Easy Homemade Whole Wheat Bread Bowls. {For Soup!… and things.}
We’ll get to this part later.
The creamy soupy part, I mean.
First… carbs.
I know it’s sort of hypocritical since I often say that bread is not my drug of choice, but bread bowls? I’m all over them. I will never forget the first time I had one – it was long before Panera showed it’s face… well at least in my area – and it was one summer in Michigan where I found myself scraping spoonfuls of seafood bisque right up along with some soft sourdough loaf.
I seriously thought I had died and gone to heaven. Seriously.
No, really.
I had never tried something so delicious and I talked about it CONSTANTLY. I remember bugging my mom about it nonstop and just whining about how this soup came in this bowl made out of freaking bread and OMG why isn’t this a thing everywhere?
Then Panera came along and lah dee dah, the magic was gone. I mean bread bowls are still fantastic and I order one almost every single time I find myself there, but the fact that I can go and order one anytime I want? Not as exciting. Also totally amazing.
So these, obviously… are a slightly healthier twist on the giant standard sourdough bowls. I’m not gonna lie – I’d choose sourdough over whole wheat any day, especially when it’s dipped in soul-warming soup – but until I get my lazy rear in gear and either make my own sourdough starter or make friends with someone who is willing to gift me some… it’s not gonna happen. And the good news is that aside from your standard dough rising time, they are incredibly simply.
Like so incredibly simple that I’m now refusing to eat my soup out of any other vehicle.
Homemade Whole Wheat Bread Bowls.
Ingredients
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 1/8 cup active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add warm water, yeast, honey and olive oil, quickly mixing with a spoon. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until yeast gets foamy. In a separate bowl, measure out flour and salt.
- Add in flour gradually with the mixer on low speed. Knead with the dough hook (I used the two lowest speeds for this) for 10-12 minutes, occasionally pulling the dough off with your hands and placing it back in the bowl. Remove dough from bowl (it will be sticky) and place it on a floured workspace. Knead it a few times by hand, adding a few sprinkles of flour until it’s elastic and no longer super sticky. Oil a bowl with olive oil and place the bread in the bowl, flipping it to coat. Cover and set in a warm place (I set it on top of my oven, turned on) to rise for 1.5 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- After 1.5 hours, punch down dough and form into a large round, using more flour if needed to decrease the stickiness again. Cut the round into 4 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Place on a baking sheet, cover and let rise for 20-30 more minutes. Take the dough balls and roll them into tighter balls again, then brush each with beaten egg. Gently score the top of each loaf, then bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden. Let cool completely, then using a serrated knife, cut a round out of the middle and fill with soup!
Notes
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124 Comments on “Easy Homemade Whole Wheat Bread Bowls. {For Soup!… and things.}”
I’ve never been into bread bowls but I think you converted me, that looks amazing
This is the first time I’ve seen someone make a bread bowl – usually you just find them in restaurants but they are stale and 100% NOT wheat flour. Plus, gee whiz, aside from chocolate chip cookies I think bread baking in the oven is one of the best smells in the world!
I need to get into this bread bowl thing. AWESOME!
These look and sound so delicious! I can’t wait for you to post that soup recipe!
i make sourdough bread! i aslo do different kinds like cinnamon raisin, everybodys favorite! my mom loves bread bowls so i might just have to make this for her!
gaaah, I LOVE bread bowls! definitely saving this recipe!
Now you know what you’ve gotta try… that whole no-knead bread thing that you bake in a dutch oven so it gets all crusty on the outside in that “OMG i just bought this at a bakery” kind of way…
I’ve got the easiest recipe for it if you’re interested. Simple and almost no thought involved! Throw ingredients in a bowl at night, bake in the a.m.
Stacy , would you share this with me please?
Whoa, how do i get in on this easy bread business?! Could I please have the recipe too?
Yes, me too!
Me too please!!
Me too. jessielikewhat at yahooooo
me too please lyriksgma@gmail.com
So I’m like a year late to this game, but on the offchance you still check this….I would love to see your recipe! threewellsliving@gmail.com
I love this idea! Nothing beats a big bowl of hot soup served in a bread bowl! Yummy!!! I am going to book mark this and make this weekend!!! I love it!!!!
I have to try this!
I wouldn’t say that whole wheat is healthier than sourdough—but whatevs, they are both awesome. I gotta make this for my husband next time I make soup. It’ll make him so happy. :-)
OMG I have to do this exact thing for my jawb Friday. Well, sort of. In a way. But I want yours.
Bread bowl me!
I don’t think I’ve ever ate soup out of a bread bowl. I’ve clearly been deprived.
I’m sure the Panera ones don’t taste anywhere near as good as yours Jess! The idea of seafood bisque in one of these is triggering some crazy cravings right now. Seafood at 8am? Why not?! ;)
Omg I die!! I want this so bad. Making it soon. Seriously. You’re amazing. Thank you!!
