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Flowerpot Bread, 1967

Puffy and hot with a nice crust and tender crumb, these mini mushroom-shaped loaves are fun. Reader Kim K. remembered her dad baking bread in flower pots from a recipe he got from the Chicago Tribune in the '60s. I found two mini-flowerpot bread recipes: one from 1979, the other from 1967, and gave both a try. My family liked the flavor of the herb- onion bread best ('though we didn't like the walnuts in it) But despite several attempts, we never baked a batch of either of these breads that released cleanly from the clay pots, even though we followed directions to season with oil, and/or soak the pots in water, before generously greasing, flouring and filling them. Since most of the bread poufs up to create puffy round tops anyway, we served the tops and just ate what little bread was left in the pots with a fork :) Try lining pots with aluminum foil for a better release than we got. Because these recipes yield many loaves, you can let kids play with some of the dough, and still end up with enough bread to bake up and eat.

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Slightly adapted from Chicago Tribune. Makes 12, mushroom-shaped loaves
Ingredients
  • 12 small clay flowerpots, 3 1/2-inches tall; 3 inches across top
  • Vegetable oil
  • 2 envelopes active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 3 Tbsp shortening
  • 1 1/2 cups scalded milk
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
  1. Season pots for baking by brushing inside and out with vegetable oil. Bake at 275 degrees for 2 hours. Cool. Brush again with oil and bake for another hour at 275. Cool. Line pots with foil. Butter and flour inside of foil-lined pots.
  2. Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt and shortening to scalded milk. Cool to lukewarm. Add to yeast. Add 4 cups all purpose flour, beating until smooth. Work in 3 cups more flour. Turn out on lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Round up dough. Turn into a greased bowl. Turn to grease all the way around. Cover dough with a clean cloth and let rise until double 1 to 1/2 hours. Punch down. Let dough rest. Divide into 12 equal-sized balls. Place in prepared foil-lined pots. Brush top of dough with butter and cover. (Or, if you like, brush top of each loaf with egg yolk and a sprinkle of sesame or poppy seeds, before baking.) Let rise until loaves have poufed about 1 1/2 inches about the pots, about 20 minutes. Don't let them get too tall, or the mushroom tops will topple in the oven. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn out of pots; cool on racks.

Flowerpot Herb Bread, 1979

Adapted from Chicago Tribune. Makes seven, 5-inch-tall loaves
Ingredients
  • 7 small clay flowerpots, 3 1/2 inches tall; 3 inches across top
  • 1 cup each: milk, warm water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 envelopes active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup melted shortening
  • 4 1/2 to 5 cups flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp fresh minced parsley, or 1 1/2 Tbsp dried
  • 2 Tbsp minced onion
  • 1 Tbsp snipped fresh dill
  • 1 tsp dried tarragon
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Soak flowerpots in warm water for one hour. Dry. Line with aluminum foil. Generously coat with butter and flour.
  2. Combine milk and water in mixing bowl. Add sugar and yeast, stirring until dissolved.
  3. Stir in shortening and half the flour. Add salt and all but 1/2 cup of the remaining flour. Stir until stiff. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup flour on board and knead dough for five minutes, coating hands with shortening, if necessary.
  4. Spread out dough. Sprinkle with herbs and onion. Knead to distribute herbs.
  5. Shape dough into round ball. Place in oversized oiled bowl. Turn to coat both sides of dough. Cover bowl loosely. Place in warm place and let rise until double in size.
  6. Turn out dough onto floured board. If using walnuts, spread out dough and sprinkle with nuts, rolling up jelly roll fashion.
  7. Cut dough into seven equal pieces. Let rest, with a towel over them for five minutes. Shape each piece of dough into a ball and tuck each ball into a flower pot. Let rise in warmplace, covered until loaves have poufed about 1 1/2 inches above top of pot. