Easy Homemade Bread Bowls
These Homemade Bread Bowls have a beautifully golden crisp exterior paired with a soft, fluffy interior. These bowls are the perfect vessel for your bowl of cozy soup on a chilly day. There’s nothing that beats bread bowls fresh from the oven.
Truly, is there anything better than bread paired with soup? And how about a bread bowl paired with your favorite cozy soup? The very first time I had a bread bowl happened to be at Panera Bread paired with my favorite soup – broccoli cheddar soup. It was love at first bite!
Making a bread bowl in your own kitchen is nothing short of satisfying. There’s just something about making your own bread that is extremely satisfying, and when you can stuff that bread with a delicious cozy soup? Even better! I promise these homemade bread bowls are EASY and can actually be made in under an hour.
Here is What you Will Love About This Homemade Bread Bowl Recipe
- Can be made in under an hour
- Golden crisp exterior with soft, fluffy interior
- You can make the dough the night before, then cover and allow to rise overnight, in the refrigerator. This will create deeper flavors in the dough, plus split the work over two days which may help on busy nights.
- Stays fresh for a couple of days at room temperature, or up to 1 week in the refrigerator, so you can make the bread bowl the night before or a few nights before you plan to use them.
- Only requires a handful of ingredients.
Ingredients
These bread bowls only use a handful of ingredients, yet deliver delicious, flavorful vehicles for your cozy bowl of soup.
- Bread Bowl
- instant yeast
- warm water
- honey or granulated sugar
- all-purpose flour
- unsalted butter, softened
- salt
- Egg wash
- 1 large egg (this gives the bread bowl a beautiful golden brown, shiny color when baked)
Here’s How to Make These Homemade Bread Bowls
make the dough
In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook attachment, you will add all of your ingredients (except the egg for the egg wash) to your bowl. Knead on medium-low speed for 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, then cover with plastic wrap.
first rise
Allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes. I like to turn my oven on, then once it reaches 100F, I turn the oven off. Place the covered dough in the warm oven and allow it to rise in there for 45 minutes. The warm oven environment is the perfect warm environment to help the dough rise well.
divide and shape
Divide the dough into 4 roughly equal pieces. They don’t have to be perfect! Shape each piece into a ball. To do this, clear some of the flour off of the counter. You want the dough to slightly stick to the counter so that the countertop slightly tugs on the dough as you drag it across. This helps create tension and the smooth shape. You may have to sprinkle a little water on the counter to get your dough to stick slightly. You don’t want the dough to stick too much.
You will move the dough in a circular motion. Cup the side of the dough with one hand and push the dough away from you, then cup the top of the dough and pull back towards you to come in contact with your other hand at the bottom of the dough. Use your other hand at the bottom of the dough to help push the dough to the side, or start of the circular motion. Repeat two or three more times until the top of the dough appears smooth and the dough is in a nice uniform, taut ball.
second rise
Allow the bread to rise while you preheat the oven to 400F. I like to place the tray with the covered dough on it on top of the oven. The heat from the oven helps the dough rise.
time to bake!
Before baking, score the top of the bread with an X using a sharp knife or serrated knife. Brush the dough with a beaten egg. You can skip this, but it does give the bread a beautiful golden brown color and glossy appearance after baking.
Bake the bread bowls for 15-20 minutes. For a more accurate test, you can use an instant read thermometer to get the internal temperature of the bread bowl. It should read 190F.
Storage
You can store leftover bread bowls in an airtight container on the counter for a few days, or in the fridge for up to 1 week. You may also freeze these for up to 3 months.
Freezing Instructions
If you would like to freeze the dough before baking, you may freeze the dough immediately after the first rise. Punch the dough down, divide into 4 roughly equal pieces and shape into balls. Place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Proceed with the recipe at step 6. The 20 minute rise will allow the dough to come to room temperature before baking.
Here are a few of my favorite soup recipes
Here are a few bread recipes I think you will love!
Let me know what you thought!
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Easy Homemade Bread Bowls
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
These Homemade Bread Bowls have a beautifully golden crisp exterior paired with a soft, fluffy interior. These bowls are the perfect vessel for your bowl of cozy soup on a chilly day. There’s nothing that beats bread bowls fresh from the oven.
Ingredients
Bread Bowls
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cups warm water (heated to 110F)
- 2 tablespoons honey or granulated sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
Egg wash
- 1 large egg, beaten
Instructions
1. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add yeast, warm water, honey (or granulated sugar), flour, butter and salt to your bowl. Knead on medium-low speed for 5 minutes.
2. Transfer dough to greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes in a warm place. If you have extra time, you can allow the bread to rise for 60 minutes, which will add more flavor to the bread. In order to help the bread rise faster, I like to turn my oven on. Once it reaches 100F, I turn my oven off and place the covered dough in the warm oven. This creates a nice warm environment for the dough to rise.
3. Once the dough is done rising, punch the dough down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 4 roughly equal pieces.
4. Shape each piece into a ball. To do this, clear some of the flour off of the counter. You want the dough to slightly stick to the counter so that the countertop slightly tugs on the dough as you drag it across. This helps create tension and the smooth shape. You may have to sprinkle a little water on the counter to get your dough to stick slightly. You don’t want the dough to stick too much.
You will move the dough in a circular motion. Cup the side of the dough with one hand and push the dough away from you, then cup the top of the dough and pull back towards you to come in contact with your other hand at the bottom of the dough. Use your other hand at the bottom of the dough to help push the dough to the side, or start of the circular motion. Repeat two or three more times until the top of the dough appears smooth and the dough is in a nice uniform, taut ball.
5. Use a bench knife to transfer the dough ball to parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough balls.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for 20 minutes while the oven preheats.
7. Preheat oven to 400F.
8. When the dough is done rising, score the top of the bread bowls with an X using a sharp knife or serrated knife. Brush the dough with egg wash, then bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown in color. For a more accurate test, the bread is done when the center reaches 195F on an instant read thermometer.
9. Cool until ready to handle. The longer the bread bowl cools, the easier it is to cut open. To serve, cut a large circle out of the top. Scoop out the center (save for dunking in your soup!) and fill with your favorite soup.
10. You can store leftover bread bowls, covered in an airtight container for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for 3 months.
Notes
- Storage: You can store leftover bread bowls in an airtight container on the counter for a few days, or in the fridge for up to 1 week. You may also freeze these for up to 3 months.
- Make Ahead Instructions: If you would like to make these bread bowls ahead of time, yet still bake them fresh the day of, here is what you need to do. Follow the recipe through step 2. After the first rise, punch the dough down, then cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise overnight in the refrigerator. Make sure you use a large bowl to allow for the dough to expand while it rises. This longer rise will further enhance the flavor of the bread bowls.
- Freezing Instructions: If you would like to freeze the dough before baking, you may freeze the dough immediately after the first rise. Punch the dough down, divide into 4 roughly equal pieces and shape into balls. Place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Proceed with the recipe at step 6. The 20 minute rise will allow the dough to come to room temperature before baking.
- Prep Time: 15
- Rise Time: 65
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
