Muffaletta Bread

By
Kevin D. Weeks.
Kevin D. Weeks.
Kevin D. Weeks is a personal chef, cooking instructor, and food writer.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 12/23/22
Muffaletta bread country Italian round loaf

Dana Hoff
Prep: 2 hrs 15 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Total: 2 hrs 40 mins
Servings: 8 servings
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.)

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.

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