Homemade Sourdough Bread Bowls | Fresh Milled Flour
Do you love those bread bowls at the restaurant? Well, these sourdough bread bowls are going to be the perfect recipe for soup night! And, made with fresh milled flour, they are incredibly delicious and nutritious!
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One of my favorite dishes at the restaurant was always bread bowls with soup or fondue.
I mean, being able to eat the bowl after you finish your soup is genius, right?
Make your favorite soup and enjoy them in a sourdough bowl! It’s like dining out at home and your kids will absolutely love this!
New to Sourdough?
If you are brand new to sourdough, you will need to make your own sourdough starter.
Thankfully, it’s easy! Follow my detailed instructions to make a sourdough starter.
Sourdough starter is wild or natural yeast that rises bread dough without the need for commercial yeast.
It offers several health benefits and adds a delightfully tangy flavor to the bread.
Why Fresh Milled Flour?
While you can definitely make this recipe with bread flour or all purpose flour, the fresh milled flour adds a depth of flavor and so much more nutrition.
I use a Nutrimill Grain Mill to mill my own wheat berries.
Making sourdough with fresh milled flour takes a bit of adjustment, but following some simple rules will make it much easier to be successful!
Ingredients to make Homemade Sourdough Bread Bowls
- Flour – I use fresh milled Hard White Wheat flour. You can use hard red wheat or a combination of the two.
- Water – For best results, use filtered water.
- Sourdough Starter – Use active sourdough starter which means it has been fed recently and is bubbly and active looking.
- Salt
For complete ingredient amounts, see recipe card below
How to make this Sourdough Bread Bowl Recipe
Mill the wheat berries
Weigh and mill your wheat berries on the fine setting of your grain mill.
Mix the dough
In a large mixing bowl, add the water and sourdough starter.
Mix well.
Pour flour over the mixture and the salt over the flour.
Mix with a danish dough whisk or wooden spoon until combined and no dry flour remains.
The dough will be shaggy, that is completely normal.
Autolyse
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
This soaking process is very important with fresh milled flour.
The bran and germ can inhibit good gluten development. Soaking the dough will soften these and make for the best end product.
Stretch and Folds
At this point, we will start the process of 4-6 sets of stretch and folds.
To do a stretch and fold, lift one corner of the dough up and over itself. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and continue this all the way around the bowl.
Cover and let rest 15-30 minutes and repeat.
Aim for 4-6 sets of these.
Bulk Fermentation
After the last set of stretch and fold, cover and let ferment on the counter in a warm place for 3-6 hours.
This time will vary based on the maturity of your starter.
Find all of these sourdough terms confusing? Let me simplify common sourdough terms for you!
Shape the dough
After the dough is fermented (feels full of air and puffy), turn the bread dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions.
Shape each dough ball into a round shape. Turn it over and drag the seam side against the table to build surface tension.
For a proofing vessel, use small bowls or colanders. I use cereal bowls.
Line them with tea towels dusted liberally with flour. I prefer to use rice flour, however regular wheat flour works just fine.
Place each dough ball in the bowl seam side up.
Cold Fermentation
Cover each bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge right away.
Let ferment in the fridge over night.
Bake the Bread Bowls
Preheat the ovens to 450 degrees F.
You have 2 options for baking the bread bowls.
Score the Dough – Using a sharp knife or razor blade, slash the top of each dough ball before baking.
Using a Dutch oven or roasting pan with a lid – Heat the vessel in the oven as it preheats. Take one bread bowl of the fridge and put in on a piece of parchment paper and then in the Dutch oven (use 2 to bake these quicker). Bake with lid on for 20 minutes.
Take the lid off and bake an additional 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Open Bake – Preheat a pizza stone or cast iron griddle in the oven while it is heating up.
Take dough out of fridge, place on a piece of parchment paper and score.
Carefully place on the hot pizza stone or griddle.
