Sourdough Bread Bowls

These homemade sourdough bread bowls are made with active starter OR discard. They're crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and are the coziest way to eat soup!

The addition of commercial yeast gives these a a more predictable rise time (they can be ready the same day!), and a better result in an open bake than traditional sourdough.

If you love sourdough and you love bread bowls, I highly recommend you try these sourdough bread bowls! The dough is a standard sourdough recipe, plus a good dose of commercial yeast, and it is so easy to work with.

Oh, and the result is a bread bowl that's got a sourdough crust we know and love on the outside, and a fluffy but dense crumb on the inside, perfect for holding all of your favorite soups.

But don't just limit this to soups! Anything from chicken salad to regular salad to even dips would be so good in these.

Ingredients

These bread bowls use a standard sourdough recipe, plus some commercial yeast. Here's the cast of characters:

• Sourdough starter - You can use active starter or discard here! You are really using it for the flavor. Keep in mind that the longer your starter has gone since peaking, the longer the rise will likely take. I have the recipe written with volume and weight measurements, but since the volume of starter can vary so much depending on what stage it's in, I highly recommend getting a kitchen scale and using the weight measurement.
• Water - The classic liquid in artisan loaves. Use lukewarm water for a quicker rise.
• All purpose flour - Easy to find, easy to use! I love bread flour in regular sourdough, but all purpose works just fine here.
• Salt - The only rule I have for bread making is DON'T FORGET THE SALT.
• Dry active yeast - This is what we're using for the rise in this recipe. I like to buy a jar because between these bread bowls and these hoagie buns, I use too much to be constrained by the envelopes!

Why use commercial yeast?

There are two main reasons I like to use commercial yeast in these bread bowls:

1. You can use your starter in any form. Whether you have sourdough starter at its peak or a hungry starter that's ready to be fed (AKA, discard), you can use it in these since they don't rely on starter for the rise. Plus, you will have a very predictable rise time.
2. You can do an open bake without worrying about loaves blowing out. Since you're making 4 loaves here, it would be impractical to use a Dutch oven for the bake, and doing an open bake in a home oven is likely to result in blow outs with slow-rise sourdough. Trust me, it's no fun to make a bunch of loaves that all blow out! Adding commercial yeast will combat this problem.

The first time I attempted sourdough bread bowls, I just did my basic sourdough recipe divided into smaller loaves, and it was actually one of my bigger fails of the year. The bread was delicious, but not great to look at. I find open baking too finicky in home ovens and I'm all about a consistent result.

How to make bread bowls

Start by mixing the water, starter, and yeast together in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt and mix until no dry flour remains. You may want to use your hands here! Cover and let it rest for 15-30 minutes, then do a round of stretch and folds.

Cover and let the dough rise until doubled in size. This will take about 90 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 4 pieces. You don't have to use a scale here, but you can if you want to be super precise. Shape each piece into a round and place seam side-down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another hour, until very puffed up.

Brush the loaves with water (this will help the crust not to harden before the oven spring is finished) and score. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the loaves are baked through and browned to your liking. Let them cool completely on a wire rack.

How to cut bread bowls

Okay, so you have your loaves baked. Here's how you turn them into bread bowls.

First, take a small serrated knife and slice off the top of the loaves. Then cut down toward the bottom crust in a circle around the side crust. Use your hand to pull this piece of bread out. Then, carve however much of the remaining bread along the sides and bottom as you want gone, being careful not to cut through the crust.

Toasting bread bowls

Toasting your bread bowls will warm them up, and make them maximally crispy. I think it withstands the liquid of the soup better this way too if that's important to you. Highly recommend this step!

Once your bread bowl is cut, place it in a 375 degree oven for 9-10 minutes, until warmed through and beginning to brown.

Happy soup season!