Kitchen Hack: One-Minute Bread

March 12 by | 270 comments | Lifehack, Lifestyle | Tags: , ,

Oven-fresh bread is one of life’s simple joys. Ciabatta, a crisp-crusted Italian bread with hints of sourdough and loads of crannies longing for butter, is one of the easiest breads to make at home.

Why are we talking about baking bread on Lifehack? Because kitchen hacks aren’t just impressive, they often have very tasty results! In this instance, I’m going to show you how to make ciabatta with less than one minute of prep time. How is that possible? Like many great hacks, this one uses simple ingredients and as few steps as possible to get the job done.

You may have heard of “no-knead” bread before. Mark Bittman and many others have promoted their versions of an artisan bread that doesn’t require any heavy labor. While those recipes also create delicious results, they involve too many steps to be considered a real hack.

I wanted something very, very simple that delivered great results in 60 seconds of prep time or less. It may take you a few tries to get below the one-minute mark, but I think you’ll enjoy the results every time!

For your ciabatta you’ll need:

  • 4 cups of all-purpose flour (do NOT pack the flour into the measuring cup)
  • 2 cups of warm water
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of granulated yeast (or equivalent)


For the gorgeous readers needing metric equivalents of this recipe, Toon left a comment with the following conversion:

  • 500 grams of all-purpose flour
  • 4,7 deciliter of warm water
  • 4 grams of salt (= 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
  • 1 gram of dry yeast (= 1/4 teaspoon = 1,25 ml)


You’ll also need a medium-size mixing bowl, a 10×15 cookie sheet or baking stone, a hand towel or plastic wrap, and whatever you’d like to keep your bread from sticking (if you’re using a pan, I use flour and corn meal).

Have everything handy? Good. Let’s do this!

1. Mix Water & Yeast

Pour the warm water into the medium-size mixing bowl and stir in the yeast with a spoon. No need to be particular, just dump and slosh.

2. Add Flour And Salt

Add flour and salt to your bowl of yeasty water. This, after measuring out the flour, presents another prime opportunity to get flour on your person. This will be regarded by many as a sign of your culinary determination. You’ll need such signs because anybody who actually watches you make the bread will think you’re one of the laziest bakers in existence.

3. Stir Into A Heavy Batter

Use a spoon. You could use your hands if you wanted but you probably didn’t wash your hands before starting this anyhow. Start with a quick run about around the perimeter of the bowl with your spoon. A few quick strokes through the middle and you should have a heavy batter. If it looks too thick to be pancake batter and not thick enough to be playdough, you’re right on target.

4. Set It And Nearly Forget It

Cover your project with a hand towel or plastic wrap and set in a safe place for a few hours. After the dough has rested for 8 to 12 hours, it will have nearly doubled in size. (If you add a bit of sugar at the start and you’re in a hurry, you can rush this process but I don’t recommend it for your first try.)

5. Preheat Oven & Prepare Your Pan

There’s a lot of room for variation at this stage. The goal is to place the dough onto a surface that will keep it from falling through the oven rack and not stick on. I use an old cookie sheet sprinkled with flour and corn meal. You can use a buttered pan, pizza stone, or baking paper. It’s up to you. The flour/cornmeal method takes only a few seconds.

Before you start prepping your pan/stone, set your oven to 400F. (For those of you using wood stoves, don’t stress the particulars. Pull a few cedar shingles off the back porch roof and get that fire burning hot!)

6. Pour Out The Batter

This is the fun part! Uncover the bowl of dough and slowly pour it out onto the pan you just prepared for it. You’ll want to use a spoon to guide the dough into place and get the last bits out of the bowl. The dough will be very wet and sticky. That’s okay! Get the dough out onto the pan and if you’re lucky, it’ll look something like this:

7. Add Spices (If Needed) & Place Bread Into 400F Oven

If you’re trying to stay within the one-minute prep, you probably won’t have time to sprinkle some of your favorite herbs onto your ciabatta before baking. If you’re not worried about time, some dried oregano, basil, and rosemary make a nice addition.

8. Remove Your Ciabatta From The Oven

Check on your ciabatta after about 25 minutes. Once it’s golden brown on top and looks good to eat, take it out of the oven and set it aside to cool for at least 10 minutes. You can cut into it immediately but if you do it’ll collapse and won’t look as pretty.

Wait! You really thought I wanted you to take a hot pan out of a 400F oven without some sort of protection? Craziness! If you don’t have an oven mitt handy, take off your shirt, fold it so there will be at least 6 layers of cloth protecting your hand, remove the pan from the oven and place in a safe spot to cool.

9. Slice & Enjoy

Move your ciabatta off the pan or baking stone and onto a proper cutting board for demolition and devouring. Ciabatta is famous as a sandwich bread but, like most breads, it’s absolutely delicious right out of the oven.

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Feedback Time!

  1. What do you think of this hack?
  2. Will you try it? (Let me know if you do. I’d love to see a photo of your results, too!)
  3. Would you like to see more articles like this on Lifehack? If so, is there something in particular you’d like us to cover?

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  • http://www.tannerchristensen.com Tanner

    This is great! I’ve always been interested in making my own bread, but the process seemed daunting. This quick “hack” is just the motivation I need to run home and start making my own bread.

    Are there any other cooking “hack” blogs out there?

  • lilalia

    Thanks. I did like it. I love ciabatta bread and had no idea it would be so easy to make. This type of post does seem to be very different than what you usually make, so I don’t know if I am going to be the only one who says, hell yes, go ahead.

  • http://www.asandiford.com adam

    I am going to try it right now and I will report back. I’m adding sugar to speed the rising process.

  • Seth Simonds

    @Lilalia – What a cool name! I think having a mix is good. Sometimes it’s fun to sink your teeth into something other than a conversation. =) I’m glad you approve!

    @Adam – If you put it in a warm spot and add sugar it should rise nicely. 1-2hrs at most. Adding a bit of gluten if you’ve got some handy helps, too. The most expensive ingredient, for most, is going to be the yeast and there’s not much of that so it’s a cheap thing to play around with. If the dough is too wet you’ll have a very flat loaf but it’ll still taste great. Let me know how it goes!

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  • http://www.selfimprovementexplained.com/blog Self Improvement Explained

    Man… that was interesting. I’m working right now but I think u’ve inspired me to take action. Got family coming over for dinner tonight. I’ll keep u posted…

    -Rishi

  • David

    You mention adding herbs to the top before you bake it. What about before it rises? Using a little garlic and rosemary sound good to me, but I don’t now how much, or if it would affect this slow rising dough. Your thoughts?

  • Seth Simonds

    @Rishi – you should know better than to try new recipes when you’re going to have company over! =)

    That said, nothing smells quite so good as freshly baked bread. I like this ciabatta because it fits into my schedule and it doesn’t die if I forget about it for an hour or so like normal bread. If you’ve only got 2hrs total, double the yeast, add some sugar to the water, and use just a little less water. Let me know how it goes!

  • Covertghost

    How much sugar would you recommend adding?

    A TSP?

  • http://ccihq.info Bob Taylor

    Looks like my kinda recipe. I tried a similar “no knead” recipe with an 18 hour rest, and it turned out great. I’ll try this one over the weekend.

  • Seth Simonds

    @David – If you want spices, garlic, etc IN the bread, I’d recommend waiting until it’s risen and folding the spices into the dough right before you bake it. Some chopped olives might be good, too. If you’re into that.

    @Covertghost – I use about a teaspoon. Yeast loves the stuff.

    @Bob Taylor – Most bread recipes look similar, not much variation on the whole flour+water+yeast+salt thing. =) Did you use less yeast with the 18hr rest? I haven’t noticed any benefits to waiting more than 8 hours. Do you bake yours with a pan of water in the oven or perhaps use a preheated dutch oven? The method of baking and rest seem to effect the way the bread crumbs but not the taste. Interesting stuff!

  • http://www.sytropin.com/ Buy HGH

    A great and simple recipe. thanks for posting.

    Laura

  • http://tj.dietderich.com TJ Dietderich

    MOS DEF trying this over the weekend. I made beer bread once and it was just too heavy. Hopefully this will inspire me to be unafraid of baking!

  • Hikari

    Thanks, I’ve never thought that ciabatta could be baked so easily. Also, great writing style. I wish I have a whole cookbook written up like that :).

  • http://www.darkmatterconsulting.com Dave Kaiser

    MORE MORE MORE!

    I like quick recipes that produce good results! I am not Martha Stewart willing to spend hours in the kitchen on one meal, it’s just not a priority, but I want good chow fast! Keep it coming!

