How To Make Bread Bowls

Hi again,

I was requested on my blog on the recipe on how to make a bread bowl. Here is a simple recipe that I used when make my white loaf of bread, which in turn can also be used to make my bread bowl. This recipe can make 2 loaves of bread or 4 small to medium sized (personalized) bread bowl. I must tell you that this is a long process and you must have a lot of patience. This process takes about 2.5 hours or more from preparation, mixing, rising and baking. Do plan a head when making bread and also follow these steps accordingly to ensure your bread will turn out great.

I will post the creamy chicken noodle soup in another blog post.

Enjoy and happy baking!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of warm water

1 pkg dry active yeast

1 tsp granulated sugar

7 cups of bread flour 

(EX: you can substitute this with 6 cups of white bread flour and 1 cup of wheat flour)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup softened unsalted butter

Directions:

1) Mix in 2 1/2 cups of warm water, yeast and sugar in a stand mixer and wait 5 minutes. Make sure the end results is foamy.

2) With a dough hook attachment on low speed (on a Kitchen Aid mixing stand #2), slowly mix in the bread flour and salt until well incorporated.

3) Knead the dough at medium speed #4 and add the softened butter. Knead for about 10 minutes.

4) After kneading, take out the dough and grease the same stand mixer bowl. Place dough back into the grease bowl and cover with a clean towel and place away from any drafts. Let rise for 1 hour.

5) After 1 hour, the dough should be double its size then punch down the dough to deflate it.

6) On a clean counter top, slightly knead the dough and form into a thick log then cut dough into 4. Roll the pieces of dough into a ball then pinch the bottom of the dough. Place the 4 dough balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, a few inches apart, cover with a clean towel and let rise for another 45 minutes.

7) After the rising process is over, cut a slit or two or an "X" on top of the bread, if you want. Apply an egg wash (1 egg mixed in with 1 tbsp of water) all over the bread to give it a nice shiny look and a nice outer crust.

8) Preheat oven first to 350 degrees F when the 45 minutes mark of rising is almost done. Then increase the temperature to 375 degrees F when baking the bread. Bake for 30 minutes.

Et voila! Allow to cool down before cutting. The bread bowl should have a nice shiny look, a nice outer crust and warm and soft inside.