Italian Bread Bowls

The only reason why I am knocking off a star is that I think you should make the recipe int0 SIX bread bowls, not 8... the size you get making six seems perfect. I also did olive oil instead of veg., and I added 1 tbsp. of sugar. I used entirely bread flour, not all purpose. I took the advice of another reviewer and let it rise with a steaming pot in the oven-- worked great! We ate this with "Super Sloppy Joes" (search for it) in the middle with cheddar cheese on top. Deliciously filling. One thing to remember though-- making six bowls means they need a little extra time in the oven, maybe 5 minutes or they are a tad doughy.

These were very good but a bit time consuming. They baked up nice and crispy on the outside, just a tad doughy on the inside still. Next time, I will bake 2 or 3 mins. longer. I used bread flour instead of all-purpose, perhaps that had something to do with it. I cut back on the salt to 1-1/2 tsp., next time I will add the whole amount. As per others' recommendations, I used olive oil and added a Tbsp. of sugar. I made 6 bowls, which were a good size, but very filling. (A secret I learned from Alton Brown from the Food Channel - place the dough in an oiled bowl or tall container. Cover with a cloth. Boil water and pour into a bowl. Place both in the oven. The steam creates the perfect temperature for rising the dough. Works great every time!)

For those who find these TOO simple in taste, add 2 tblsp Garlic Powder to the recipe and when putting egg wash on, sprinkle garlic and oregano over both times. This helps the flavor of the bread tremedously!

I only made four bowls cuz we wanted hearty servings of stew -- they turned out perfect, & I don't understand the reviewers who wrote about moulding the bowls around other bowls to form an actual hollow bowl. Bread bowls are just big ole round loaves of bread that you scoop out to make a bowl you can eat & dip with as you eat the stew or soup in it. Anyway, to each his own, but I wanted to say that bit in case anyone thinks they can't just accomplish a good ole bread bowl by plopping four round blobs of dough in the oven. Worked great for us, & my husband raved more over this meal than he has over most any other one! I made the Beef Stew VI from this site to eat in the bowls.

Had difficulty with actually getting good bowl shapes as recommended. Came up with a solution that worked great for me. Follow recipe as given, but use an inverted oven safe cereal bowl as a form, spray with Pam, and simply take an appropriate size cut of dough and wrap it around the bowl. Be sure its not overly thick unless you really like thick bread. Bake for 12-15 min.and you have a perfect bowl every time.

I've been using this recipe for quite some time and it is fantastic! I usually make 6 bowls and I've never had them flatten out. I think the cornmeal helps to keep them from spreading. Adding a little sugar to feed the yeast also helps, and I always store my yeast in the freezer so it stays fresh longer (it also improves the proofing). Thanks for a great recipe.

This recipe rocks! It was awesome with a thick split pea soup- really makes soup special- not a lot of work for the raves, but does require advanced planning. A TIP: For the second raise period, split up into individual bowls on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. DO NOT reknead the bowls- avoid handling them directly before baking so they will stay raised. Delish! Thanks Kerri!

Excellent bread bowls!!! I made half the recipe for me & hubby. I added a bit of sugar to proof the yeast. Maybe it is so dry here (-40 outside!) that I only needed 2.25 cups flour instead of 3.5 cups to make a nice dough in the kitchenaid. After reading the reviews on about the "flatness" of the bowls, I shaped them into 4 round rolls instead. They rose perfectly and flattened out a little bit. I skipped the first egg wash and they came out gorgeous! Beautiful golden, shiny on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. Served them with chicken stew/chicken pot pie filling.

This is a really great recipe! Thanks Kerri! Mine also flattened out the first time I made them. This time I omitted the first egg wash. They turned out beautiful and round! Thanks again.

Great bowls! The whole family loved it. I used my bread machine, then inverted the dough over oven safe bowls and cooked it that way, using only water instead of the egg white/water mixture. Will definitely be making these again. Easy and delicious!

These are exactly what I was looking for, a plain bread bowl like you can get at a restaurant. I love bread bowls, have a fairly healthy appetite (even though I'm small) and the size of these bowls was more than enough for one serving for me. Next time, i plan on making 10 instead of 8. When shaped into 8, each bowl could hold about 1 cup of soup, so just use that as your basis whether or not you want 6 or 8 out of this recipe. I proofed the yeast with a T of sugar and used olive oil insetad of veg oil. These did take a lot longer to rise on the first rise, more like 1 1/2 hrs. If you have trouble with flat bowls, you may have let your balls rise too much in the second rise. If they start browning too quickly in the oven, you can either spritz them with water every 5 min or so, or you can cover them with foil like I did. I thought these were the perfect size, adjustable by scooping out more or less breading. I had leftovers and just reheated them at 350 for 10 min before serving. I will make again--much cheaper than buying!