    Dave

  • http://recteamcaptain.com CurtisCooley

    I like this recipe, but as well as trying to get more fresh made bread into my diet, I’m trying to get more whole grain bread as well. Any thoughts on using whole wheat flour?

  • huh

    Title is misleading…how is this a one minute bread? It takes a minute or more to put the ingredients together, and then you have to wait 8 hrs???

    You’re much better off just using a bread machine and using the dough setting, letting the bread rise, and then baking it in the oven. Much easier!

    • elliot

      How is spending $100 or more on an unnecessary machine that is basically doing the same thing a mixing bowl and wooded spoon can do?

      • Ms. Mary

        You want bread in a minute or less? Open your bread bag and take out a slice.
        You want a natural, wholesome product without preservatives that you can nibble on all week AND save a fortune on overpriced groceries? Make your own.
        I have a beautiful bread machine that never gets used. I love the process of making it, myself. (And no, I'm not a stay at homer with nothing better to do. I'm a very busy grad student with a full time job. This recipe appeals to me because I can quickly throw it together in the morning, leave for the day, come home and bake it, and then have a delicious dinner…and breakfast and lunch for the rest of the week!)

  • Seth Simonds

    @Curtis – Whole wheat flour should be fine. You might want to add a bit of extra yeast though because the heavier flour doesn’t like to rise as much. If you’re hoping to get more fiber, etc into your diet via bread, consider adding some ground flax seed. A few teaspoons will do the trick and you may find that your bread rises more like a popover than usual. (flax has a similar effect as eggs in baked goods)

    @Huh – “Fresh Bread Ready-To-Eat In 60 Seconds” would have been misleading for sure. In this case, there was no promise of a final product within a specific time. “Instant Oatmeal” is a solid contestant for the prize, if you’re giving one out.

    The consistency of the bread your machine makes will be pretty normal compared to the airy texture of ciabatta so not an apples-to-apples comparison. Probably tastes great though!

  • huh mark 2

    I agree with huh. V misleading title…

  • m

    where is the printer friendly link??

  • http://audreyandnoel.merket.org Noel

    @Curtis

    There is a similar recipe for mostly whole wheat bread that give wonderful results, but the effort is a little more. You can find it at:
    http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1087

  • Veshta

    If you are going to make this every day or several times a week, look into using a sour dough base rather than regular yeast.
    Huge flavour increase and once the sour dough is up and running doesn’t add to preperation time.

  • mirolator

    Awesome recipe, will mix tonight and bake in the morning!

    Question, do you think this same recipe would work for making Ciabata Rolls? Adjust baking time?

  • Seth Simonds

    @M – Your browser should have an option to print text only. HTH!

    @Veshta – Agreed. I don’t make it often enough to make sponge maintenance worthwhile though.

    @Mirolator – Absolutely yes. Shape the dough into whatever size you like and bake away! Same temperature but it shouldn’t take nearly as much time as the loaf. You could also make a slightly dryer dough and give the rolls a little time to rise after shaping before you put them into the oven. Nothing wrong with a bit of experimentation! =)

  • http://www.asandiford.com adam

    @Seth – I tried it with whole-wheat flour and it throws the water ratio way off (ww flour sucks up water like nobody’s business). I added more water (turns out, too much) and then more flour to try and balance it and everything kind of went pear-shaped. I let it rise for about 3 hours (which unfortunately didn’t seem to do much) and then decided to just go for it and toss it in the oven. I dusted it with a bunch of different herbs and spices (whatever was handy, really).

    The result is a big, flat mass of fairly heavy bread-like substance. It’s not exactly ‘bad’ as such, but neither is it really ‘good’. That said, I seem to keep on eating it. I will dub this “Bread/Zero” because the result is indeterminate.

  • mike

    i’ve done some traditional bread baking before, but not any no-knead stuff like this before. what should the ambient temp while it rises? it’s still pretty cold where I live, and I’m not too keen on keeping my house toasty while I’m at work just so some dough can rise.

  • iljk;

    this is mor elike the 13 hour bread

  • sugar

    I tried the 2 hr with sugar method and the recipes tastes great looks and holds shape well. The only con is that this method didn’t get the nice crannies I was hopeing for.. but will give it another go tonight for the full 12 hrs wait.

  • hanmeng

    To make it rise faster in cool temperatures, turn your electric oven on briefly until it’s about 170 F at most, then shut it off and leave the dough inside. If you’ve got a gas oven with a pilot light, just that should be warm enough.

  • Rob

    I think we actually have some bread flour in the house. What’s the difference between that and all-purpose flour? I really want to try this recipe. :-) Should I use the all-purpose or bread flour? Thanks for the great article.

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  • Seth Simonds

    @Adam – Whole wheat is going to result in a heavier bread to start with so perhaps the short schedule doesn’t work as well? I’m going from my bread-baking experience in general on this as I’ve not made whole wheat ciabatta before.

    You might consider going with a drier dough, using a bit more yeast, and giving it a slightly longer rest. At minimum, I’d use more yeast. The first batch I ever made flattened out into a big pool on the cookie sheet. It tasted okay but it wasn’t anything to sing about. A few more tries and I had it down perfectly. Also, a bit of Vitamin C powder or gluten added will make the yeast perk up nicely. Let me know how Bread One turns out! =)

    @Mike – Hanmeng has the right idea.

    @Rob – Bread flour is a high-gluten flour that typically has a leavening agent like Vitamin C added to help the yeast work. Bread flour would be perfect for this recipe!

  • http://www.pix2brix.com Alison Moore Smith

    Funny, I’m no baker, but yesterday for dinner we had a homemade, whole wheat sourdough loaf I made with one of my daughters. Rather than yeast, we used a scratch sourdough starter made with grapes. I added soaked sesame seeds. Everyone loved it.

  • http://www.jonahsmissions.weebly.com joyful

    Impressive! I’ll give it a try.

  • wicca

    I’ve been making a lot of brioche lately. Not too complex, but sweeter and eggier. This ciabatta sounds like a great foil. Well, I mean opposite. Not tinny… umm, ya. Well anyway.

  • http://simplytrece.wordpress.com Trece

    I’ve been hoping to find a ciabatta recipe; this looks great!!

  • http://www.timelessinformation.com Armen Shirvanian

    Hi Seth.

    Making bread is something many of us here have wanted to do, so this is a cool article to work off of. I used to buy pre-made ciabatta bread from the store to eat. Making it would be a worthwhile experience, and then I wouldn’t forget.

    Bread is healthy too.

  • Dooly the Poolboy

    I’m making this right now! Looks delicious! :D

  • Seth Simonds

    @Alison – Sounds delicious!

    @Wicca – I hear you. =)

    @Armen – Indeed! Making it yourself, even if it doesn’t turn out perfectly the first time, is always more fun than tossing a frozen loaf from the store into the oven for a few minutes. Enjoy!

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  • ben

    The purpose of the long rise is to develop flavor, so rising faster may be nice for convenience’s sake but you’ll end up with a more traditional tasting ciabatta if you let it rise for 8 hours or more. My recipe for ciabatta involveas making a sponge with a cup of milk, 1tsp yeast, a little salt and sugar, and a cup of flour and then letting it sit for 8 or more hours to get the sour flavor, then adding another cup to cup and a half of flour and baking.

  • http://www.tommaillioux.fr Thomas

    Yes please, MORE recipes like that ! They’re fun, easy, and tasty (if you make them right) !

    I found your ciabatta recipe yesterday at work, made it last night and put it in the oven this morning – here are the pictures ! It looks gorgeous :) Thanks again !

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/tommaillioux/sets/72157623609833842/

    • Ms. Mary

      Thomas, your ciabatta looks fantastic. Mine is resting as we speak!
      We like to buy ciabatta from the grocery store, but at $5 a loaf it's a bit ridiculous. If this works, no more of that nonsense!

  • Heather

    My oven has a nifty “30°” setting perfect for things like rising dough. Is that likely to put me closer to the 8 hour mark or potentially even less?

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  • http://www.raidhosting.net Joey Rafferty

    Wow. Thats a great set of tips, thanks alot for that. Will have to try this next time when the family comes next round for dinner!

    Thank you.

    Joey Rafferty
    Raidhosting.net – Website Hosting,less the hassle.

