Bread bowls

I modified the following recipe from my French Bread recipe already on this blog to be bread bowls for soup. Tonight I made a creamy tomato and bean soup that was yummy, but the real star were these bread bowls. I think the modifications I made helped them to come out perfectly--super soft on the inside, but crusty on the outside, and just the right size and shape for an adult portion dinner. They are very easy to do too, even if they take a little time, it's just rising time. So the next time you make soup, consider making some bread bowls and watch your favorite soup recipe go from great to phe-nom-en-al!


Bread Bowls
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp yeast
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil + more for drizzling on top
5 cups flour (about)

1) Mix all ingredients together in a mixer (or by hand), and add just enough flour for the dough to pull away from the sides when kneaded, but still be soft. Around 5 cups, depending on the humidity, altitude, flour type, etc.
2) Knead for about 10 minutes.
3) Let rise for about 1 hour. (If you are pressed for time, heat your oven at 200 degrees for 2 minutes, then turn off heat. Place a semi-damp towel over bread dough and place it in the warm oven for 1/2 hour.)
4) Shape dough into 5 or 6 equal bread balls--like large round rolls. Place on a greased cookie sheet and drizzle the top with olive oil and sprinkle with a little kosher sea salt or just plain kosher salt, if desired.
5) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. As soon as it is hot, bake the bread bowls. Don't over-rise after shaping, as they will flatten out. You want them to be a little dense when they go in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
6) After your bread bowls come out, let them rest for about 5 minutes before cutting the tops off, hollowing out the soft interior for dipping and dunking, and filling with a delicious soup of your choice. Enjoy!