Cut the recipe in half for two people, and then made two big bread bowls. Baked them at 400 for 15 minutes then 350 for 10 minutes, and they were perfect. I did add 1/2 tablespoon of garlic and 1/2 tablespoon of oregano to the dough, and it punched up the flavor quite a bit.

This was my first time making bread bowls and these turned out gorgeously. I made 5 bowls out of this which came out perfectly sized and to the egg white wash i added basil and oregano to give it that italian kick. Great Recipe will use again and recommend.

To be fair, the 2 star rating is probably more a reflection of my ability than the recipe itself. It's my first time making bread, really. My "bread bowls" turned out to be hard, very dense...rolls. They didn't rise one bit, and I followed the directions as written (except for letting them sit for much longer, hoping they would start to rise). I baked until the outside was golden brown, but the inside didn't seem fully cooked--and very tough and doughy. I'm pretty sure my error came in with the mixing and/or kneading of the dough because it was very dense from the beginning, as I was adding the flour by 1/2 cup to the bowl. Maybe I added too much flour and/or overmixed. And I just read another review that said I shouldn't use a hand mixer? News to me, I thought that's what the recipe was talking about. I used mine, along with the dough hooks that came with it. So, I"ll try this again...someday...once I get my morale back. :) This was a little time consuming.

These were so easy and yummy. They remind me of French bread. Don't place too many on each baking sheet or they will grow together! (Finished size is about 5" wide.) A serrated grapefruit spoon worked great to scoop them out.

Absolutely delicious! Mine were crisp on the outside and perfectly fluffly inside. We dipped into our soup the bread that scooped out from the middle. I will definitely make this again and again. Next time will follow others' suggestions and will make 6 instead of 8.

Very Delicious but next time I will only make 4 bowls instead of eight or double it for eight bowls. The bowls were too small for my family. Also I sprinkled italian seasoning on top before baking and they were delicious!!!!! And the Cheesiest Potato Soup was perfect for it.

Beautiful recipe...I mixed exactly to the orginal and they did not flatten out at all; they were just yummy bowls of goodness! I did add a teaspoon of sugar to proof the yeast, but aside from that...I wouldn't change a thing. Very delish with homemade chili!

I made this into two large bread bowls for dips I planned to fill them with. I did sub a cup of whole wheat for the white, and added 1 tablespoon of wheat gluten to ensure the dough rises well. I sprayed oil and sprinkled cornmeal into two 8" round pans, and then let the two large dough balls do their final rise in these to prevent them from spreading too much and flattening out. Skipped the first egg wash. Baked at 350 for 25 minutes. Turned out very nice; the round loaves were each 4" high.

Great recipe, although I did have to make a few changes! Like other reviewers, I added sugar to proof the yeast, about 1 tsp. I also used 2 cups whole wheat flour and 4 cups of bread flour instead of the 7 cups of all purpose flour. Also the rise time of 40 mins for the first rise just is not enough, you need at least an hour! I let mine rise in a warm oven covered with a damp cloth and a bowl of hot water on the rack below, the steam helped it rise! For the second rise it also needed a bit longer, 45-50 mins instead of 35. Once you have shaped them and place them on the baking tray for the 2nd rise it is important not to move them as this affects the shape! Like other reviewers I did not put the egg wash on before baking, I baked at 400 f for 10mins then brushed, baked for another 10mins brushed again and then baked at 350 f for the last 10 mins. In my egg wash I added garlic salt and italian seasoning it gave it a great flavor! Although these did not taste as great the second day, if you freeze them the same day you bake them and defrost them at room temp, warm in the oven for 5 mins they were delicious!

These were very simple to bake and baked nicely. I followed another reviewer's suggestion of baking in oven safe bowls to retain their shape. I also added Italian Seasoning, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper to the dough and I'm glad I did. While I like the texture, I think these would have been incredibly bland w/out the added flavors. This made 8 SMALL bowls for me; if I make them again I will make 4-6 larger bowls instead.

