The season for soup – is every season. And these mini sourdough soup bowls are such a great way to incorporate homemade bread into a delicious homemade meal. My family loves these. It makes dinner time so special, and I hope your family likes them too!
❤️ Why You’ll Love Sourdough Soup Bowls
I think the best part about these mini sourdough loaves is that they are a special touch to any meal. Our family loves soup, and they are so impressed when I serve their favorite soup in a homemade bread bowl. These are also great for gifts! I bring them to Bible study or women’s group, and we just split them in half so everyone gets a piece without the hassle of cutting slices of bread for a group.
🍲 Ingredients
Sourdough Starter – Active, bubbly starter that has been fed and is ready to leaven bread. Every good loaf of sourdough bread starts with a strong starter. It is typical to use your starter anywhere from 4 – 8 hours after feeding, depending on the temperate of your home. The colder your home, the slower it will be to rise.
Flour- All-purpose flour is a staple in our home. Even if you’re not a frequent baker, you usually have a bag of all-purpose flour in your pantry, so I wanted to make this recipe accessible to the masses.
Water – filtered, room temperature water.
Salt – I use pink Himalayan salt.
👩🍳 How to Make Sourdough Bread Bowls
In a bowl, mix together sourdough starter and water until the starter is fully dissolved. Add in your flour and salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. Cover with a damp tea towel and let sit for 45 minutes. After resting, pull all the sides of the dough towards the middle until a semi smooth dough forms. Cover and let sit for 45 minutes-1 hour. Perform 2-4 sets of coil folds 30 minutes – 1 hour apart. Cover the dough and let it bulk ferment on the counter for around 10 hours. This can be overnight, or if you start your dough in the morning, it can be left on the counter to ferment throughout the day. This recipe is very forgiving, which is why it’s my “go to”.
After bulk fermentation, it’s time to shape the dough. Separate the dough into 6 equal pieces. 290 – 300 grams each. Shape as you would a normal sized round loaf and place seam-side into the bannetons. If you don’t have the mini proofing baskets, use the smallest mixing bowls that you have and line with a tea towel.
When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450 degrees with a baking sheet or large cast iron pan inside. Add boiling water to a dish in the bottom rack of the oven. Score and place your mini loaves inside and bake for 18 minutes. Remove the steam and bake for an additional 18-20 minutes (depending on how crispy you prefer your bread). Let it cool completely before cutting a hole from the top and carving out your bowl. Pour your soup straight into the bread bowl and gobble up the whole thing. Literally.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Place all the mini proofing baskets filled with dough on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. This makes for easy transfer in and out of the fridge or off of the counter.
- If you’re making a soup bowl, it is best to score an “X” at the top of dough so the middle expands and it is easy to cut a hole on the top for the soup.
🗒 Bakers Schedule
10am: feed your sourdough starter and let it rise throughout the day.
5pm: whenever your starter is at peak, assemble your dough.
6pm: work the dough into a smooth ball
7pm: coil fold/ stretch and folds
8pm: coil fold/ stretch and folds
9pm: coil fold/ stretch and folds
Cover and let it rise overnight
7am: separate the dough into 6 equal pieces and let rise, or place in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.
7:30am: preheat your oven.
8am: bake and enjoy a soup bowl for lunch or keep the dough in the fridge and bake at 3pm to have a soup bowl for dinner 🙂
🗒 Best Served With
- Soup
- Dinner sides
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Fresh bread isn’t supposed to stay shelf stable for long, but to increase the longevity of your sourdough bread you can either freeze it in a Ziplock bag or store the bread on your counter in a paper bag and in a bread box or kitchen cabinet.
🤔 Common Questions
Yes, you absolutely can. Bake two – three at a time in one Dutch oven, they will be a little softer on the outside, but they bake for the same amount of time. Just take the lid off to release the steam.
Mini Sourdough Loaves
Equipment
- 6 mini proofing baskets
- 1 large mixing bowl
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 100 grams bubbly, active starter
- 700 grams warm water
- 920 grams all-purpose flour
- 80 grams whole-wheat flour
- 18 grams salt
Instructions
- In the morning, feed your sourdough starter.
- When your starter has peaked, assemble your dough.
- Whisk together the water and bubbly starter until a milky liquid forms. Add in the flours and salt. Mix together until a shaggy dough forms.
- Let rest for 45 minutes.
- After resting, work your dough into a semi – smooth ball by pulling one side of the dough up and over, rotating the bowl, and repeating until the dough appears smoother (about 30 seconds).
- Cover and let rest for another 45 minutes.
- After resting, perform your first set of stretch and folds, or coil folds. They do the same thing.
- Perform 2-4 more stretch and folds anywhere from 30 minutes-1 hour apart.
- Cover with a damp tea towel or bowl cover and let it rest on the counter overnight (8-10 hours).
- In the morning, your dough should have doubled in size. Turn over onto a lightly floured work space. Separate the dough into 6 equal pieces (280 – 300 grams each).
- Shape each piece like you would a regular round artisan loaf, only this one is smaller.
- Place seam-side up into a proofing basket and place all 6 baskets onto a baking sheet for easier transferring. Cover with plastic wrap and place the whole tray of dough into your fridge for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Turn 3 of the 6 loaves onto a large piece of parchment paper, score the dough as you would a normal size loaf and place them onto a baking stone in the oven or a baking sheet.
- Place an oven-safe shallow dish (I use my cast iron skillet) on the bottom rack of the oven. Pour boiling water in the dish and close the oven immediately to trap in the steam.
- Bake for 18 minutes with steam, then remove the dish with water and bake for an additional 18-20 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing and enjoy!
- Tip: to make into a bread bowl, with a sharp serrated knife cut the top of the bread off in a circle. Then with your hands, take the inside of the bread out as deep and wide as you prefer.
- If you top any soup off in the bowl with cheese, you can toast the entire bowl for another 10 minutes at 400 degrees.