BBA - Ciabatta Redemption

Back when I had been baking bread for, oh, a month, we were entering the "C"s of the Bread Baker's Apprentice, and ciabatta was quite an undertaking for an absolute yeast novice like me. I read the instructions over and over and over and over, followed them diligently, and was rewarded with these monstrosities:

Yeah, I know. I was truly devastated. I doubted my ability to learn to bake yeast breads. Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs (one of my favorite bloggers) offered advice, but I was too scared to try this bread again. So to bounce back, I made bagels, which had been made before I joined the group. Where the ciabatta had been stressful, the bagels were fun. I've made many more recipes from the book with success, but I've never recovered from my ciabatta fail.

Last week, I made the focaccia again, and the stretching and resting that I found so enjoyable and therapeutic reminded me of the ciabatta. The ciabatta had stretching and resting. Why had it been such a different experience? I decided I would attempt the ciabatta again using Nancy's advice and see what happened. No matter how it went, I wouldn't let it stress me out.

And it didn't. I found it to be relaxing and fun. This time, I made it with 2% milk instead of water and I added the optional olive oil. I paid attention to how the dough was during the mixing and added a little more milk when it cleared the bottom of the bowl when it shouldn't have. I didn't get the sought after "holes" in the bread but it was delicious, crusty and smelled amazing. Nothing at all like my first attempt. It's inspired me to retry some other recipes that were disappointing. I'll let you know how that goes!