Italian Bread Bowls

This delicious recipe for homemade  Italian Bread Bowls can be used filled with an appetizer to serve at a party or filled with soup to serve for dinner, they are absolutely AMAZING!

  This Italian Bread Bowls recipe can be used for soups, salads or dips to make a great presentation for parties and holidays!  But around here the way this usually gets eaten is…as an Italian Bread.  The loaves are the perfect size for just the two of us. It is absolutely delicious as an Italian Bread, with butter of coarse!  On a day that I make these they get wrapped in plastic wrap and put into a freezer bag to put in the freezer.  You can let the loaves thaw out at room temperature or help it along in the microwave.  This bread is a staple in our house, it goes with everything. 

One of the very nice things about this recipe for Italian Bread Bowls is you can make the individual dough balls any size you want to.  6 – 8 balls makes a nice size soup bowl, not to big, and you won’t feel like your eating a ton of bread.  Go small to 10 balls and you have some nice Italian Rolls for burgers or sandwiches.  Because I use these as bread to slice, I make 5 or 6 balls.  Just enough for the two of us to slice up and eat along with dinner and have a little left over. The first time I made this dough I couldn’t believe how silky smooth and soft it was.   Let’s gather the ingredients for Italian Bread Bowls and make them together.

Italian Bread Bowls Ingredients:

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
• 7 cups bread flour or all purpose flour
• 2 Teaspoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

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The Steps to Make the Bowl

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until foamy and it rises up, this will take about 10 minutes. Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Add in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition. Stop adding flour to the bowl when the dough starts to cling to the beaters. When I make this my dough never takes the full 7 cups of flour in the mixing bowl.  It takes about 5 1/2 cups of flour.

I wait until I knead the dough to add more flour to make a soft elastic tacky dough. I also never use the full 7 cups of flour called for, it’s more like 6 – 61/2. When the dough has pulled together in the mixer, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, knead enough flour into the dough to make a smooth, elastic, slightly tacky dough, about 6 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. 

Shaping the Bread Bowl

Punch the dough down, and divide it into 6 equal portions.  Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place the loaves on lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let the loaves rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half the egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with the remaining egg mixture and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

To make bowls out of the bread : Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4-inch-thick shells. Fill the bread bowls with hot soup  or a dip and serve immediately.

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Italian Bread Bowls

This delicious recipe can be used as bread bowls or used to make small individual loaves of Italian bread.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: bread bowls, breads, Italian bread, Italian bread bowls, yeast bread

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 .25 ounce packages active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
• 2 Teaspoons salt
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
• 7 cups bread flour or all purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

Instructions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until foamy and it rises up, this will take about 10 minutes.

  Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Add in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition. Stop adding flour to the bowl when the dough starts to cling to the beaters. (When I make this my dough never takes the full 7 cups of flour in the mixing bowl.  It takes about 5 1/2 cups of flour.

   I wait until I knead the dough to add more flour to make a soft elastic tacky dough. I also never use the full 7 cups of flour called for, it's more like 6 - 61/2.When the dough has pulled together in the mixer, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, knead enough flour into the dough to make a smooth, elastic, slightly tacky dough, about 6 minutes.

  Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal portions.

  Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half the egg wash.Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden.

  2 Cool on wire racks.To make bowls: Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4-inch-thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

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