  • Toon

    Took me some time to translate the measures to the metric system, so I’ll share the results of my search:

    500 grams of all-purpose flour
    4,7 deciliter of warm water
    4 grams of salt (= 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
    1 gram of dry yeast (= 1/4 teaspoon = 1,25 ml)

  • Julie

    I’m not experienced enough to know if this would work, but with regard to whole wheat flour I’ve seen plenty of quickbread recipes (muffins etc) that say you can substitute half the flour with whole wheat. Dunno if that would work here.

    Can’t wait to try this though. My olive oil bottle is quivering with excitement ;)

  • Eric

    If I’m not mistaken, when you substitute flours, you have to do it by weight, not by measurement. So you would weigh the 4 cups of flour and then substitute that amount of wheat flour by weight.

  • J

    I actually bake a lot of bread, and I was so excited to see this article and try the recipe! So before I went to bed last night, I threw it together. So easy! Only thing is I only use whole wheat white flour and that is all that is in my pantry. This flour is a cross between whole wheat and white, so it has a slightly different taste and texture than the two. This morning, approx 10 hrs later, I punched the dough down and poured onto a stone and baked. 25 min was a perfect bake time, and the bread turned out super! Thank you so much for this great recipe. This makes it so easy to throw this together each night and have fresh, wholesome bread each day! (I took a photo and will submit it if I can figure out how to do it, lol)

  • http://www.doterrahealth.com/ Joe

    Made it today, loved it, and impressed my wife!

  • Zach

    I’m in the oven right now with this. I used 100% organic whole wheat (germ & bran included). I think the girlfriend will be impressed :) If it goes well, I’d love to try adding honey, nuts, and other things to the bread!

  • Uncle J

    Hello,

    I tried it last night and it worked pretty well.

    But – maybe a little bit dense – I can’t send a picture because I ate it all.

    Anything I can do to get it a little less dense? Or, is that the way ciabatta bread is>

    I used all purpose flour and new yeast.

    I did let it rise for only 8 hours – I let it rise overnight and then got up early to cook it. It looked like it doubled in volume – rose up and stuck all over the towel that covered the bowl.

    Thanks for the recipe!

  • fil

    this is delightful. I can’t wait to make bread. this makes it much easier than it normally seems :3

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  • Seth Simonds

    @Ben – You’re not going to get much of a flavor difference by letting it sit a few hours with this technique. It’ll still taste like slightly eggy yeast bread. If you wanted something stronger, like a sourdough, you could use a starter or add a bit of vinegar to the mix!

    @Thomas – Looks amazing! I shared your photos with our Twitter followers as well!

    @Heather – As soon as it doubles, you’re good to go. Will probably take far less time in a warm environment.

    @Eric – You’ve got me on that one. I’d say go with 4 cups of wheat flour and, at worst, you’ll need to add a few tbsp of water.

    @J – You’re one of those dough-punchers, eh? Glad it turned out great!

    @Joe – See, that’s the best kind of hack! =)

    @Zach – I think she will be! If you start adding heavy stuff to the dough, you’ll probably want to add a bit of gluten or make sure you’re using a high-gluten flour with a dough conditioner to make sure it still rises well.

    @Uncle J – Ciabatta can be dense… if it was too dense because it flattened out too much when you poured the batter on the pan, then your dough was probably too wet. Add some flour. If you were able to easily shape a loaf but it didn’t rise much, perhaps you added too much flour. Experiment. You can eat the stuff, as you’ve found. =)

    @Fil – It is, right? Eating it still takes work though. =)

  • JD

    Making this right now! The last few times I’ve tried to make bread, it’s failed miserably, so I’m really hoping this works!

  • Kvelen

    Hah! Splendid! Thanks you!

    Having had some extra live yeast after baking & making ginger ale, this recipe seemed like a good idea – so I felt like breaking some more rules and just poured the dough (after approx. 11hrs) into a non-sticky pan normally used for lasagna or meat. Choosing the right, not too large size will a) make your Ciabatta rise higher and b) give it a very nice rectangular form, which makes it look much less spontaneous and easier to cut into same-size portions. Thanks a lot, this will easily become a staple in our household. Can’t help it, it’s just too easy, too tempting, too inviting to modify depending on what else happens to be lying around, ready to be turned into various Ciabatta Deluxe! Think onions, olives, bacon, dried tomatoes, marinated veggies etc…

    VERY easy, VERY convenient, VERY inspiring!

  • Jo

    I tried this last night/this morning. Turned out pretty well, thought I thought that it was a bit bland and needed more salt and herbs. I’d probably tweak it to use 2 tsp or maybe even 1 Tbsp of salt. I sprinkled dried rosemary, thyme, and oregano on the top of my loaf. Wonder if it would taste better if I mixed them into the dough.

  • Shoki

    Came out quite well. I think I will weigh my flour next time. think I might pour 1″ layers into loaf pans or maybe spread it evenly on a pizza pan.

  • Matt

    @Curtis, Seth: Note that using whole wheat flour will also require significantly more water than the recipe above suggests; in my experiment yesterday I used an extra cup, but even then it could have used a bit more.

  • http://fastforwardacademy.com enrolled agent

    Great post! This is very easy to bake, the ingredients are not hard to find. And based on the pictures, it looks quite tasty!

    I’d definitely try this one. Perhaps add some personal ingredients to better suit my tastes. :)

  • http://serendipitous-natalie.blogspot.com serendipitous

    Just found this blog and love this post! I am totally going to try this tomorrow. Thanks!

  • http://postpwnd.net One of Many

    Just made this. It’s still cooling. Came out a lot wider than I expected… Smells great!

  • Bob

    How does this make sense? 1 minute bread. But you have to let it sit for 8 – 12 hours.

  • Barb

    Ha ha I was just thinking the same thing, Bob!

  • http://www.picnicfood-ideas.com/ S-Picnic-Ideas

    Loved it!!!
    Going to make it for my next picnic.
    The Bread looks wonderful by the way.

  • Seth Simonds

    @JD – I hope so, too!

    @Kvelen – I’m glad to inspire. Sounds like you’re going to be enjoying some pretty awesome ciabatta in the coming days!

    @Jo – If you need to add extra salt, consider doing it right before baking or even sprinkling some rock salt on top. Folding the herbs into the dough should work just fine!

    @Shoki – I’m glad! I use a large pan so it rises as it likes. Another reader used a square pan to give it a precise shape and make it taller. Might want to try that, too?

    @Matt – if that’s the case, you might consider adding more yeast as well. Is it possible that you’re packing the flour into the measuring cup? That’ll skew measurements up dramatically.

    @EA – Special ingredients? Like special brownies? Or you meant a different sort of herb? =P

    @Serendipitous – You got it! Glad to have you.

    @OOM – Eat up! If you use a bit less water to make a stiffer dough it won’t settle out quite as much.

    @Bob, Barb – One minute = prep time. It’s widely understood that one can do other things while the bread is rising, hence the title referring only to the exact prep time. It’ll take more than a minute for you to eat the loaf at the end anyhow. =)

  • http://www.davidrfeld.com David

    Excellent recipe! Just pulled it out of the oven and it’s awesome. Looks good, smells good and tastes om nom nom. I topped mine with sea salt, parmesan and a shredded four cheese mix. Big props from the wife, who had originally thought I tried to (food) poison her last Valentine’s Day.

  • Erica

    Fantastic recipe. I’m going to evangelise about this one. So easy, so delicious, completely achievable, even in a toddler household! No photos, sorry, we ate it all. NOM NOM NOM.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjstarr Carl

    I don’t see how this is any easier than no kneed bread, which I make just about every other day.

    It seems to me exactly the same as his recipe but with double yeast added to the water instead of mixed with the flour so as to cut down on rising time.

    Also, not baked in a pod creating the over in an oven which is what makes his perfectly crackly crust.

    I’m sure it’d good bread, but not much more of a hack than Jim Lehey’s no kneed bread.

  • Seth Simonds

    @David – Didn’t anybody ever tell you it’s rude to hold back on very interesting stories? I’d like to hear about what you made that caused your wife to fear for her life! =)

    @Erica – Take photos of the next one! =)

    @Carl – Most of the other no-knead breads, as I said at the start, have too many steps. They make you go through multiple rise, shape, and rise sessions and generally take the joy out of the process. Sure, you get a really nice crust by controlling humidity with a dutch oven, but you can get something close with a pan of water in a normal oven. One thing you won’t get with this recipe is the smaller, more regular crumb that you’ll get with a recipe like the one Lehey uses. This is a quick stir-rise-pour-bake-eat method that is truly very quick. I hope you’ll try both and let me know how they work out for you!

  • adi

    mixed the things in the bowl, will update in 10 hours (after work) I usually bake “foccaca”- relative to that this seems very easy and unexpensive, so I really hope it works out.

