The Baguette Hack That Creates The Bread Bowl Of Your Dreams

An edible serving dish is hard to beat, and bread is among the most popular and decadent forms of edible bowls. While we usually use a round crusty boule to contain and absorb a hearty serving of soup or stew, baguettes provide the perfect avenue for fancy yet sturdy appetizer-sized bread bowls.

Plus, there's an ingenious hack to transform a baguette loaf into individual bread-based ramekins capable of holding many types of filling. The best part is that you can eat the entire baguette instead of discarding the crumb. After slicing the baguette into six equal segments, use a shot glass or small water glass to smash the crumb into a condensed base for the bread bowl.

Once you've formed an enclosed ramekin, fill the baguette bowl with anything from grains to cheese to vegetables before popping it into the oven. Baking the bread will crisp up the crust, seal the packed crumb base, and meld the filling ingredients together for a self-contained appetizer that bursts with caramelized, toasted flavors. Baguettes are one of the most widely available types of bread in bakeries, and many bakeries offer various types of baguettes. Consequently, you won't have any trouble finding your star ingredient, and you can use different varieties to your advantage and feature diverse flavors, textures, and presentations.

Recipe developer @lilygbakes showcases the baguette hack as a way to make colorful Christmas-themed appetizers in a viral Instagram video. Baguette bowls are stuffed with a whole-grain mixture before being baked and garnished with steamed vegetables and fresh herbs. The pièce de résistance is a pour of thick brown gravy for added richness and moisture. However, the video portrays one of the countless ways to approach a baguette bread bowl.

Whether making breakfast, lunch, or dinner, baguette bowls create a way to feature many cuisines and flavor profiles. As baguettes are a type of French bread, you could stuff them with Brie or a gooey raclette and top them with ratatouille. For a Mexican-inspired baguette bowl, riff on the famous mollete by stuffing the baguettes with refried beans, Oaxaca cheese, and chorizo and topping them with a slice of avocado or fresh pico de gallo. If you're making an Italian-themed dinner spread, stuff the baguettes with layers of olive tapenade, giardiniera, provolone, and prosciutto, and top them with a few cherry tomatoes for an appetizer-sized muffuletta sandwich.

If you're having a brunch party, you can make savory egg bakes by lining the baguette bowls with a slice of ham, cracking an egg inside, and topping it with shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese. If you want something sweet, make French toast baguette bowls by dipping them in milk, rolling them in cinnamon sugar, and filling them with fresh fruit and mascarpone.