Sourdough Bread Bowls
If you’re like us and love a hearty slice of bread to go with your homemade soups, then I know you’ll love these sourdough bread bowls. Not only are they delicious but they’re kinda fun cause you can eat your bowl and dip the insides into your soup! Haha
They’re just as easy to make as a loaf of sourdough and make such a nice treat. This recipe is based off my dutch oven sourdough bread recipe and makes 4 perfectly sized bread bowls. I’ll include baker’s percentages in the recipe so that you can scale up or down if required!
This sourdough bread bowl recipe is dedicated to having fun with your food.
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Tips
- I don’t have bread bowl sized bannetons and because I already have too many banneton baskets I am using some cereal bowls I picked up at a local dollar store and lining them with tea towels. If you’re looking to do the same, choose bowls that are narrow at the bottom and have steeper sides, this will help to keep the shape of your bread bowls.
- This recipe is written with an open oven bake, but if you don’t have a pizza stone or baking steel, the bread bowls can be baked in a dutch oven, but you’ll likely need to work in batches.
- I bulk ferment and proof my bread dough at room temperature, but if you’re in a warm place (warmer than 70-72f), your rising times will need to be shortened.
Key Ingredients
Sourdough Starter: For this recipe, you want to use a fed and active sourdough starter. Your starter should have been fed the night before, approximately 8 hours before beginning and have at least doubled in size.
Bread Flour: Use a high protein unbleached flour for best results. This could be all-purpose flour or bread flour.
Psst.. Want to know more about feeding your starter, storing sourdough starter, how to use discard, or even which is the best jar for your starter? I’ve got tons of guides to help you!
How To Make Sourdough Bread Bowls:
Make The Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 350g warm water with 100g of active starter until mostly combined. I like to use a Danish dough whisk, but anything will work.
- Add 500g bread flour to the bowl and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Knead the dough with your hands until all the shaggy bits are incorporated. Sprinkle 12g salt over the dough.
- Cover the bowl and set aside for 45 – 60 minutes.
Stretch And Fold:
- Uncover the bowl and using damp hands, grab the dough and gently pull it until the flap is long enough to fold over itself, then fold the flap, rotate the bowl 90 degrees, and repeat 3 more times, this is considered a set of stretch and folds. Recover the bowl, and set it aside for 60 minutes.
- Repeat the stretch and fold process 3 times over 3 hours, for a total of 3 sets of stretch and folds each followed by a 60 minute rest.
Bulk Ferment:
- Complete a fourth and final stretch and fold then cover the bowl and set aside for 3 hours to finish the bulk ferment. It is important to keep the dough bowl somewhere warm to encourage the microbes to work quickly!
Shape:
- Observe your dough, at this point, the dough should have risen in the bowl, and have a smooth surface with visible bubbles. If the dough is domed in the bowl it is ready to work with, if the dough is flat it may need more time in the bulk ferment.
- Uncover the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface or countertop. Use a bench scraper or knife to section the dough into 4 equal portions.
- Form each of the portions into a tight dough balls by folding it into itself. Generously dust each ball with rice flour and place them seam side up in a towel lined bowl or banneton.
Prove + Cold Retard:
- Prove the sourdough bread bowls covered in their bowls or bannetons for 2 – 3 hours before placing in fridge to cold retard for up to 3 days. I have small bread bags that I use, but in a pinch you could place your bannetons or bowls on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. If you want to bake it right after proving, you’re welcome to, but the flavor is better after resting in the fridge.
Bake:
- Place one oven rack on the oven floor, and place a cast-iron skillet on that rack. Add 4 cups of water to the skillet.
- Then place a second oven rack in the lower third of your oven, usually you’ll need to place it in the second from bottom slot in order to clear the skillet. Place your baking stone or baking steel on the rack.
- Preheat the oven to 450f, with the baking stone in the oven for at least 45 minutes.
- Once the oven is fully preheated, turn your sourdough boules out of the proofing bowls onto a sheet of parchment paper. Score each bread bowl to allow for expansion.
- Quickly, but carefully, open the oven and using a pizza peel or the parchment paper as a sling, place the sourdough onto the heated baking stone and bake uncovered with the water-filled skillet for as 30 minutes. If required, carefully remove the skillet, and continue baking until the crust has reached your desired color, usually another 5 or so minutes.
Cool:
- Remove baked sourdough bread bowls from the oven and transfer to a wire mesh cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. I like to leave it for at least 2 hours before using, as slicing too soon can affect the crumb and texture of your loaf.
Serve:
- Use a small serrated knife to cut the top off of the loaf. I like to angle my knife towards the center to cut out a wedge shape. Once you have the top removed, you can scrape out more of the insides to make a larger cavity to fit more soup! Save the top and the bits you’ve removed to dip in your soup or chili!
Serving Suggestions
Now that we’ve got delicious homemade sourdough bread bowls, we need some delicious fillings, right? Here are some ideas!
Batch + Storage
Batch:
This sourdough bread bowl recipe makes 4 good sized bread bowls. This is enough for my family of 4 to snack on for at least 2 days! It can be doubled to make 8 bowls, or tripled, if desired.
Storage:
If you’ve got leftover sourdough, you’ve got serious willpower! There are a couple of ways to store sourdough bread to help prolong its quality after cutting.
Your bowls can be kept cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. This is our go-to and usually we finish the loaf before the crust gets too crusty! I do recommend transferring it to a bread bag after 16-18 hours though.
