Bread Bowls

So I took a little blogging vacation last week. We had a totally wonderful Christmas here at our house. Christmas Eve was full of good friends and amazing food (which I have no pictures of!). Then Christmas Day was just as fun--didn't even get out of pajamas until 4pm when the kids were anxious to go play outside for a bit. Did not cook a meal all day and wrapped up the evening watching a not-so-classic Christmas movie, While You Were Sleeping. We had already watched several classics before that--Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, The Polar Express, and my favorite, White Christmas. The down time with the family was GREAT. And today we kick off a hectic 3 days trying to get ready to leave home for 2 months. That's right--while it hasn't exactly flown by for me, I'm 35 weeks pregnant and its time to get ourselves to Thailand to wait on little Adiel's arrival! But, you're here for the food, so let me get to it...

My friend, Shannon, linked me to this recipe, which I've now tried a couple times, tweeked a bit, and am ready to share with you. I've been wanting to attempt bread bowls for our soup for years now and just have never done it. But they are actually really easy and quite yummy. Hope you have fun trying them out!

Bread Bowls
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (just sub regular if you don't have it or don't use it)
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, enough to make a smooth, soft dough

Place water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl and stir together. Let sit for a couple minutes so you know your yeast is activated (getting bubbly).

Add additional ingredients, working flour in a cup at a time.

Knead in remaining flour by hand until you have a smooth dough.

Place dough in a bowl and loosely cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise for 45 minutes to an hour (about double in size). Divide dough into 4 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Cover top with greased plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours (up to 24 hours). Two or more hours before serving, remove the bread bowls from the fridge. Uncover, and let them sit for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425F (215C). Just before baking, slash the top surface a few times so they have room to expand.

Bake for 22-28 minutes, until the bowls are deep brown and sound hollow when thumped. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

When ready to serve, slice off the top of the bowl and pull out a little of the insides. Press some of the bread down into the bottom and sides, making them a little thicker and giving yourself a well in the middle for the soup.

Notes: The refrigeration time supposedly creates a more crisp, chewy texture to the bread. I have made these once doing the fridge time and once just skipping that part, letting the balls rise a 2nd time to double sized, and immediately baking. I didn't see a huge difference--so if you're short on time, skip it!
Also, these do not make just huge, restaurant style bowls--honestly, the bigger the bowl, the easier it spreads flat in my experience. These hold about 1/2-3/4 cup of soup, but they can handle being re-filled 2-3 times as you eat the soup, so long as you don't scrape the bottom too much!! I personally try to serve these with thicker soups or chowders that won't just soak through the bread super quick. I have tried them with Sausage and Corn Chowder and an upcoming Broccoli Cheddar Soup. I think they would work great with regular chili, Italian Chicken Chowder, maybe with White Chicken Chili, and definitely with a simple Cream of Tomato!