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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
- 2 cups of warm water
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of granulated yeast (or equivalent)
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.
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