How to Make Bread Bowls – Cheesy Bacon Bread Bowl Recipe
Whenever I make a big pot of cream of cauliflower and broccoli soup I think about all of the times I had a similar kind of soup at a restaurant and it was served in a bread bowl. Which got me thinking that I had never tried to make bread bowls at home so of course I was now on a mission – how to make bread bowls! There were several recipes online but none of them did what I wanted. I either encountered sourdough, which I really don’t like or plain white bread. So I basically created one of my own and even better – it has bacon!
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How To Make Bread Bowls
I wanted my bread bowls to complement the soup as well as hold the soup. My first thought was a cheesy bread. Since the cauliflower soup has cheese in it I knew that a cheesy bread would go well and then it hit me….
…BACON!
Cheesy Bacon Bread Bowls would be my answer. The smokey, salty bacon and the cheese would be excellent with this soup and with other soups I might want to make. So I went in search of a recipe I could use as a base and I found one in my favorite bread cookbook (affiliate link), Secrets of a Jewish Baker. I actually used bits and pieces of two recipes to create what ended up being the final result.
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Cheesy Bacon Bread Bowls
Makes 10 Bread Bowls
For the sponge:
1 cup warm water mixed with 1 cup warm milk
2 packages active dry yeast (1 1/2 TBS)
2 cups all purpose flour
For the Dough:
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS olive oil
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (about 8 oz)
1 cup chopped crispy bacon
3 – 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 egg mixed with a splash of water
Add the yeast to the warm liquids and let sit to soften in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add the flour and stir until combined.
Cover and let rest in a warm place until about doubled – 30 – 45 minutes.
Place the bowl back into the mixer and add in the sugar, olive oil, cheese, bacon, 3 cups of flour and the salt.
Mix with the paddle until the dough comes together, adding as much of the remaining flour as needed but this is a soft dough so don’t over add.
Add the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes.
Remove the dough to a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size about 30 – 45 minutes.
Prepare two baking sheets by covering with silicone mats or spraying with cooking spray
Punch down the dough.
Cut it in half and cut each half into 5 even pieces.
Form each piece into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheets with enough space in between to allow for rise.
Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 – 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°
Brush the dough with egg wash and bake for 12 minutes then rotate the sheets and bake for another 12 – 15 minutes until the bread bowls are done. You can tell by tapping one on the bottom. If it sounds hollow it is done.
Cool on a wire rack.
When ready to use slice the top off of the bread bowl and carefully pull out the soft bread inside. You can eat it or save it for another purpose (for example: you can cut into pieces and toast to make croutons).
How Were the Cheesy Bacon Bread Bowls?
Seriously yummy. The bread itself is delightful with the cheese and the bacon. I mean really, can you ever go wrong with cheese and bacon? The bowls held the soup well, but I did learn after I filled the bowls for the photo that some did soak into the sides – to be expected and seriously delicious – and made the bowl look less than filled when I went to take the photo
But – seriously delicious. The bread soaked up the creamy cauliflower soup and was so tasty. The bread bowl held together until the end and then we ate the soup soaked bread bowl. A couple of nights later we had the bowls with seafood bisque in them and it was also really good.
The cheesy bacon bread bowls freeze really well too so you can make a batch and then pop them into the freezer and pull out what you need. I am very happy I finally explored how to make bread bowls!
