Homemade Bread Bowls are quite literally the stuff that dreams are made of. This recipe is simple and they are the perfect size to hold a bowl of delicious, hot soup.
Devouring soup from inside a cute bread bowl is one of the sweet, simple pleasures of life. These homemade bread bowls are made from a basic dough and easier than you think! They have a light and fluffy inside with the most perfect sturdy outside.
How to Make Bread Bowls
I come across a lot of people that are just plain terrified of baking anything with yeast. Well my friends, fear no more! Yeast is not scary to work with. It practically does all of the work itself. This simple bread bowl recipe is a great place to start your bread making journey because it requires basic ingredients that you most likely have in your kitchen right now.
You don’t need any special equipment to make bread bowls. You can either knead the dough in a stand mixer or by hand. I told you it was basic! Just requires a bit of time but making homemade bread bowls is easy.
The best types of soups to serve in a bread bowl are thicker, more creamy soups. The thinner the soup the more it will soak into the bread and make it soggy. Stick with a stew or chowder type consistency.
How do I keep my bread bowl from getting soggy?
The biggest way to avoid a soggy bowl is to serve a thicker soup inside. Broth type soups will soak up the middle and create a soggy mess. Also, serve the bread bowl immediately after adding the soup-the longer the soup sits the soggier the bread will be.
Should I use all-purpose flour or bread flour?
You can use either type of flour! I tested this recipe with both and wrote the recipe to reflect that. I found that bread flour let to a higher and more round bread bowl while the all-purpose flour had a slightly flatter bread bowl. When the bread bowls were cut open and filled with soup you really couldn't tell much of a difference though.
What is the point of putting an X on bread?
This is called “scoring” the dough. An X is cut on top of the dough to control where the bread expands as it bakes. It also creates more of an artisan look.
What should I do with the inside of the bread bowl?
Don’t throw the middle away! You can use the center of the bread bowl to make croutons or bread crumbs. My kids just normally set it on their plate and dip the extra bread in their soup.
Soup recipe to go in your bread bowls:
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Classic Minestrone Soup
- Classic Ham and Bean Soup (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker recipe)
- Hearty Lentil Soup Recipe
If you’ve tried this easy homemade bread bowl recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories AND add your photo to your comment so that other can see your creation.
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Bread Bowls
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 bread bowls 1x
Description
This easy bread bowl recipe makes bread bowls that are thick and chewy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, perfect for holding your favorite soup!
Ingredients
- 3 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon instant yeast (or 2 packages)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoons kosher salt
- 7 to 8 cups all purpose or bread flour
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 egg white
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add the water, yeast, and sugar. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes.
- Add the olive oil, salt, and 4 cups of flour to the bowl and stir to combine. Using your stand mixer or a wooden spoon, mix the dough for 5 minutes.
- After you've mixed the dough for 5 minute, gradually add more flour, ⅓ cup at a time until the dough starts to come clean from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be just a little bit sticky at this point. Knead for another 3 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface and knead by hand until the dough is just barely tacky, adding just a little flour at a time as needed. If you are using bread flour you'll probably use 7 to 7 ½ cups of flour and if you are using all-purpose you'll probably use 7 ½ to 8 cups of flour.
- Form the dough into a smooth ball and return it to the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel, a beeswax wrap, or a piece of plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 30-45 minutes.
- Add a baking mat or parchment paper to two large baking sheets.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into 8 even pieces.
- Shape each piece into a smooth ball and place on the baking sheet, 4 ball doughs per sheet, so that they aren't touching each other and are spaced out evenly.
- Cover the dough balls with a clean dishtowel and allow to rise an additional 30 to 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl add the 1 tablespoon of milk and the egg white and use a fork to combine well.
- Cut a small X in the top of each bread ball with a razor blade, lame, or sharp serrated knife.
- Brush each dough ball with the milk mixture, being sure to cover all of the dough (not just the top).
- Bake the bread bowls on two separate racks for 30 minutes, rotating the pans from the upper rack to the lower rack half way through baking.
- Allow the bread bowls to cool for 15 minutes before cutting open to serve.
Notes
- You can use any light oil you like such as avocado oil or canola oil for this recipe.
- I tested this recipe with both bread flour and all purpose flour and they both worked great so use what you like or have on hand.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 45 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Category: side
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: bread bowls, bread bowl recipe, how to make bread bowls, bread bowls for soup, easy bread bowl recipe
More bread recipes to go with soup:
Bread Bowls are such a fun and tasty way to serve up warm soup. They are simple to make and will fill all the bellies. I can’t wait for you to make these.
Emily Lacey
These turned out so well for our pumpkin bread bowls for Halloween dinner. I added orange coloring and green stems and leaves for Halloween fun! 🎃
Melissa
What a great idea!!! SO CUTE!