The Bread That Nearly Stopped My Heart {Powernap}

What’s Going on Today: Having friends over for dinner, taking advantage of the great fall weather with a walk at the Audubon Park.

Tonight’s Menu: BBQ Chicken, Baked Pasta with Vegetables and Smoked Mozzarella, Salad, Roasted Asparagus, Heart-Stopping Bread, Pumpkin Bars

Naptime Goals: Bake Pasta Casserole, Pumpkin Bars, prepare the bread for the oven.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: It’s a little alarming at how quickly they take to the idea of partying!

When I came across this bread on The Pioneer Woman the other day it’s dark crispy crust caught my eye. I wanted to serve bread at an upcoming dinner party but the menu didn’t call for my usual garlic variety. Why not, I thought, give this decadent recipe a try. I’ve been upping my gym regimen lately what with all the book recipe testing, so it seemed to be as good a time as any to experiment with more butter than I ever thought possible for one loaf of bread.

While my daughter napped my husband and I prepared almost everything for our party. I baked the casserole and pumpkin bars, he put the chicken in to marinate and we retrieved our favorite serving dishes from the pantry. The last thing I did was take two sticks (yes, 1 cup) of unsalted butter out of the fridge to soften for the afternoon. Right before the guests arrived I slathered one stick of butter on each half of the ciabatta (has your heart stopped yet?), sprinkled on some Kosher salt (because, at this point, a little salt ain’t gonna hurt!), popped it in the oven and manned the broiler like a champ, just as Ree recommended. It crisped right up, turned the appropriate shade of near-charred black and set off the smoke alarm.

I am not sure if my heart stopped out of love or just from the sheer amount of butter. But it did stop, for just a teeny tiny second, while I enjoyed my first bite. Crispy, buttery (obviously) with a browned almost caramel-like flavor, in a brief 15 minutes the ciabatta had transformed from bread + butter to bread heaven. My guests agreed, though I declined to tell them the exactly amount of the ingredients used. I think I’ll only be making this on special occasions, unless I want my heart stop for real. Though, I will admit, there would be worse ways to go!