  • http://twitter.com/dakota_oneill Dakota O’Neill

    It says 1 minute bread but you have to leave it for 8 – 10 hours :( Not cool. A much better recipe.

    1 cup warm water
    1 tbsp yeast
    1 tsp sugar
    1 tbsp oil

    Mix together let sit for a few minutes

    Add 2 cups flour
    1 tsb salt

    Stir into a ball. Kneed for 10-15 minutes, form into a ball and press down if it rises read next part, if not keep kneeding.

    Let sit under a towel / blanket for 15 minutes. Make into desired shape / size. Cook at 350c for 15-20 minutes. Amazing bread. Hope you enjoy.

    Dakota O’Neill

  • papa_vova

    You might want to check out http://papa-vova.livejournal.com/207423.html

    Though I b0rked it in the end, the parts that were well done were tasty. Gonna give it a second shot this evening.

    Thanks!

  • Rachel Coleman Finch

    Thank you for posting this. I tried it out last night with my 3-year-old doing most of the work (so it took more like 5 minutes). We left it rising overnight and cooked it this morning for breakfast. Delicious and a great addition to our collection of “cooking-together” recipes.

    Recipe note: I wasn’t sure what you meant by all-purpose flour, so we used 2 cups plain white flour and 2 cups white bread flour.

    Have a photo of my son hard at work on step 3:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmc28/4431737004/

  • Shawn

    Just made this today. First time I’ve ever baked anything, I occasionally make pasta but I’ve been known to burn spaghetti black. :)

    This is absolutely delicious and insanely simple. My result didn’t look perfect – a little hole in the side, actually! – but it tasted awesome.

    One word of caution for the absolute non-bakers here: I bought bread machine / ‘RapidRise’ yeast since it was the only non-packet yeast the local WM had, and it DOES rise much faster. Mine was ready in about 6 hours, and turned out a bit larger than I expected.

    Still, it’s crazy delicious, and I’m already thinking about how I can modify it. It’s exactly the kind of simple, no risk recipe I needed to get into it.

  • Becky

    This is looks like a terrific recipe, but it’s more involved than the artisan bread you knock as having “too many steps.” I don’t know what recipe you’re using for that, but mine has me dump four ingredients in a bowl, mix, rise 3-4 hrs and either cook part or put the whole thing in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (it never lasts that long). Here’s a link to a good, easy recipe: http://www.anoregoncottage.com/2009/03/easy-artisan-bread.html

  • tim

    quick question..

    to increase extra flavor.. could we say use half the dough to make the bread then make another batch and throw the other half of the other dough in?

    t

  • http://english.mrkind.pro.br/ Gentil

    Tried this one, followed the recipe. It turned out just like you said it would.Just like it is in the pictures! Thanks a million! Making this bread was a piece of cake! :)

  • http://asinglestepblog.blogspot.com/ MamaB

    Making this right now. Can’t wait to see how it turns out. I added some sugar, since it’s 10am and I want it ready for supper at 5pm. Will report back on how it turned out.

  • TeamScottSmith

    I made this yesterday. With running around the kitchen, finding ingredients and a measuring cup, it took me almost two minutes to prep this bread! Even with those horrible extra 50 seconds, I would make this again. It was so easy, and tasted great! We ate several pieces of it with butter, and then used the remaining half-loaf to make a big sandwich. Delicious.

  • Liz

    What a great hack! I’ve been wanting to try it all week ever since I spotted it on LifeHaker and I’ve set aside time for it today. I’ll be sure to keep you updated as things develope!

  • parka

    made it, loved it.
    took photo.
    http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/4003/leba.jpg
    easy.

  • http://saucyandbossy.wordpress.com Marc

    I made this yesterday/today. I let it rise for about 20 hours, then turned it out and let it go another half hour or so while the oven preheated. I added an egg-wash for color and herbs de provence. I think next time I will put a sprinkling of sea or kosher salt since it was a bit lacking in flavor. These no-knead recipes are really getting me interested in bread. Who knows, what’s next? Pizza crust? Sourdough? I have a stand mixer. I think I can knead by hand too

  • http://www.theselfloveproject.com/ shraddha

    you make the process seem so easy.
    It happens to be my favorite bread too.

  • http://www.youcantbuyhappiness.com Joe C

    I just tried this, came out pretty good. Definitely very fast and easy, one minute prep 8 hours of waiting and 20 minutes in the oven. I sprinkled some dried herbs and stuff on top of it halfway thru (I had to sprinkle some water on it to make sure they stick). Check out my photo of it:
    http://accidentalcliche.blogspot.com/2010/03/bread-winner.html

  • ingenuee

    I found this recipe this morning, ran to the store to get some yeast and went through with breadmaking soon after. I’ve never made bread before so I was a little worried, but 6 hours later (I added sugar) I’m very happy. Will definitely make this again and again :)

  • Seth Simonds

    Hey all, I’m really glad you’re enjoying the recipe!

    @Tim – If you’re looking for more of the sourdough flavor, I’d recommend going with a starter “sponge” and using that to make the bread. Alternately, you could fold in some spices and a splash of vinegar. That’ll add some flavor and zip to make your bread seem more like sourdough. Best of luck!

  • http://asinglestepblog.blogspot.com/ MamaB

    Made it. With a little sugar it doubled in about 4 hours. I should have left it in the oven another 5-10 minutes, but it was really great. My 5 year old “gobbled it up” as he said. And my inlwas ate quite a bit of it too. Thanks for sharing! Going to Tweet the link to this recipe right now.

  • Rogue

    Made this today and sadly over cooked it because I was in another room and didn’t hear my husband yell at me when it was done. It still tasted fantastic…..just had a hard crust. We had some people over and one of them said he really liked the hard crust. Will make again shortly and try not to over cook.

  • http://www.bjoernw.com Bjoern

    Absolutely amazing. Followed the recipe exactly. To one side I added some olive oil spread over the top and some dried basil leaves. The other side I left plain.
    Mix some olive oil, salt, grated parmesan cheese, and dried basil leaves and dip the bread in that. :) love it

  • adi

    That was great- my boy friend ate the loaf while watching TV last night, I will link you all around Israel now… (you should only translate the Farenheits to Celsius- well, offer it maybe in bracctets, for Europeans who appreciate you ;-)

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  • Meron

    Great idea! Can’t wait to try it out, keep ‘em coming – many thanks!

  • http://www.almacendecreaciones.com un tipo feliz

    I´ve mine in the oven, sprinkled with oregan and random spaguetti spices I had on my cupboard. In the past I made three baguettes in a similar way to this ciabatta; just had to knead and work on it a little bit more than in this awesome 1-min recipe.

    Sadly, I´ve a cold and can´t taste anything at all, so I´ll just enjoy the texture on this one…

  • KC

    Stumbled on this article. Saw this simplicity. Made the bread the second I read it. Eating it now. Tastes horribly epic. Point in case.

  • http://WithAmyMac.com amymac

    This seems too good to be true! I’m anxious to give it a try – my friends and family would be amazed if I started serving fresh baked bread! ~amy

  • ComplexedOne

    Nice!

    The only change that I would make is to simply use and instant yeast that doesn’t have to go into the water. The stuff works just fine, and will last up to 2 years in an airtight bag stored in the freezer. Buy in bulk!

  • http://cookingroastingbrewing.blogspot.com/ Steve Poole

    Very nice, Seth! Excellent results from a super quick recipe.

    http://cookingroastingbrewing.blogspot.com/2010/03/one-minute-ciabatta-bread.html

  • JJ

    Just made this for the first time. Made the dough last night and let it rise for 12 hours. Easily doubled, but this morning revealed some pockets of flour. Floured a nonstick pan, scratched the dough out on to it, tore out a hard area with unincorporated flour, formed it into a loaf-like shape, light dusting of oregano, baked for half an hour at 400°.

    Bread came out with a tough crust but a soft and moist middle. Final product has no noticeable yeasty scent compared to the rising dough, nose may just be scent-deaf however.

    Overall, great recipe for a first bread, just take care to NOT pack the flour when scooping it out, or if you do, be sure to not use as much (flour should be measured by mass, not by volume.). Talking to my ma about the process, she warned me only after that you should always err with less flour, not more. You’d think that would be a prime note, eh?

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  • Seth Simonds

    @JJ – If you had pockets of flour you definitely used too much. The only thing you’ll ever want to pack into a measuring cup is shortening or butter. Brown sugar gets a light pat. I’m sorry I failed to mention that. It entirely slipped my mind!