These turned out wonderful! I mixed the dough in my bread machine on the dough setting and then put the dough in small disposable pie tins for the second rise. This kept them in a nice bowl shape.

As a bowl, this worked great. And it came out looking just beautiful. The taste, however, left something to be desired. I even followed a few reviewers' advice by adding 1 Tbsp sugar with the yeast, using olive oil instead of vegetable, and sprinkling herbs onto the last egg wash. But this bread needs a lot more. Probably double the salt, definitely some garlic powder, and maybe something else. The bread itself was just very boring which was a shame since it looked so beautiful and everyone was impressed by soup in bread bowls. Will try again adding more salt and garlic powder.

I won't make this one again. I am a baking novice and I know that making bread can be difficult so I followed this one to the "T" I learned a couple of things. First you can't mix dough with a hand mixer. I also learned that you have to let bread rise longer than this recipe calls for. I didn't get bread bowls. I got rolls.

super yummy! I used this recipe for the Chunky Potato soup recipe and it turned out perfect! I added about 1 tbs of dried basil and 4 roughly cut cloves of garlic to jazz it up a bit just because we love garlic! This recipe was very easy and turned out very well. Thanks!

I followed the recipe exactly except that like other reviewers I made 6 bowls instead of 8. I didn't need to increase baking time. They were perfect after 30 min (I have an oven thermometer, so the temp of my oven was accurate). I also skipped the first egg wash per another reviewer to prevent them from flattening and they turned out great. Easy to make and delicious!

i halved the recipe and made 3 bread bowls. they were the perfect size. i baked them in oven safe stonewear cereal bowls, and they had a very nice shape.

These turned out wonderful! My husband and kids were skeptical at first but now they are begging me to make these again! I served Cream of broccoli & cheese soup in these and the bread is such an amazing compliment to the soup! I am trying them tonight with beef stew!These were very easy to make and I'm not sure about the previous comments about "molding the dough to bowl shape" but they turned out great as traditional bread bowls for me!!!

I halved this recipe so I'd get 4 bread bowls, and it halves exceedingly well. these bread bowls are extremely easy and simple. Not sure why people are having a hard time with this recipe--just make into very round rolls and it will bake up in large bread bowls. So large, actually, that I wasn't able to finish mine. We had these with Chicken and Corn Chili and they were excellent. yes, they are bland but they are bread bowls--meant to be eaten with soup, so you want a bland bread to soak up the flavor of the soup you choose. If you still want a flavorful bread bowl, add garlic adn other seasoning. Thanks for the recipe!

Fall weather has arrived in Cleveland, and these bread bowls are perfect for a hearty soup or chili. I placed the ingredients in my bread machine to make the dough, then baked in the oven. The bread bowls were crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside, exactly what I was hoping for. The only change I made was to add onion powder to the top before baking, and I think I'll add some to the dough next time as well for extra flavor. And I made the bowls smaller than called for as the ham and potato soup I served with them was very hearty.

This was my first time baking bread with yeast and it turned out much better than expected! I served them with cream of crab soup and it worked very well. I only made 4 bowls and they were a little too big, I would make more next time.

Added some garlic powder to give them some flavor. They turned out great but were a *little* flat and here's why. After you let them raise for the 2nd time-- DO NOT TOUCH THEM! Touching or moving them after the rise makes them flatten. I had to move mine apart because I initially placed them too close together and they got stuck together as they rose. When I moved them, they flattened a little. I tried covering them to let them rise again and it didn't work. So-- my advice... when you place them to rise on your baking sheet, make sure that they are spaced well so that you don't have to touch them before baking! I found it tough to do this (give them the space they needed) and still have room for all 8 to fit in one oven. I placed 2 per baking sheet and only had three racks in my oven. So next time I will only make 6. Even though they flattened a bit, they still came out great and were able to be shaped into bowls. Worth the effort but I definitely won't be making them often! (very time consuming)

These turned out beautifully! For a real treat, fill with the Excellent Broccoli Cheese Soup from this site!! Delicious!

Amazing recipe, easy to do with a bread machine!

These are amazing! I took some advice and divided the recipe because it was only myself and my husband for dinner - halved perfectly. I added a 1/4 tsp of sugar as well. Delicious, will definitely make again and again!

I don't know why anyone has had problems with these flattening out? Mine are huge and I scaled to 6 bowls. When putting the eggwash on, make sure you use a silicone brush. These are much softer and easier to use than bristled brush. I eggwash before and halfway through. I have made these 5 times and never have had a problem. Flavor is great and rise is even better. I am an expert bread maker and never buy store bought bread. Maybe other factors cause the failures of other bread makers.

