Bread Bowls

I have made these bread bowls twice and both times they turned out wonderful! If ever you want to make a fancy dinner for your spouse, family or company... these are very impressive and not too hard. This picture is an actual photo of one of my bowls that I made...

I make 2 adult sized bowls and 3 kiddo sized bowls (my kids never eat their bowl so I chalk it up to wasted bread... thus I make their bowls smaller and allow them to have seconds on soup if they are still hungry) I always have left over dough and make rolls (see bottom of post). My kids will eat the rolls.

I must give proper credit... MyKitcheCafe strikes again! These are her Italian Bread Bowls! I have made her Broccoli and Cheese soup and also her Chicken and Wild Rice soup to go in these bowls. (Wont re-post those recipes but would highly recommend) All delish!


Bread Bowls
Printable Version

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

In a large bowl (or bowl of an electric mixer), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed (you may not need to use all 7 cups).

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes (or let knead in an electric mixer). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal (or use silpat liners or parchment paper). Do not let them touch each other or sides of baking pan. (If they touch you wont be able to get the egg wash on the sides and it wont have the crusty outside which will allow your soup to escape out the side... yikes) Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash. Be sure to get all sides not touching the pan. This is what makes the surface of the bread crusty to hold the soup in. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Cut circle in top and pull out bread. I put bread in a little basket for dipping into soup. I put each circle top with it's corresponding bowl. If you see that you may have a "leakage" problem, don't hallow out all the bread in that area. This will give it a little buffer from leaking out. Also, creamy soups and thick chilies work best in bread bowls.



Also, if you have more dough and you'd rather have a few rolls to dip in your soup they make great crusty rolls. I follow same directions, just make them smaller. I still brush them with egg wash to give them the same crustiness of the bowls. YUM!