    I hope your next batch turns out perfect! If you want the bread to taste more like sourdough, add a splash of vinegar. There isn’t a lot of yeast in this bread so it’s unlikely that you’ll ever find it to be especially yeasty after baking.

  • Sue

    This was incredibly easy, and delicious! I’ll be making it often, probably with different kinds of flour, and maybe herbs and/or cheese on top. Thanks for the simple recipe.

  • http://codingjunky.com Paul

    I will try it for sure – I love fresh bread and this seems like it’s super easy to make…

  • http://www.envisage2009.blogspot.com Sarah

    Can you substitute whole wheat flour for white flour or will it screw up the recipe??

    I made it last night and it was great, I plan on making a batch every night and letting rise overnight so I can bake a fresh loaf every morning.

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  • Seth Simonds

    @Sarah – Yes. It probably won’t take quite as much flour to get a sticky dough though. Stir in the 3 cups and only add enough of cup #4 to get the right consistency.

  • Tanya

    I found this recipe with Stumbleupon, and made this with dinner tonight and it was so good. Thanks! First time that I ever made bread and a major success!!

  • Sarah

    I’ve made this twice already! It is easy and delicious, and it also still is moist after several days. It’s my new favorite everyday bread. Thanks for the recipe.

  • darlene

    I sped up the time by placing the mixed ingredients in a bowl with a heating pad below on low and then placed into a larger bowl – it doubled in about 2 hours..i’ve done this several times now with great success – I’ve also mixed shredded cheese in with cheese on top – too yummy to make if you’re home alone!

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  • Tegan

    I pre-heated the oven, with a cast-iron skillet in it, to 500. While the oven was pre-heating, I put the dough in a temporary skillet on parchment paper that I’d sprayed with oil — the skillets served to give it a round shape and kept it from spreading thin and flat; the parchment paper made a sling so it was easy to move the dough to the pre-heated skillet when the oven was hot. I dropped the temperature to 400 when I moved parchment-sling of dough in. Very happy with this recipe, although I’ll add a little more salt next time.

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  • Malle Babbe

    Just got this out of the oven. I halved the recipe and not only got good results, this recipe also works at high altitudes (7,000 feet) w/o any adjustments.

  • http://www.twitter.com/alastair_hm Alastair

    Trying this tonight, mixed it together when waiting for the dinner to cook.
    Can’t wait until tomorrow morning to bang it in the oven.

  • Igor

    Hi there. Tried the recipe with awesome results! I was wondering what are the consequences of letting the dough rest for over 12 hours? I just don’t want to have to prepare this recipe every night to let it rise overnight and bake it in the morning. Would I be able to prepare it in the morning and bake it the next morning?

    Thank you.

  • Seth Simonds

    @Igor – I’ve never tried letting it rest for 24 hours. That long of a rest sounds more like something you’d do with a sourdough. Perhaps you should look into picking up some starter and experimenting with that as well? Either way, give it a try with the 24hr rest and see what happens. If it doesn’t work out, you’ve lost a bit of flour. No biggie. =)

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  • Guillaume Camus

    For me the second time around I changed the recipe a bit.
    I added 2 tbls of olive oil for flavor and extra texture. also I make mine in a kitchen aid mixer, I like to break the glutton further, it OK since it going to rest overnight and wont be worked again like most breads are. You have to watch out for the right consistency, Flour is heavier or lighter depending the amount of humidity in the air, so you really have to learn to develop an eye for the right consistency. for me it right when the dough is still a bit sticky, but bouncy at the same time.
    I bake for about 25 minutes, and about half way through spray a bit of water on the bread which will make a nice crusty brown bread.

    Happy baking!

  • JJ

    Made bread based on this recipe 4 more times this week. Getting fat maybe ;)?

    I’m working on a variant:
    Add some oil to the flour and some sugar to the yeast water, and increase the amount of yeast and salt, and you get a very passable pizza dough, but one that won’t brown on its own. I’m thinking maybe increasing the oil or brushing with butter would get the color I want: the dough still comes out pasty, not the golden brown of a NYC pizza crust I’m used to. Any ideas?

    Again, great recipe, Seth. The sandwich I made from the first bread (even with its flaws) was bragged about when I showed my friends, and I even got demands for the recipe.

    Thanks, too for adding that note about packing flour – I imagine you get a lot of engineers at this site, and stuff like that definitely needs to be spelled out for people like us :).

    “Nothing is more old-school than baking your own damn staff of life! A dude who can walk into any kitchen in the world and make bread is COMPLETELY RAW” -Ray, Achewood, 9 Jun 06

  • Katherine

    I’m making this for the second time. The first time I stuck with the simple recipe exactly and the bread was SO yummy that I ate almost the whole loaf myself within a day and a half!!! Now I added a 1/4 tsp of sugar to speed up the process and 1 cup whole grain flour, 3 cups all purpose. I am afraid of gaining 20 lbs from getting addicted to this stuff!!

  • http://www.cwholemniii.com C.W.Holeman III

    Three comments:

    1: Great recipe. Simple, fast and tasty.

    2: If you place it in the pan directly after mixing and let it rise there instead of in the bowl, it will keep it’s form better and not sink as much.

    3: You can cut the rising time in half (to four hours or so) by placing it in the oven and keeping it at a very low temperature.

  • Jane

    Well, I’ll be darned–this worked out well! I thought I had too much flour as my dough looked drier, but it came out nicely. Being an impatient sort, I tossed in a teaspoon of sugar for the yeast, but ended up letting it sit for 10 hours (an unexpected nap delayed things) and sprinkled Italian herbs on the top. I would up the salt content just a tad the next time I make it. But there will be a next time! Thanks for posting this and inspiring so many people to try it.

    A+ for ease!

  • Tegan

    Just made my third batch. 1 cup of flour should weigh 5 ounces; I used 7 oz whole wheat and 13 oz unbleached white. Added just a squirt (maybe 2 t?) of honey to the warm water and yeast. I replaced 2T of water with cider vinegar. I mixed garlic powder, onion powder and crushed dried rosemary into the batter, along with the salt right at the start. When I mixed in the flour, I found it needed a little extra water — I just kept adding splashes until I got the right consistency. Even after starting the oven at 500 degrees (and knocking it down to 400 when transferring the bread in), I found it needed an extra 10 minutes baking time to get color all over — that may just be my oven. Super happy with this whole approach. I think I’ll use this instead of store-bought for pizza dough for this week’s pizza-night.

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  • http://rollitshakeitbakeitmakeit.blogspot.com/ Bryanne

    Just made a second batch, but this time I added Parmesan cheese on top as well. Turned out very tasty!!! Thanks for this quick and easy recipe!

  • dott

    I’ve heard that you need something called “sour salt” to get real sourdough taste… Anybody know about that? We’d just about kill for some even half-decent sourdough in Fla.

  • Melissa

    I tried this recipe, letting it sit overnight last night and putting it in the oven before class this morning. Here’s the finished product: http://www.twitpic.com/1afcht
    It might not have been golden brown enough but it still tastes lovely, and the next time I’ll try seasoning it and leaving it in the oven longer as well.

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  • Norm S

    Tried a couple of days ago and there was a yeasty smell in the bread. Is this normal? I used a plastic wrap instead of a cloth so perhaps it trapped too much gas? Also was a bit dense and moist. Add more flour?

  • http://things2dooutside.blogspot.com/ Anne

    I made this and was very pleased with the results. Next time I will use a bit of sugar with the yeast and put fresh garlic slices anf rosemary on top.

  • Erika

    Just finished making this recipe and it turned out AMAZING my whole family loves it! I’m so glad I stumbld upon this! I added instead to the top just basil, garlic powder, and italian seasoning mix and it really adds a lot of flavor :) thanks again!

  • Sam

    What the fuck? This is not 1 minute
    what a load of bullshit

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  • http://rav-ished.net Jaina

    Tried this recipe out on a whim – been told i should try baking bread. This looked simple enough and it really was! Thanks for this awesome recipe – bread went down brilliantly. Though mine might have needed a little less water/more baking – despite being golden brown is a was a little wet on the inside. Only a little though. Here is it:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/pizzagirl/4448559594/

    Thanks again :)

  • http://runningandrolling.blogspot.com Na’Tosha Bard

    Just in case anyone else was wondering, this doesn’t work with gluten-free flour (I’m a Celiac) :-P The mess I ended up with was hilarious.

  • LSTAR

    Whenever I make bread, it’s always still very wet and doughy inside when I’m done.

    Should I cook it longer, use more flour?