Well, I must be doing it wrong. Flavor was excellent, but my second rise would not get much higher. I did the pan of boiling water in the oven method, but after an hour they weren't going to get any bigger. I baked them up anyway, they look and taste fine. I will try the recipe again and see if I have any better luck (I'm still not always good with yeast!). UPDATE: Yep, I tried the recipe again, followed it exactly, got exactly the same thing. Little round pita breads :(

EXCELLENT! This recipe works perfectly. No changes are needed but I made 6 bowls instead of 8 because I wanted them bigger. The texture of the crust was GREAT and their appearance was IMPRESSIVE. My guests went home with a copy of the recipe which says it all! Thank you Kerri Skrudland for an EXCELLENT recipe!

This was my first attempt at bread bowls and I loved them! I will be making these again for sure. I think I may add some seasoning to the actual bread next time. Just to experiment.

All I can say is... WOW!! I was looking for a nice bread bowl recipe for the simple fact that I love bread bowls with dip. I found this recipe and tried it one night... my friends and I just sat around eating until they were almost all gone! I actually made 4 larger bowls instead because I like them bigger, and it worked out great. I made these the day after I first made them, too. It's delicious with the "Best Spinach Dip Ever" recipe here. I'm picky about the bread that I eat, and this bread was perfect... I plan on making this recipe again tomorrow!

Delicious!

They turned out perfect. I added 2 tablespoons of sugar to proof the yeast faster and used bread flour. I ended up only using about 5.5 cups of flour.

These were ok, but I don't think I would make them again. Just not the good rustic bread taste I was hoping for. They're alright for a basic bread bowl, but I'll keep searching for the right one for me.

Worked well for me, but was hard to shaped as they flattened as they were rising. Served with stew and it was heavenly.

Some things I learned. If you have problems with the bread getting too flat, just let it rise in oven-proof bowls to get the right shape. You can hollow the bread with a grapefruit spoon, and instead of removing a lot of the inside just take a spoon and press bread into the sides of the bowl to make the bowl sturdier to hold soup. Proof your yeast with 1 Tbs of sugar, and if you think white bread is bland, just add a packet of dry ranch dressing. The bread bowls soak up the soup flavor, so I find that I don't need the ranch. However, the bread is too dense for my taste. I'll keep looking for the right bread bowl recipe for me...thanks!

halved the recipe, followed as written and made two regular sized bowls. put a little italian seasoning mixed in and on top.

These were not ideal for bread bowls. I changed nothing in the directions but still ended up with sorta flat bowls. Also the recipe states it makes 4 but really it makes only 3 mid sized bowls, which held about 1 1/2 cups stew. Thanks for the idea but I doubt I will be making again.

These were wonderful. They looked like the bowls served at a well known resturant. I didn't have any of the problems that others wrote about. And I followed the recipe. Thanks for the great recipe! It's a keeper!

I too added just a pinch of sugar. I also added in a bunch of herbs because they're serving my chicken noodle soup. Using 3 c. whole wheat flour and 4 c. AP flour, the rise was incredible! I thought it was going to spill over my kitchenaid bowl. I split into 5 rounds, although 6 would have worked just as well. This is a winner!

This recipe is perfect as-is, thanks!!! Why are some users wrapping this dough AROUND a bowl? I think they must be attempting to shape the dough into a bowl before it bakes, instead of a big round loaf that is to be scooped out and made into a bowl -- LOL!

I halved the recipe but used 3 3/4 t of yeast. I also used 2c of whole wheat flour and added in 1 1/2 c of bread flour during the mixing process. I opted for simple and let the bread machine do the kneading. I let them rise in the oven in bowls. Like another reviewer suggested, I put a large pyrex cup of boiling water in the oven while rising which worked great. Don't remove them from the bowls or they'll crash like mine did (duh!) The egg wash is critical to get the crunchy top. Thanks for a great base recipe. I would recommend spices be added if you are not doing the whole wheat as the bread really needs some sort of flavor.

Easy to make and great with the creamy soups. Thank you for sharing.

Wonderful. This was my first attempt at bread. I usually make cakes. I really enjoyed this recipe. It was easy to follow. I did add sugar to the yeast, used bread flour instead of all purpose, and olive oil as per other reviewer suggestions. I did the Alton Brown method for rising dough and it worked perfectly. I didn't have a problem with the bread flattening out. I did egg wash as directed and they came out beautiful. Served with Chicken Broccoli Cheese Soup. Family loved it.