Your sourdough bowls can also be frozen. To freeze sourdough, cool to room temperature, then tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, slide it into a bread bag, seal it up, and stick it in the freezer for 1-2 months. To use after freezing, remove the loaf from the freezer, unwrap, and allow it to come to room temperature (1 -2 hours) before slicing and enjoying.
Recommended Equipment
Baking Steel:
I’ve had baking stones in the past and if that’s what you’ve got, by all means use them! I loved my baking stones, but you know what, they are not indesctructible like a baking steel. So when my second baking stone got broken, I replaced it with two 14 by 16 inch baking steels. They do exactly the same job but are much more durable!
Pizza Peel:
I have a 14″ pizza peel because of my Traeger pizza oven, and it really does come in handy for other cooking projects like this one. The pizza peel allows me to quickly, safely, and easily slide the sourdough right onto the baking steel in the oven without risking touching anything hot or burning myself. It also makes them easy to remove.
Safety Tips
Any time we are playing with high heat and water or steam, we need to be very careful. Here are some ways to reduce the likelihood of injury or damage to your oven and bakeware.
- Always, always wear good quality high heat oven mitts. I personally prefer the ones with the silicone grip on the outside when I’m working with liquids because they are waterproof, while my fabric ones are not.
- Exercise caution when using water in the oven burns aside, water can damage bakeware and your oven.
- Use a pizza peel if you have one, it can make transferring the sourdough loaves to the oven quick and easy, reducing the likelihood of burns and keeps more steam in the oven.
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Homemade Sourdough Bread Bowls
Ingredients
- 350 g water
- 100 g active sourdough starter
- 500 g bread flour
- 12 g coarse sea salt
Instructions
Make The Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 350g warm water with 100g of active starter until mostly combined.
- Add 500g bread flour to the bowl and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Knead the dough with your hands until all the shaggy bits are incorporated. Sprinkle 12g salt over the dough.
- Cover the bowl and set aside for 45 – 60 minutes.
Stretch And Fold:
- Uncover the bowl and using damp hands, grab the dough and gently pull it until the flap is long enough to fold over itself, then fold the flap, rotate the bowl 90 degrees, and repeat 3 more times, this is considered a set of stretch and folds.
- Recover the bowl, and set it aside for 60 minutes.Repeat the stretch and fold process 3 times over 3 hours, for a total of 3 sets of stretch and folds each followed by a 60 minute rest.
Bulk Ferment:
- Complete a fourth and final stretch and fold then cover the bowl and set aside for 3 hours to finish the bulk ferment. It is important to keep the dough bowl somewhere warm to encourage the microbes to work quickly!
Shape:
- Observe your dough, at this point, the dough should have risen in the bowl, and have a smooth surface with visible bubbles. If the dough is domed in the bowl it is ready to work with, if the dough is flat it may need more time in the bulk ferment.
- Uncover the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface or countertop. Use a bench scraper or knife to section the dough into 4 equal portions.
- Form each of the portions into a tight dough balls by folding it into itself.
- Generously dust each ball with rice flour and place them seam side up in a towel lined bowl or banneton.
Prove And Cold Retard:
- Prove the sourdough bread bowls covered in their bowls or bannetons for 2 – 3 hours before placing in fridge to cold retard for up to 3 days. I have small bread bags that I use, but in a pinch you could place your bannetons or bowls on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. If you want to bake it right after proving, you’re welcome to, but the flavor is better after resting in the fridge.
Bake:
- Place one oven rack on the oven floor, and place a cast-iron skillet on that rack. Add 4 cups of water to the skillet.
- Then place a second oven rack in the lower third of your oven, usually you’ll need to place it in the second from bottom slot in order to clear the skillet. Place your baking stone or baking steel on the rack.
- Preheat the oven to 450f, with the baking stone in the oven for at least 45 minutes.
- Once the oven is fully preheated, turn your sourdough boules out of the proofing bowls onto a sheet of parchment paper. Score each bread bowl to allow for expansion.
- Quickly, but carefully, open the oven and using a pizza peel or the parchment paper as a sling, place the sourdough onto the heated baking stone and bake uncovered with the water-filled skillet for as 30 minutes. If required, remove the skillet, and continue baking until the crust has reached your desired color, usually another 5 or so minutes.
Notes
Batch:
This sourdough bread bowl recipe makes 4 good sized bread bowls. This is enough for my family of 4 to snack on for at least 2 days! It can be doubled to make 8 bowls, or tripled, if desired.Storage:
If you’ve got leftover sourdough, you’ve got serious willpower! There are a couple of ways to store sourdough bread to help prolong its quality after cutting. Your bowls can be kept cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. This is our go-to and usually we finish the loaf before the crust gets too crusty! I do recommend transferring it to a bread bag after 16-18 hours though. Your sourdough bowls can also be frozen. To freeze sourdough, cool to room temperature, then tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, slide it into a bread bag, seal it up, and stick it in the freezer for 1-2 months. To use after freezing, remove the loaf from the freezer, unwrap, and allow it to come to room temperature (1 -2 hours) before slicing and enjoying.Safety Tips
Any time we are playing with high heat and water or steam, we need to be very careful. Here are some ways to reduce the likelihood of injury or damage to your oven and bakeware.- Always, always wear good quality high heat oven mitts. I personally prefer the ones with the silicone grip on the outside when I’m working with liquids because they are waterproof, while my fabric ones are not.
- Exercise caution when using water in the oven burns aside, water can damage bakeware and your oven.
- Use a pizza peel if you have one, it can make transferring the sourdough loaves to the oven quick and easy, reducing the likelihood of burns and keeps more steam in the oven.
