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Panini Bread
We love this recipe. It yields an extremely light, air pocket-riddled loaf, wonderful for splitting lengthwise, to make a panini sandwich. Note that the dough is extremely slack (wet) and sticky; this consistency is what gives the bread its lovely "holey" texture.
Ingredients
Biga (starter)
- 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup cool water
- 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
Dough
- biga, from above
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Mix the biga ingredients in a small bowl until well combined. Let the biga rest overnight, covered, or for up to 15 hours.
- Place all of the dough ingredients, including the biga, into the bowl of your mixer, and beat it at medium speed (speed 4 on a KitchenAid), using the flat beater, for 3 minutes; the dough should have started to clear the sides of the bowl. If it hasn't, increase the speed of the mixer, and mix for an additional 2 minutes.
- Switch to the dough hook, and knead for an additional 3 to 4 minutes; the dough will be extremely soft.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise for 2 hours, deflating it once midway through the rising time.
- Transfer the dough to a well-oiled work surface. Lightly grease a half-sheet baking pan (18" x 13") or similar large pan, and your hands.
- Using a bench knife or your fingers, divide the dough in half. Handling the dough gently, stretch one piece into a log about 10" long, and place it crosswise on one half of the baking sheet. Flatten the log with your fingers until it's about 3" wide.
- Repeat with the remaining piece of dough. Lightly cover the dough with heavily oiled plastic wrap, and allow it to rise for 2 hours; it'll become very puffy, and will jiggle when you shake the pan gently. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Bake the loaves for 22 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden brown.
- Turn off the oven, remove the panini loaves from the baking sheet, and return them to the oven, propping the oven door open a couple of inches with a folded-over potholder. Allow the loaves to cool completely in the oven; this will give them a very crisp crust. If desired, sift a dusting of flour on top of the cooled loaves.
Tips from our bakers
- Use more water in winter, or if you're in a dry climate; less in summer, or in humid weather. The goal is a very sticky dough, too sticky to knead by hand, but not so slack that it won't hold its shape when you plop it onto a pan. Start with a lesser amount of liquid, and add more if the dough doesn't seem sticky enough.
- You may also prepare this dough in a bread machine programmed for the dough cycle. Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
- For easiest handling, keep your hands well oiled as you work with the dough.
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Reviews
Great Recipe! Love the texture inside and chewy texture outside. I substituted non dairy dry coffee creamer for the dry milk and I didn't have the wheat flour so I substituted bread flour.
This is time consuming but well worth it. Loved the texture, and I used all white wheat pastry flour (Bobs Mills). I made smaller logs and topped a couple with some herbs (basil & rosemary). I am sooo excited about the other variations I will try. Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
If I don't have the dry milk, what can I use instead? Can I use wheat gluten?
You can omit the dry milk from the recipe if needed. ~Amy
Easy to make and a really nice flavor. Mine did not rise as much as I thought they would but were still perfect for sandwiches. I think I prefer the thinner bread, nice and wide. Not big air pockets but I'll try for those next time. Any advice on making these into individual rolls?
I would suggest scaling out the dough to 2-3 oz. each. Roll each into a tight round. Allow to rise until puffy and bake for approximately 10 - 15 minutes. Elisabeth
Worked out perfectly. Even did everything by hand. lots of stirring and several stretches and folds, but in the end turned out exactly as pictured. Tasted delicious.
This truly awesome. My husband loves it and it did make the best hot sandwich.
I love it with mayo, smoked turkey, bacon, cheddar cheese, and tomato:).
Outrageously AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These take a little bit of patience to make. Preparing the biga the day before, and allowing them to rise twice before baking. The inside texture is light and it crusted over beautifully by leaving it stand in an open oven after baking. I am not a big fan of whole wheat, but these were excellent.
The dough is moist and a bit sticky to handle but the results made wonderful hot sandwiches.