I made these to put the Brown Jug Soup into and it was really good. My only problem was that my bowls didn't quite bowl up. Next time I try this I will surround them with aluminun foil to try to get some height on them. But really good.

Made these to go along with broccoli and cheese soup. Yummy! I would suggest making this recipe into 4 or 6 servings. The bowls don't seem to turn out very big if you use them for 8.

I frequently bake yeast breads. When this one did not seem to rise, I stuck it in the oven counting on eating my soup in a regular bowl and using the bread to dip. When I checked on it 15 minutes later, I was very suprised, but very happy, to see a tall, bowl-worthy bread! A great recipe!

This was excellent. But there is a typo on the recipe ingredient list. It should list 1 tbl water rather than 1 cup.

This recipe was a big hit at a family gathering we had. I made the recipe three times to make sure that we had enough, every time it worked like a charm. It was delicious and very festive. Thanks!

I've made these many times and they are simply DELICIOUS!!

What a great recipe for a first-timer bread bowl maker! :) I followed the advice of a couple of other reviewers, and added italian seasoning and garlic powder. Also, I think making 8 bowls would have made so dang small bowls, and as we were using this as our main dish, we made the dough into four bowls. This meant an additional 15 minutes or so of bake time. Tasted great, the hubby loved it, will definately make this a repeat recipe!

The bread had a good taste..my family loved them I filled them with homemade mushroom/potato soup. My bowls did not "bowl" they were flat so i will try another method to get them to 'bowl"... My family did not care...I split the leftover bowls and toasted with butter added jam and the kids loved it the next day!!

I've made these bread bowls a number of times, and always get rave reviews. We usually have them with a creamy clam chowder. Some have commented that the "bowls" tend to flatten out. I have had this problem too, but I have a solution: purchase a couple of 5 inch diameter by 3 inch deep aluminum cake pans. They are just the right size for bread bowls. Although the cylindrical bowls aren't quite as interesting as spherical ones, they are just as good and are always consistantly shaped!

I'm not an experienced baker using yeast but these were easy and turned out wonderfully. I served them with my crock pot stew recipe.

My first attempt at bread bowls, and these were so easy! Filled with cheesy potato and ham soup, and invited the in-laws over. Big hit! Recipe is definitely a keeper!

My bowls turned out very hard and dense. They held the soup, looked nice, but weren't great to eat. User error? Maybe.

I wasn't overjoyed with how this recipe turned out. I thought the flavor was pretty ho-hum, and they leaked a lot. Maybe they would have worked better with a cream soup - I made chicken noodle. However, my husband and another guy who was eating dinner with us that night both said they liked the bowls. I just thought the taste was lacking, compared to how delicious homemade bread usually is.

Very delicious bread--I love the crispy bottom. I went off one the pictures somebody posted of this recipe, and another person's comments, and modified it a little. I divided the dough into eighths, but I only formed 6 bread bowls. I used the extra for long braids that I arranged around the crown of each bowl. When they were finished baking, I hollowed out the bowls inside the perimeter of the braid; it added a little more depth to the bowls, and they turned out quite lovely.

Excellent bread bowl recipe! I followed the advice of others and added garlic powder and herbs for more flavor. I think it would have been more bland without. I also put 3 packages of yeast since so many said that their bowls were flat. They came out wonderful! Next time I will take off 5 minutes, they were a little dark. Thanks!

I absolutely love this basic recipe & use it all the time! I have made a few changes: I cut the salt to 1 1/2 tsp, add 1 TBS of sugar and every now and then with a pasta dinner I will toss in 1/8Cup parsley flakes & replace the salt with garlic salt, adding 1/2 tsp of Garlic powder & about 3 shakes of grated parm. This recipe makes fantastic, restaurant style mini-table loaves, bread bowls & all sorts of dinner rolls. Fantastic recipe! I use my bread machines dough setting - adding all liquid, then all dry, then the yeast & I simply shape and bake.

It's pretty hard to overcook these. If anything, the crust just gets crustier! I serve these bread bowls with dips, and tear up the middles and serve them on the side. If you don't like your bread too dense, don't knead it half way through the rising process. Just lightly punch down and split them before shaping them, and then bake them immediately after they rise.

