls for 4 1/2 cups or 20 oz. of flour. Scooping from the flour bag measured 20 oz. with only 3 cups, so my flour is very compacted compared to what is expected. My prior attempt at ciabatta therefore had 50% too much flour! I’m not sure how that affected the loaf – it certainly didn’t seem too dry, except for the seam I folded into it.
The recipe says you can leave it in the fridge from overnight to four days. I left it in for 42 hours. The dough was very bubbly on top when I took it out. There was enough dough for 8 mini baguettes, I had to cook them in two batches. My shaping skills got better with each mini loaf as you can see in the pictures. The dough was still quite wet and sticky, so the work surface and my hands had to be well floured.
The first batch cooked for about 15 minutes in a preheated 500° oven lowered to 475° upon bread insertion. I also put 1/2 cup of water in a pan at the bottom of the oven to create steam for a crunchy crust. The internal temp was 180-190°, and they seemed a tiny bit underdone.
I cooked the second batch the same way, but left them in for 17 minutes, which gave me an internal temp of 200° at the end. The crusts were also a nicer brown.
The loaves have great flavor, a nice crispy crust and soft interior. We’ll be using them for sandwiches this week. Win!
Lessons
- Pay attention to the recipe. This was going to be another attempt at ciabatta loaves, but I forgot to add the olive oil. The same recipe is used without the oil for these mini baguettes, so I switched over.
- Learned more about baking time.
- Still need to practice shaping wet dough. I got better with each of the 8 loaves here, but don’t feel confident at all.
Shelf Life
These were baked on 1/11 and kept in a paper bag. The last two were too stale to eat on 1/14 – so a three day shelf life is it.
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- 42 hours in the fridge.
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- Batch 1 baking.
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- Batch 1 done – my shaping skills still need some work.
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- Batch 2 shaped and ready to bake.
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- Batch 2 done – better shapes.
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- Inside a finished mini baguette.