  • Carol

    super fast and super easy! finally, i bread i can make! i would definitely add more salt though!

  • http://insaneramblingsofaredhead.blogspot.com Jan

    I’ve made this a couple of times, and I love it. It’s delicious with cream cheese and tomato slices on top.

  • RLD

    For you high altitude folks (Im at about 6k feet) it took me a lil more than 1/3rd of a cup extra water to get the right batch consistency per the recipe. Might be something to add into your information too. Us high altitude’ers are special :)

  • Dave Deciliter

    Hooray what a great recipe.

    By the way a deciliter/decilitre is an unused measure like a firkin or a gill.

    470 ml is the most common way of expressing it. In fact, just say “half a litre” and even the imperialheads will get it.

    Google can do the lifting for you

    http://www.google.com/search?&q=2+cups+in+ml

    or Wolfram alpha
    http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=convert+4+cups+to+grammes

    There’s another article for free – right there

  • http://www.tasteofbeirut.com TasteofBeirut

    This is an interesting recipe! I’ll try it out tonight!

  • Eli

    I’ve made this bread several times now. Man it’s delicious! Works great with pasta, not to mention it makes a great sandwich.

  • Norm S

    I tried this recipe twice and both times, the bread was too moist and doughy although it was better the second time as I added more flour and baked it longer. I supposed this is the best you can do considering it’s a hack with minimal effort. I found this other recipe which requires much more time and work but the results are far better in that it looks and tastes much more like Ciabata.

    http://www.recipezaar.com/Ciabatta-Italian-Slipper-Bread-29100

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  • Kim

    Finally found a minute to try this bread. I have a breadmaker, but this is great “traveling” hack. I made it twice, one full size and once using half the ingredients. Each time I had to add more water to get the “between playdough and pancake batter” consistency.

    I doubt anyone is reading this now, but for people adding vinegar , do you add it with the water or sprinkle it on the dough?

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  • Carol

    I have made this several times and it is awesome! I add more salt and a splash of olive oil. So easy and tasty! nom nom nom nom!

  • http://www.happilyorganic.com Joyce

    NOM NOM NOM indeed!!!

    Made some for with dinner tonight and will mix another batch tonight for baking in the morning. I can see myself getting very fat on this bread if I don’t watch it lol.

  • Jon

    My girlfriend and I made the dough last night before we went to sleep, and baked it this morning. Bravo on the recipe, it’s amazing, better than store bought ciabatta.

  • Tegan

    Adding vinegar: remove 2 or 3 Tablespoons of water before adding the yeast. Then after the yeast is all mixed in, replace with 2 or 3 Tablespoons vinegar (I like cider vinegar; you could add olive oil at this stage, too) before adding liquid to the flour & salt (and herbs, if used). Once mixed, add more water, if needed, to get the described consistency.

    Moisture level: Ovens vary. You have to adapt the instructions to get the best outcome given your actual results. I always have to cook longer than the 25 minutes given by the recipe. At 25 minutes I take a peek to see how far short of ‘done’ the bread is. Re-set timer for another 5 minutes. And again, repeating as needed until the bread has a bit of golden color to it.

  • Russ

    Made it yesterday. It was incredible. I was experimentin’, so I put herbs on half and a large grained sea salt on the other. Herbs were good, but the salt was a huge hit.

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  • http://www.cookiesandPT.com Bridget

    Just made it and it was great! So good fresh out of the oven. I thought it would be hard, but it was soft and yummy. I may add more salt next time though

  • wonderpoose

    Best. Idea. Ever. I set it to rise before I go off to Uni in the morning, throw a soup in the slow cooker, then when I get home I just throw the bread in the oven, and dinner is ready in no time flat! My kids absolutely adore it.

  • Helen

    Thanks so much for this recipe! Making this was just as easy as using the bread machine. The bread turned out so delicious that my husband and I ate the whole loaf for lunch by itself.

  • messenger

    Ciabatta??? Where’s the olive oil????

  • Rachael

    This has readily become one of our family’s favourites. So easy to set up in the morning and quick to finish at night!

    We have let it sit any where from 7 to 12 hours and it is amazing every time.

    Our favourite toppings are: dill, garlic, thyme, and celery salt.

    It keeps really well, too. Used it for sandwiches the next day and the day after!

  • http://bandarra.wordpress.com Mariana Bandarra

    Finally tried it, with wholewheat flour. Very nice indeed. Loved it. My topping of choice was basil, poppy seeds and sesame seeds. Yum.

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  • MousE

    This is a great recipe. I’ve made it twice, no problems either time. The frst I made exactly as written, it was quite tasty but it did spread out a bit much for my taste, so the 2nd time, I tweaked it. I substituted 1/2 cup fresh ground flaxseed for 1/2 cup flour, and added 1 tbsp ground rosemary. When time to bake, I poured it into a large souffle pot, drizzled olive oil,basil and sea salt on it. I let it rest a good two hours before baking, and did not knead or punch or disturb the dough.

    Whoah. EXCELLENT result.

    Thank you so much! I’ve been using the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes recipe, but there are only two of us, and it soured a little too much before we used it all. This is just right for two people.

    Thanks again! Want to try it next with half whole wheat and half white, and will keep the flaxseed addition. Very nice flavor.

    Cheers!

  • MNK

    Made it. Loved it. Will make again.

  • Nathaniel

    Finally got to try this out after finding this recipe a week ago. It turned out deliciously! The crust was hard and crunchy, but the inside soft and smooth.

    Thank you very much for this simple recipe!

  • Magpie

    I’ve just turned the dough out onto the pan. I’m relieved it looks like your pictures, because it does seem a bit runny for bread dough. I guess thats where the airy texture comes from. Finally, quick bread I can make without kneading and without buying bread full of HFCS!

  • Caroline

    I doubled the recipe and studded half of it with cheese, even at 7,000 feet it came out perfectly! My first bread! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

  • Zach

    The first time I tried to make this, I messed it up with extra flour and water… I’m trying again tonight, just to see what will happen if I do it right. Thanks for this easy recipe, I hope my second time baking bread will be successful.

  • http://astrohool.blogspot.com ian

    so tasty! so delicious!
    smearing butter on it a few minutes out of the oven is just heavenly!
    spreading the word! thank you.

  • darksorceressmonoke

    I’ve done this bread two times with a third in the oven right now! First one was in a normal oven and the second I brought to school to cook over our fire pit. Both were absolutely delicious with a bit of garlic and italian seasoning on top.

    This time around though, I’m putting some cinnamon and brown sugar on top, I’ll tell you all how it tastes after it cooks. ^^

  • Katrina

    I tried this about a week ago. I love to cook but have never made bread; I was too intimidated. This was awesome. All crusty on the outside, and chewy on the inside. YUMMY! Can’t wait to try it out again. Need to get more flour. I think I’ll roast some garlic to spread on this one. THANKS!

  • Jenn@Red

    My little girl and I made this last night. Although we let it rise for 24hrs we are baking it now to see if it comes out right. If not we will start over! She did all the work and had a blast…thank you!

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  • Janice Price

    This recipe is a keeper. The texture is just lovely, crunchy outside, tender inside, and pleasantly chewy all around.

    http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1050/4727608266_281fed1272.jpg

    http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1412/4726910897_322db1b455.jpg

  • HJ Toby

    Thanks for the recipe, Seth. It worked like a charm. I used basically your recipe though I bumped up the yeast to 1/4 tsp and the salt to 1 1/2 tsp. In 7 hrs, on the counter and covered with a piece of waxed paper and a clean dish cloth, it rose to fill my stainless steel mixing bowl. I dumped the dough out onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet, baked for 30 min @ 400*, sprayed the crust with water every 3 min. for the first 9 min. and it turned out beautifully – right amount of “chew” and nice and airy, like your picture in Step #9. (Oh yes, I had a small stainless bowl of water in the oven to raise the humidity during the baking time.) If there’s a no-fuss bread recipe that’s a keeper, this is definitely it! Next I’ll try some seasonings on it.

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  • SyHawk

    Tried this today. It was easy to put together. It seemed like it was undone after 25 minutes. I put it on the stone to bake. Should I have let it bake longer or should I have added more flour or something? It has a great flavor with the herbs. Thanks!

  • http://clubpenguinfree.net/ Club Penguin

    Wow, that looks amazing.

    I will have to try this as soon as I get home, nothing but good reviews.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/ayotex123 ayotex123

    Wow, that looks amazing.

    Can't wait to try it as soon as I get home. Everybody is posting amazing reviews, pics are awesome. thanks for the recipe

  • cherry

    I haven't figured how to print this lovely recipe without doing 17 pages. did i miss a print friendly option?

