Muffaletta Bread

Muffaletta bread country Italian round loaf

Dana Hoff

Prep: 2 hrs 15 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Total: 2 hrs 40 mins
Servings: 8 servings

Muffaletta bread is essentially an Italian bread and you can certainly substitute a good Italian bread from a bakery when making this sandwich. The bread's real claim to fame is its form. You shape it into a round flat loaf, it comes out of the oven about 8 inches in diameter and about 1 1/2 inches high. It turns out these dimensions are the perfect amount of bread for a Mufalletta Sandwich. If you use a commercial loaf of Italian you'll end up either throwing away part of the bread or having more bread than the sandwich needs.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons quick/rapid-rise yeast

Steps to Make It

  1. Using the dough hook on your stand mixer*, combine all-purpose flour, 2 cups bread flour, water, salt, sugar, olive oil, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer - scraping down sides as needed - at low speed until blended. Add additional flour if needed, but note that dough should be a bit sticky.

  2. Increase speed to medium and knead for eight minutes.

  3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured board* and form into a ball.

  4. Clean and dry mixing bowl and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, seam-side down, and spray top lightly with oil.

  5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

  6. Turn dough out onto the floured board and knead for 2 minutes. Divide in two, and form into balls.

  7. Let dough rest for 15 minutes then flatten out into discs 7 to 8 inches in diameter.

  8. Place each disc on a baking sheet, and poke all over with a fork.

  9. Cover with plastic sprayed with oil and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

  10. If you have a baking stone* place it on a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

  11. Bake each loaf for 20 to 25 minutes until well-browned. Cool on a wire rack completely before slicing.

Note 1: You can use only all-purpose flour if you wish, but the bread flour adds a bit more chewiness.

Note 2: This bread freezes well if wrapped in a couple of sheets of plastic and stored in a zip-lock freezer bag.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
138 Calories
7g Fat
18g Carbs
2g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 138
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7g 9%
Saturated Fat 1g 6%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 1226mg 53%
Total Carbohydrate 18g 6%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Protein 2g
Calcium 52mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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