I made six bowls as many others suggested, which made a very nice serving size for a main dinner portion. I added a bit of sugar to the yeast for proffing and a few Italian seasonings to the flour mix. The family found them to be quite wonderful. A bowl shape was difficult to obtain I believe I needed to add more flour. Definately a recipe I will be doing againg and tweaking along the way.

I made these tonight to serve chili in and we were really pleased with the end result. The only reason the recipe did not receive 5 stars is because we found the bowls a little on the small side (we had to refill them to have enough for a main dish). Much easier to make than I anticipated, so I will be making them again for sure.

These were wonderful. I cut the recipe in half, since I have a small family and followed the suggestion of cutting the original yield from 8 to 6. So, rather than making 4, I made 3 and it worked out exactly right. I didn't have any trouble working with the dough, though two out of three of the bowls had bottom failure (oh no!) prior to being filled. I found that if the dough was at all folded when it baked, it would create a crease in that spot which would fail when the time for hollowing it out came. SO! I've learned and will be extra sure not to have any folds next time. They were otherwise a very good consistency and taste.

This is really delicious. I don't understand why people complain about it being bland. It's white bread, it's not supposed to be a blast of flavor. It is delicious with some butter. At first I was worried because before i put the loafs into the oven they looked kind of droopy. Luckily the heat of the oven activated the yeast again. I added a little bit more sugar than I was supposed to to activate the yeast but it still came out great. Also I baked them a couple minutes longer than I was supposed to. I like a really nice crust on my bread, and it will hold the soup better. I like to serve these with "Russian Mushroom and Potato Soup" on this website. Try it out! Make sure your yeast is still good. Oh btw, I didn't have packets of yeast so 2 tbsp is about the equivalent.

2012.01.19 I halved the recipe and used a whole egg to glaze the bread. Form the loaves into balls for the second rise. Bake ten minutes, do the first glaze, bake another ten minutes, do the second glaze, then bake the last ten minutes. Glazing before baking causes your bread to collapse. This recipe was quite good, if you dunk all the bread in soup. I had it with a delicious broccoli-cheddar soup. I was able to scrape the bowls into pretty thin shells without any leaking. But still serve these on some sort of plate, just in case. 2015.12.06 I have made these a number of times. Now I use the full recipe and only make six loaves. I am still using the same eggwash technique. Tonight I used two cups of whole wheat flour in place of the same quantity of AP flour and added a couple tablespoons gluten. This worked well. (Also, I can never work in that last cup of flour. I usually end up with 6.5 cups total.)

Very easy to make. I used bread flour and olive oil as substitutes. I added about a teaspoon each of crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning...should have added more to give a little flavor. We ate butternut squash bisque (recipe on the site) and it was very filling.

I made eight of these, and thought that they were the perfect size. I did add 1 Tsbp of sugar to the dough to help them rise a little better, and it worked perfectly. They baked up beautifully, and tasted delicious! I'll make these over and over, because my family and I loved them!

This is a GREAT recipe. Simple and easy. I followed the advice of several here and skipped the first egg wash. I also only used 2 cups of flour after the initial 4 instead of 3 (total of 6 instead of 7). If you are in Salt Lake City or a similar elevation/climate, I recommend only using the initial 4, then 2 more while kneading in your mixer. The recipe also says to knead by hand after the flour is all in, but I just let it go in my Bosch for 5 minutes like I do with other white breads. They turned out GREAT! Just a side note, you could probably get away with doing 8, but I did six. They are very big bowls.

I recommend making 6 loaves rather than 8. Flatten the balls a bit before baking so that the results are more bowl-like than ball-like. I appreciate that these are hardy so they will hold up to moist soup, but don't expect them to be as soft as classic Italian bread. Overall, yummy and fun - I will make again.

So great! I followed other's wisdom and used garlic salt and oregano when brushing the bread. SO good! I do wish I'd stuck with the 8 bowls, putting it to 6 made them too big for us. But other than that, I will definitely be repeating these.

I like to butter and toast the 'pull-outs' and serve along side for dipping. Sooo good. Also definitely add a bit of sugar to yeast and either spray water in oven or, like others have said, place a small container of water in bottom of oven to create steam for crispness.