  • http://www.mithredat.com Kay

    I tried this recipe, followed it step-by-step and ended up with the bread not being done, it was still wet and sticky :(

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  • http://twitter.com/RobinLauren @RobinLauren

    Woohoo! I made bread!

  • http://twitter.com/RobinLauren @RobinLauren

    Apart from myself, my son (five today!) was impressed. He suggested we dub it "daddy's good bread" :) though i'll still be calling it "daddy's five minute bread" until i can make it faster. And to impress my wife if i actually get it done faster than five minutes.

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  • Jeff Gillman

    I've been making this bread a lot lately, thank you for the recipe. I hope you don't mind, I've added it to Kitchen Monki so I can use it in my own meal planning, and so others can enjoy it (and did attribute it to Lifehacker, with a linkback). http://www.kitchenmonki.com/recipe/One_Minute_Bre… . Kitchen Monki is a great free recipe manager and meal planner and shopping list generator, and after looking at many such offerings, this is the one I'm using from now on.

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  • http://swehack.se Stefan

    Great recipe, will try it tonight. But one problem with your web site. That share plugin you’re using prints the whole page. I just printed 55 pages of comments from users because I wanted to print your recipe.

    This should be addressed, or at least with a warning if you don’t want to make a printer friendly version.

  • http://bestcase.wordpress.com Tim Erickson

    Love this. My current version, which DOES increase the prep by another minute :)

    instead of 4c flour:
    1 c white flour
    2 1/2 c whole wheat
    1/2 secret ingredients: usually half flax meal and half oat bran.

    needs a little more water, but otherwise fine. Your recipe appears indestructible!

  • http://www.starcraft2strategyguidereview.net starcraft 2 strategy guide review

    Alright, it’s obviously not as easy and fast as the title of the post indicates, but it’s still very taste and not tooo difficult if you start the prep the day before you want to eat the bread.

  • Anazania

    I have a micro/convection oven that does not have a bottom element (all the heat comes from the top).

    Found that you need to increase the temperature / cooking time to allow the bottom to cook dry and not be sticky. I have this problem with all my baking in this oven though.

    I store my flour in the freezer – keeps fresh for a year that way. I have mixed the cold flour with the other ingredients and have had no problem with it doubling.
    Must be placed in a slightly warm spot in the kitchen though.

    One of the breads had been left on the shelf for more than 24 hours and it was the best so far.

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  • julie

    thank you SO MUCH for an invaluable recipe. a friend posted it on FB a few days ago and i just tried it. it was incredibly easy and just delicious. i’m an insanely busy mom with 2 under 2 and i was able to make homemade bread to go with the soup i made for dinner! so appreciated.

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  • http://www.societedesmonstres.com Den Mother

    Thank you for this awesome recipe! We absolutely love this bread and make it all the time. We’ve altered the recipe slightly—using an extra 1/2 tsp. of salt in the recipe, kiln shelves in our oven, about an hour of proofing time on pizza peel, and an extra 10 minutes of baking time. Check out our photo essay in which we link to this page at: http://www.societedesmonstres.com/2010/10/fresh-ciabatta-by-steve/

  • Jeffrey

    seth – great recipe. I’ve done made it twice now and both times have been successful. Question though… I’d like split the dough in half and use two bread pans to make it rise higher so it will be better for sandwich bread. How would using a bread pan affect the bake time?

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  • MoLo

    I don’t know what I’m doing wrong-both times I’ve made this bread, after the 8-10 hours it doesn’t seem to have risen, the top is dry and crusty instead of wet and sticky, and after baking it’s just a small dense lump that is completely raw on the inside. I follow the steps exactly, and have even tried baking 35 min at 450 degrees. What gives?

    • Seth Simonds

      Use more water!

  • http://twitter.com/MagicBartender MagicBartender

    AWESOME! will try & add to my collection!
    Here’s one for you…
    It’s Tooo Gr8 for Words!

    BEER BREAD*
    3 c. self-rising flour
    2 tbsp. sugar
    12 oz. beer at room temperature (Dark to Light…each type adds different qualities, experiment to find your FAV!)
    Grease and floured 1 loaf pan. Mix flour and sugar; gradually add beer, stirring until smooth. Spoon into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Remove; cool 5 minutes. Brush with melted butter.

    Enjoy!
    Cheers `*>~[

  • http://irainbow-unicorn.deviantart.com Jo

    This is absolutely yum<3

    I baked it for the second time just now, just omnomed on the first slice. To those who want herbs but want to make it in one minute, add the herbs in the batter. I put thyme, oregano, and basil in the batter with rosemary, oregano and basil on top… absolute delish<3

  • Lokilost

    Ever sense I found out that you can get about a months’ worth of yeast for around $5 at a nearby store, I’ve been baking bread daily, as it’s so much cheaper than spending $2+ on a store load. The downside is my boyfriend has come to expect it, even on days like today when my head is killing me and I don’t want to spend the extra time and effort. This recipe is perfect.

  • MoLo

    I figured out my problem-my yeast was dead! Just made and am enjoying a highly successful delicious loaf :)

  • http://www.pouletaufour.org Poulet au four

    Amazing what you can do with so few ingredients. Bravo au chef !!!

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  • Judi

    This bread is awesome! Looks and tastes like fresh from a real bakery! First hardest part was waiting for it to rise, second hardest part was not devouring the entire loaf. I doubled the yeast and added a tsp of sugar as suggested, and in about 6.5 hours, it was ready for the oven. Yummy buttered with a bowl of soup!

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  • http://www.fortlogandesigns.webs.com Wendy

    Made this today! Wish i could upload my photo of it. Made a wonderful large loaf. I heated up a wet washcloth in the microwave for about 30 seconds to heat up the interior of it a bit. Then stuck my covered bowl in there overnight. It was a bit cold in the house…:D

  • Kay

    We made it today and it is delicious! We added thyme, oregano, rosemary and course salt to the top of ours. My mother likes to dip it in balsamic vinegar.
    But our dough didn’t double, it tripled. Not sure why that was, so our loaf was fairly large (14″x10″)

    http://i54.tinypic.com/2r77d48.jpg

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  • Glenn

    Ok… so the 1 min may be a little bit of a stretch!!! The results were fantastic though… this is one I will be making again and again! Thanks for that!

  • Laulbow

    OK, I haven’t baked it yet, but I followed the directions precisely, and I have a regular looking ball of dough, not a thick batter at all. Wonder what happened there? Hope it still turns into bread!

    • Dclark_johnson67

      maybe to much flour just scoop the flour up in cup do not shake it or try and get it level out it will work better

  • FailBread

    I’ve tried this three times now changing up certain variables trying to get it right… Not once has this turned out as bread. The inside is always a sticky texture. I proofed my yeast and it is active. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but I’m bummed.

    • Ryantoupal

      You probably just have to cook it longer. An internal temp of 200 or so.

  • c’mon

    highlight text, print, under the options – click ‘print selection.’ easy.

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  • Cathi

    This is a great recipe. I baked this in a cast iron pan. This saves two steps and 5-10 seconds by 1) not having to pull out a baking sheet or 2) sprinkling flour on it! :-)

  • Jcema5

    this is very good bread but mine always seems so flat. any ideas? should it sit/rise again before I put it in the oven?

    • gojak

      Having just watched a show on tv where a renowned Italian chef / restauranteur had to pick the best ciabatta, he chose the flat one. This is best because it’s flattest! he said. So. You won. 

  • Medleyscafe

    Wow, awesome bread and I am sure it was nearly a minute prep! Perfect the first time….can’t wait to experiment with rolls and such.

    • 123

       Awesome? Really? You found bread extremely daunting? Do you have issues?

      • Kiwirocker

        You still don’t read posts properly do you!!

        Maybe it is you that has issues.

  • http://stopsnores.org Amilyy

    greant recipe did the job for me!

  • http://stopfromsnoring.org stop from snoring

    julie you are trully right!

  • http://tips-for-better-sleep.com tips for better sleep

    true! I did the same and it worked just fine!

  • Appleleigh

    I was having the same problems. It turns out if that happens then the yeast your using may be sub-par or bad. They recommend proofing the yeast before you use it. Put 2 cups 110degree water with your yeast for 5 minutes if it doesn’t bubble and do yeasty things, its no good. Try adding more water, too

  • Dclark_johnson67

    to sam it took me about 3 minutes to mix everything and the final product was worth the wait!!!