Take a small cast iron skillet or pot and put on the bottom rack of the oven. Fill with ice cubes and quickly close the oven door.
Bake 20 minutes and remove the skillet or pot that was on the bottom rack.
Continue baking for 15 minutes until golden brown.
Making them into bread bowls
First allow the bread to cool on a wire rack completely.
Using a serrated knife, carefully cut the top off of the bread.
Using a spoon, scoop out the insides of the bread bowl.
Put this bread aside.
Fill the bowl with your hot soup and enjoy!
What do you do with that scooped out bread from the sourdough bread bowls?
Obviously, when making homemade bread bowls, you will be left with bread that is scooped out of the bowl.
You have several options with this bread.
Toast in an oven until crunchy and blend on high in a blender to make bread crumbs.
Chop the bread up and serve over the soup.
Add this bread to your favorite meatloaf recipe or to salmon patties.
Serving Suggestions
Fill with a creamy soup like my Butternut Squash Soup topped with parmesan and chopped bacon.
Fill with tomato soup topped with shredded cheddar cheese and parsley.
These bowls would be the perfect vessel for clam chowder, as well!
Storage
Store the unfilled bread bowls on the counter at room temperature in a plastic bag or bread bin for up to 3 days.
Freeze the bread bowls in freezer bags for up to 3 months.
If you have leftover soup in a bread bowl, place them in the fridge in an airtight container and reheat when ready to eat.
Homemade Sourdough Bread Bowls | Fresh Milled Flour
Equipment
- Pizza stone, Dutch oven, or Cast iron Griddle
Ingredients
- 500 grams Fresh Milled Flour (weigh out 500 grams of wheat berries) I used Hard white wheat flour
- 100 grams Active sourdough starter
- 375 grams Water
- 10 grams Salt
Instructions
- First, weight out and mill your wheat berries on the fine setting of your grain mill.
- In a large mixing bowl, add water and sourdough starter. Mix well.
- Add the flour and salt and mix until there is no dry flour left. The dough will be shaggy and rough.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
- After resting, start performing stretch and folds.
- To do a stretch and fold, lift up on one corner of the dough and fold it onto itself in the center of the dough.
- Turn the bowl a quarter turn and continue all the way around the bowl.
- Cover and let sit for 15-30 minutes and repeat.
- Aim to do 4-6 sets of stretch and folds.
- After the last stretch and fold, cover the bowl and let ferment for an additional 3-6 hours.
- A well fermented dough will feel like it is full of air when you press it with your finger. It will also spread out into the bowl.
- Prepare 4 proofing vessels. I choose to use 4 cereal bowls lined with tea towels liberally floured.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 equal portions.
- Shape each portion into a round ball. Turn over and drag across the table to seal the seam and build surface tension.
- Place the dough into the prepared proofing bowl seam side up.
- Stitch the seam to make sure it stays together.
- Cover each bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
- The next morning, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Dutch oven or roasting pan method of baking
- Place the dutch oven or roasting pan in the oven as it preheats. To make this go more quickly, use 2 Dutch ovens or roasting pans.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and turn onto a piece of parchment paper.
- Using a sharp knife or razor blade, make a slash across the top of the dough.
- Carefully place in the hot Dutch oven or roasting pan and place the lid back on.
- Bake with the lid on for 20 minutes.
- Remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes until golden brown.
Open oven baking method
- Preheat a pizza stone or a cast iron griddle in the oven while it heats.
- Before placing the loaf (on the parchment paper) on the baking vessel, add a cast iron skillet or pot on the lowest rack of your oven.
- Place ice cubes in the skillet or pot.
- Place the dough on the pizza stone or griddle and quickly close the door.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the pot or skillet of ice cubes.
- Bake an additional 15 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool loaves on a cooling rack completely.
- With a serrated knife, cut the top of the loaf off.
- Use a large spoon and dig out the inside of the loaf.
- Put this bread aside for other uses. **see notes**
- Pour your hot soup in the bread bowl and serve!
