Cooking with Kimi: Bread Bowls

Hallelujah, my daughter is down for a nap! We've entered the final stages of teething, those last 4 molars. Yikes. Anyway, between drool and boogers, it's hard to find time to blog! But alas, here I am! I've made these bread bowls a few times and they are consistently DEE-licious! I actually made these, along with some homemade corn chowder, for a neighbor who recently had a C-section and she and her husband loved it! It really makes you feel good when someone likes the food you make. :)
These aren't exactly "traditional" bread bowls. They are softer, a little shorter, and I think a little more dense. However, I find it easier to eat the entire bowl because of these qualities. :D

Bread Bowls
Thanks Mel's Kitchen Cafe!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
2 1/2 Cups Warm Water
2 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Veggie Oil
7 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Cornmeal

The flour is not pictured, but I measured out about 7 Cups into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Dissolve your yeast in the warm water. Do this right in your stand mixer, or just a bowl if you're doing this by hand. (Good for you!) Wait about 10 minutes.

Now, add your salt, oil, and about 4 cups of flour.

Mix it all up! Keep adding flour, about 1/2 Cup at a time. I actually saved the last cup of flour for later. You'll see why. :)

I like to work out when I bake, so I stopped it at this point so I could knead in that last cup of flour by hand.

Set up your station! You've got your dough, that last cup of flour you've reserved, and a nicely floured counter top.

Plop that dough out onto the counter and knead away!

Gradually add flour as you knead. You may not even use all of it. I only used about half, which amounted to 6 1/2 Cups total for my dough. Different climates will yield different results, of course.Just add flour until it isn't really sticking a bunch anymore.

Knead for 6 minutes and then you will have this gorgeous little dough boy.

Pop him in a nicely greased bowl (turning the dough to coat with the oil/Pam).

Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for about 40-45 minutes. I have limited counter space and thus stuck the bowl in the oven to rise.

After said hour, it should be doubled and ginormous!

Here's the best part of any yeast dough, punching it down! Of course, when you punch this dough, it isn't as dramatic as rolls or bread. This dough is a little stiffer.

Sprinkle some cornmeal onto a baking sheet that you've lightly greased and try not to spill a bunch in one corner. ;)

Shape your dough into 6-8 dough balls. I did 6, obviously.

Cut 2 little slits in the top of each one.

Now cover those up and let them rise for 30-35 minutes. Because I use my oven as a result of limited counter space, I took them out of the oven after about 20 minutes so I could start preheating. You'll want to preheat your oven to 400 degrees.