  • Dclark_johnson67

    also the batter more than doubled in size in 3 1/2 hours!

  • Dclark_johnson67

    patience is a virtue!!!

  • Jane

    This bread is AWESOME! And it doesn’t have to be just ciabatta! I’ve made it practically every day for the last month. SO easy. I take a few extra seconds to make it into a sticky ball before baking. And I bake it on parchment, saves flouring the pan and washing it after… so maybe I make back the time it takes to make it into a ball.

    Other tips: if you use any flour other than plain unbleached, you’ll need a little extra yeast (maybe go with a half teaspoon) and a little extra baking time. If you bake it in a closed roasting pan it gets an even better crust. If you have access to vital wheat gluten, substitute 1/4 cup of flour for an extra springy texture.

  • Meghan

    i made mine with whole wheat flour and put rosemary, salt, garlic herb powder, and cayenne pepper on top. its amazing!

  • Tmclain

    This is a great recipe. I made them for neighbors at Christmas and just made 2 loaves for a party last night with some bruschetta and everyone loved it! Thank you!

  • Jill

    Brilliant recipe and about 1% as difficult as any other Ciabatta recipe I have found. What a find
    Jill

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  • gojak

    Brilliant recipe. Not that I made any bread, I just mean brilliant recipe. Made me laugh out loud. 

  • 123

     you found the bread extremely daunting? Wow! How weird!

    • Kiwirocker

      You obviously don;t read the posts properly, do you. Judi never mentioned daunting, just said that the hardest part was WAITING for it.
      In other words she wanted to eat it sooner than it was ready, OK!

  • SkittlesofDoom

    Does it work with instant yeast?

  • Geof1234

    1 minute in prep, waiting to set does not count as prep

  • Scarfie

    Baked perfectly the first time and devoured in minutes! Could do with an extra pinch of salt, though.

  • Ariane

    That looks good, and easy!! im going to try it tomorrow. I love cooking, but i suck at it.. probably its not going to look that beatifull :( 

    cheers from brazil

  • Glenda

    hold your left mouse button down and “drag” it over the area you want printed.  Then let go.  Then right click (right mouse button) and choose “print” .  That should print just the area you want instead of adding all the comments.

    Hope this helped.

  • Glenda

    hold your left mouse button down and “drag” it over the area you want printed. Then let go. Then right click (right mouse button) and choose “print” . That should print just the area you want instead of adding all the comments.

    Hope this helped.

  • Glenda

    I haven’t baked this yet, but tried some Ciabatta rolls I bought at Walmart.  I loved these sooo much so I can’t wait to bake some.   I love to toast them in my toaster oven before making a sandwich oh, it is sooooo good.   The ones I bought were square.  Loved it.  

  • Glenda

    I haven’t baked this yet, but tried some Ciabatta rolls I bought at Walmart.  I loved these sooo much so I can’t wait to bake some.   I love to toast them in my toaster oven before making a sandwich oh, it is sooooo good.   The ones I bought were square.  Loved it.  

  • tina

    ah-maze-ing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just fantastically easy and delicious. such a great base for all sorts of possibilities. 

    ummm….hey douches??? if you want bread in a minute i recommend you BUY A FUCKIN LOAF OF BREAD. 

  • dave26

    hey awesome recipe, I’ve used it twice with great success…i’m from South Africa so thanx for the metric conversion…just a note no-one uses deciliters, ever…its 470ml. 

    Anyway i want more, what else can sound impossible to make but be as easy as this by hacking it?

  • Marlene Balog

    Wow…..This is unbelievable…..Soo easy…..The only hard part was to trust the recipe….I take that back…The
    second hard part is to resist eating the whole thing at one sitting….Thank You……Thank You..
    Almost forgot to mention the outrageous cost of one loaf at the market ..The budget assist is also appreciated..
    Marlene

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XV4SCQJ43ISHWI7OI5GM2ROLKQ Philthy

      what kind of numbnuts expects a baked loaf of bread in 1 minute?

  • Patrick Wiseman

    Maybe a couple of minutes!  I’ve been making a small loaf in my toaster oven, set at 450°F, convection.  It’s ready in exactly 25 minutes, and is wonderfully tasty.  300g AP flour, 2g yeast, 4g salt, 260ml warm water, stir, leave overnight (8-10  hours), pour onto a parchment-lined pan, bake.  In the toaster oven, you can watch as it rises and shapes itself into a light, airy loaf.  Cool!

  • http://www.breadmaker-review.co.uk BreadMaker Review Admin

    I have a breadmaker too and loved it so much I decided to start a site reviewing breadmakers which I hope to eventually add various recipes to. I simply adore fresh baked bread, but can’t always find the time to wait for proving, rekneeding etc. This recipe looks great. If anyone else is thinking of getting a breadmaker check out my reviews here: http://www.breadmaker-review.co.uk  – Thanks

  • http://www.facebook.com/david.csonka David Csonka

    who cares about 1 mintue prep time if you have to wait 8-12 hours… useless really.

  • Epidemicsleep

    Being an avid baker in my household, I came across this recipe when I was looking up flax seed haha,  No offense, I was extremely apprehensive in trying this recipe due to minimal ingredients, steps and no kneading required…however after numerous comments on it, I decided what the hell and whipped it up.  To this very minute, i am eating the bread where I am pleasantly surprised at the turnout of the bread where it is very tasty.

    Highly recommend for people to try it – is very easy (for avid or beginner bakers), versatile and nice to the wallet as it doesn’t ask for crazy and wacky sky-rocketing pricey ingredients.  As based on other recommendations, I substituted a half cup of flour for flax seed which gave it a nice texture and flavour.

    Thank you so much for this wonderful little recipe :)

  • breadmaker
  • Stes

    I love this recipe. I added some extra salt to take away a little bit of the bland taste. Also, for top seasonings I used garlic, italian seasoning, and just a touch of cayenne pepper. Tastes divine. 

    • http://twitter.com/solarscarab solar flower

      ye, that’s what I do too. I use for bread however, garlic powder instead of usual garlic… blends ubiquously way better but beware, it’s more dense so use less than you think else you ware in for a very garlicky bread ;)

  • Momof3

    Wow, fantastic!  I bake a bit of bread each month and I cant believe how easy this was.  Mine did stick to the pan, so I will try to work on this.   It turned out so good.  I sprinkled some garlic and onion powder on top.    I am making my second loaf today.  This recipe will be a keeper.  

  • Cait

    Has anyone tried to halve the recipe? I mixed it this morning and it’s barely risen since then (almost 9 hours). I’m not sure if I used old yeast (a packet I opened when I made the full loaf two weeks ago) or if halving the yeast made it not enough to activate. I’m going to try to bake it, but I’m a little scared, maybe next time I’ll just make the whole thing and freeze half.

  • http://www.facebook.com/sarah.conway3 Sarah Conway

    I just finished my first loaf of bread and I can already say, it definitely will not be my last! I’ll admit, I was a little suspicious of how simple this recipe was but wow… the results are unbelievable. I put Italian herb seasoning on the top of this loaf but can’t wait to try other seasonings. Thank you for this amazing recipe!!! YUM!!

  • Gail

    Just made my first loaf of ciabatta, thanks to your basic recipe, with some alterations (used 1/2 tsp of yeast; 1 1/2 tsp of salt; substituted 2 tablespoons of the prescribed water amount with 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar; baked 35 minutes).  Let it set for 10 hours.  Came out perfect, and I’m trying real hard not to eat the whole thing tonight.  Thank you for your inspirational recipe.

  • bouchette1

    Has anyone tried this with soy flour? My boyfriend is diabetic… and low-carb breads are hard to find and expensive, but if customizing bread would be this easy…. As I’m writing this, I’m wondering if varying the flour to really any types of flour would work (which could provide a rather nice variety of breads from this one recipe, once you figure in that you can add random different spices in each time).

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  • http://twitter.com/solarscarab solar flower

    ye nice and simple. Makes a good airy loaf. If one has a warm area (eg. a low temp heated oven if during winter etc), I think it rose fine within the standard 2-3 hrs (I let it stand on a heating oven since it’s winter which was set on very low). i.e. the air bubbles in the load were just as prominent as expeted. Go for the full time if one wish but just saying, as long as it rises twie in size, you are good to go . (And I didn’t even do a 2nd or 3rd rise after cutting into the loafes .. I made 4 out of this.:)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Karen-Blow/100000165332942 Karen Blow

    left about 20 hours; dusted top with chopped garlic, coarse salt, and fresh chopped rosemary – VERY GOOD!!!  Thank you.