“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Ciabatta sandwich buns

What fun! I decided to try the ciabatta recipe to make buns for sandwiches, and they came out delightful! They’re similar to Schlotsky’s and about the same size, I plan to use these for BLT’s for dinner tonight.

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This time I baked them on cookie sheets instead of a pizza stone, and this resulted in greater ovenspring*. It is very difficult to get a consistent shape, and more often than not I ended up deflating them almost completely in cutting the dough into the individual servings. At 500°F they baked for a scant 10 minutes, but turned out terrific! Unfortunately, I also learned that if you get any excess cornmeal or flour on the pan, it will burn and fill your entire house with smoke, causing your children to flee to the nearest open window, gasping for air. But it won’t harm the buns!

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Good thing, too!

 (You’ll just have to imagine that bun full to bursting with thick bacon, crisp lettuce, fresh tomatoes and slathered with mayo. I can’t take a picture of them anymore, because we ate them all!)

* When the loaf is first placed in a well-preheated and hot oven, the heat from it causes a final burst of fermentation and expansion called “oven spring”. This gives the bread a nice rounded and well-risen top. Oven spring continues through the first five to ten minutes of baking and stops when the loaf has reached 140 degrees F when the yeast dies. The flour’s starches gelatinize and the gluten sets, making the loaf’s shape permanent.

3 Responses to “Ciabatta sandwich buns”

  1. Oh, those are such a beautiful sight! We used to have a schlotzkys in town and it went bust; I almost cried I loved their sandwiches so much! I’ll have to get my daughter, the resident bread-baker, onto this recipe. TFS!

  2. I was going to write you a mail, but for now it’s a comment. I found your blog through your comment on Jess at Making Home’s abortion post. it’s the reason that I’m here. But I also want to say that I’ve read a little around your blog and I have enjoyed it very much =)

    Reason that I came:
    I’ve quoted you on this. It’s the best statement I’ve heard in a very, very long time. And its truth challenges me deeply:

    “But pain is a reality of life on earth, and the amount of resulting pain is not an indicator of the rightness or wrongness of the choice.”

    It is so true. We often have this misunderstanding about that right =good. Of course right is good. But not necessarily feeling good, or sounding good or be experienced as good. We often say that we “feel a peace” about something when we’ve been praying to know God’s will in a certain matter. Yes, we do feel peace. But peace is a matter on the inside, not always on the outside.

    Anyway. Doing what I know God wants me to do (even if I do not know why it is good, I have to trust Him that He knows best), even if it’s “killing me” it is good.

  3. Hello, the buns look lovely, I’d like to try the recipe one day! I found your blog through your comment on Jess at Making Home’s post on abortion, and I was thinking about writing you an email. Well, it’s a comment for now. I’ve looked around your blog and I’ve enjoyed my time here, I really have.

    Well, reason that I came. Your statement, quoting:

    But pain is a reality of life on earth, and the amount of resulting pain is not an indicator of the rightness or wrongness of the choice.

    is so so true. We often tend to have a misunderstanding about that right=good. Well, of course right is good. But it doesn’t necessarily feels good, sounds good, or is experienced as good. That you have a peace in your heart about something doesn’t mean that your life or circumstances are at peace. Often rather on the contrary.

    I am just so thankful to finally hear someone speak it out.
    Thank you,
    and Thank You, God!
    Blessings in Christ Jesus,
    åslaug

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