I haven't had time yet to make the requested recipes but don't worry Jill and Kate, they will be coming eventually! :)
A couple of weeks ago Rob actually had a Saturday off and it was cold and rainy all day long so we decided to stay home, make good food and be lazy. It was perfect and we came up with some really great food.
If you have never made homemade pretzels don't be scared, they are so incredibly easy. And we have tested a lot of pretzel recipes and found a great one. Yammie's Noshery has our favorite recipe and when she posted a recipe for pretzel bread bowls I knew we had to make them. They take hardly any effort and you really can't beat a hot bread bowl from the oven.
Pretzel Bread Bowls
Makes 8 bowls
Adapted from
Yammie's Noshery
2 cups warm water (needs to be 110 degrees, hotter will kill your yeast)
1 1/2 T active dry yeast
6 T brown sugar
4 T butter, melted
5-6 cups flour
2 tsp fine salt
1/3 cup baking soda
3 cups warm water
Coarse salt
6 T butter, melted (optional, we didn't use this and we thought they were great without it)
Mix your yeast and brown sugar into the water and let it sit for 5 minutes. If your yeast doesn't "bloom" or start to grow then you either have old yeast or your water was too hot and killed it. If it doesn't bloom then you will want to start over or your dough will not turn out. Add the salt and the flour 1 cup at a time. You want the dough to be sticky but manageable. If you touch it and it sticks all over your hands then it isn't manageable and you need more flour. Add a little at a time, less flour means more tender bread. More flour means heavy, not as tasty bread.
Knead for about 10 minutes with a stand mixer or by hand. Cover and put in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Turn on your oven to 500 degrees. Punch down the dough and divide it into 8 equal lumps. We thought this size was perfect, it held about a cup of soup but wasn't so big that you couldn't finish the soup and eat the whole bread bowl. Make each lump into a ball and you will want to stretch it into a tight ball. Don't be afraid, it won't hurt the dough. But stretch it across the top and tuck underneath, pinching to seal off the bottom.
Combine the warm water and baking soda in a big bowl. Put each ball into the water. The original recipe says to just dip them but I think you get more of that yummy pretzel crust if you leave them in longer. So I put the balls in, several at a time, and leave them for 30 seconds or so and then flip them over for another 30. Sometimes it's longer, it wont' hurt them to do them longer. Place them on a greased baking sheet, cut a slit in the top with a sharp knife and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake for 2 minutes at 500 degrees (this helps set the crust) then turn down to 375 degrees and continue baking for about 10-14 minutes until they are golden brown.
If you want you can brush them with melted butter right when you pull them out but we didn't do this and didn't think the bowls needed it.
To cut the bowls, use a knife and cut directly downwards making a circle and then pull the innards out. Make sure you don't go all the way through the bottom though or you will have a very leaky bowl. Fill with your favorite soup and enjoy! Leftovers reheat really well in an oven.