WOW - I am still amazed that my 1st attempt at make bread turned out soo well.... I made these this afternoon and they were just the best - better than storebought!! I added the ! TB of sugar to the yeast mixture as others suggested and some basil, garlic powder, marjerom, and parsley and used olive oil instead of veggie oil - wow I just cant believe these were soo good - followed the recipe otherwise... as soon as I got them out of the oven cut the tops off, scooped out the insides and put the Brocolli cheese soup that I made from a recipe I also found on this site - my family raved and raved how good everything was- it looked like something you would have bought at some fancy soup place! thanks for a very wonderful recipe - though time consuming - is soo well worth it! WIll be making these time and time again!

Great Italian bread / soupbowl recipe! We used the bowls as soup bowls, cut up as a dipper for spicy baked beans and tonight we are making garlic bread. Yummm! I look forward to making these again real soon!! Thanks.

These turned out gorgeous and everybody raving. I added a little garlic powder and oregano to mine and only made 6. Very dense inside, delicious straight out of the oven and the next day too.

I loved this bread! I also had a problem with height though. I think I will take another users advice and wrap them in tin foil next time. But the bread itself was good. I served it with Chicken and Corn Chili also from this site-delicious!

Don't let the bread rise too long, or else it'll deflate and get crusty.

These did not turn out for me. I wonder about no sugar or honey with the water and yeast. I'm not sure as I bake homemade bread all the time without issue. I used new bread flour too.

I prefer a crispy crust versus the chewy crust that this recipe produces, but that can be easily remedied. Perfect with broccoli cheese soup!!!

following the recipe as is, the bread is very plain.

Fantastic! I used olive oil in place of vegetable oil and divided the dough in half instead of 8's. I ended up baking one big bread bowl with one 1/2 and two mini baguettes with the other 1/2. Filled bread bowl with Warm Blue Cheese Dip with Garlic and Bacon from this site and cubed the baguettes for dipping. AWESOME!!!

oh... these are wonderful, beautiful, delicious bread bowls. I added sugar, italian seasoning and garlic salt to the dough. The bowls baked up so beautiful, I didn't want to serve them for dinner, I wanted to put them on display. Yes, a bit nerdy I know but, I wasn't expecting them to turn out so perfect. I do have to tell you though, I made the mushroom & potato chowder from this site (very good) to go with the bowls. But for some reason they didn't compliment each other very well. And though there were mixed reviews, some seemed to love it. I would not recommend it together. I would love to try the Zuppa Toscana or the Taco Soup with the bowls though. I can't wait to make them again!

I use this recipe every time I make a creamy soup like potato soup or beer cheese soup. I halve the recipe and put everything into the bread machine on the dough cycle. I then shape them and let them rise and then bake as directed. I completely skip the cornmeal and eggwash and we never miss it. Chewy and yummy!

i've reviewed many, many recipes from this website with much success, but no so much with this recipe. i was tempted to stop adding flour at 5 cups, but stayed true to the recipe instead. i ended up with biscuit-style bread that lacks flavor. had no trouble with rising or anything else. i timed everything so no variation can account for the not-so-great result. oh, well. on to a different recipe. good luck!

These were fantastic! Very easy and perfect to serve our fish chowder in after a blustery day. Thanks for the great recipe!

Not exactly what I expected, but it turned out pretty good. I made these for my husband with some chicken noodle soup, who came home from work sick. I cut the recipe in half, and took another reviewers advice to make the dough into three bowls instead of four. I think next time I'll do four. These were pretty big. I agree that they weren't the most flavorful bread I've ever eaten, but I found that kind of nice because the focus was the soup, not the breadbowl. It was really good to soak up the broth with.

These were not at all what I had hoped for. I found them to be pretty dry . I couldn't eat them with the chowder I made, as planned. Not bad, just not fantastic like I had hoped. I think I was looking for something a bit more "holey"... I'll keep looking...

They are great however they turn out a big large. Once you have filled them with soup, its a lot of soup and a lot of bread to eat. Next time I make these I will make them a bit smaller.

This is the second time I have made these bread bowls, and I am pleased with the results. As per other members' reviews,e I added a tablespoon of sugar, but I also added White Pepper Powder and Dried Oregano to the dough :] makes it delish and smells like pizza dough! Instead of the egg wash, I use milk + garlic oil + oregano + white pepper powder. I'm also thinking of making it a bit cuter by adding little knobs of dough to the top, so it has a handle! :D

These bowls turned out perfect! My DH baked them and served them with chili at a guys football get-together. He saved me one and I filled it with smoked salmon chowder. Delicious! The top was lightly crispy and the inside was soft and yummy. We'll make these over and over.