These look so delicious!! Craving Loaded Baked Potato soup from Panera right now, pit stop after work! : )
I still haven’t had a bread bowl! But I love making homemade bread, so I should just do it already. I think this would be delicious with my mom’s recipe for homemade minestrone. Hmm…
Now, I just need to be home for an actual DINNER! Haha
Yay! Instructions for bread bowls!
I spent 2002 working on a campaign in California, where the availability of sourdough bread bowls is kind of a given almost anywhere they serve seafood. I pretty much lived on seafood stew in a sourdough bread bowl from this place up the street from HQ. It was great because sitting at their counter was pretty much the only time I wasn’t working every day for three months.
Wow fancy these look incredible!
these look amazing and dare I say better than Paneras!!
i’ve totally missed you. I’ve been gone on my honeymoon since Aug 23, and haven’t seen anything you posted since then. And so, my first day back from paradise, i had to catch up. love the new site!
and bread bowls are totally the shit.
That first picture is gorgeous! Did you ever take a
Photography class?
I’ll make you a sourdough starter!
I hope the next post shows evidence of the sides of the bread bowl demolished off!
This looks deeeelish.
P.S. I was wondering what brand your lens is. My lens sort of got smashed, sooo I kinda need a new one. Thanks!
P.P.S. Also I have an overnight sourdough recipe. It’s not “real sourdough” but it has the tang and the chew without all the feeding and waiting. I’ll have to post it one of these days.
You have outdone yourself with that top photo! Gorgeous!
These bowls look awesome, and I can’t wait for the soup recipe that goes with them!
I’ve never seen a recipe for homemade whole wheat bread bowls – clearly I need to buy myself some yeast and make this!
Where were these yesterday when I made soup??
Let me just say that I love that you make bread, and you don’t make a big ole deal about it. I love making bread, and it’s really is simple, but a lot of people are intimidated by it. You make it sound so normal and easy.
P.S. The sourdough starter is on my immediate To Do list. I’ll totally trade you some.
I kind of love how these aren’t super complicated to make! And I heart your photos!
You are not alone in your love for bread bowls. The best past of eating soup out of them is how soggy the inside gets and then you get to nom on that too!
Wow! Jessica your new site looks fantastic. Good for you-I love it!
Okay so these bread bowls are amazing, I am all over it, hey whole-wheat at least too right. :-)
bread bowls are the best! clam chowder in a bread bowl has always been my fave.
I love this big crusty bowls! They are just so pretty! Who even needs the soup in them — I just want to pick out the big chunks of bread right from the middle and pull off big ole bread chunks!
This is how I make my bread bowls too – I love them!
Yum, yum, yum! Blimey I need to make me some of these!! Eat your soup then eat the bowl?? What could be better (and saves on washing up :D)
This is such a great idea! And, I don’t know what is wrong with my family but they’re not soup fans. This just might convert them, and especially for eating leftover soup. It’s a risk I’m willing to take anyway, because worst case is I’ll need to eat them :).
One question, about how big are the loaves when finished? Thanks!
Wow these sound awesome. I’m gonna go make a batch right now for the chili I’ve got simmering
Ugh, I love bread bowls so much. There’s a restaurant right by where I went to college that had the greatest bread bowls. The first time I went there during college was on a rainy, rainy, rainy cold day, and let me tell you, nothing could’ve been better than the potato soup in a bread bowl on a day like that. Perfection.
They look awesome but I do look forward to the sourdough that you are bound to make one day. There is nothing better than good clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. YUM!
OK, who told you I’m addicted to bread bowls!?1 I’ve never made one myself and I’m afraid if I do I’ll eat everything out of bread bowls from now on. Thanks for the recipe….I think. :-) lol
mmm – i think all soup should be served out of bread bowls :)
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I reacted the same way when I had a bread bowl as a kid! It was SO. COOL. I couldn’t stop talking about it either. I mean, what a great concept!
Fast forward to high school when I worked in a little coffee shop/cafe where we actually had an option on the menu to have your soup served in a bread bowl. NOBODY ordered the bread bowls. Well… very, very rarely anyway. I know, right?!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I just made your Buffalo Chicken Soup last week and paired it with your Mini Gargonzola Poppers and = Total Win. My husband is still talking about those poppers!
It’s pouring rain here…POURING and it hasn’t rained a drop all summer and I sort of want to curl up in one of these bread bowls and take a nap.
I love eating soup out of a bread bowl! I get them all the time at Panera
Mmmmmm carbs (not to be confused with crabs, which I just typo-ed)! I’m such a sucker for the sourdough bread bowls at Boudin whenever I’m in the San Fran area. Absolute sucker.
These look amazing!! Bread bowls are another one of my bucket list recipes AND I’m a whole wheat fanatic! LOVE!
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What a tease! I want that soup!
Lady! Wee bit typo: “And the good news is that aside from your standard dough rising time, they are incredibly simply.”
LOVE THIS BLOG, OHMYYUM.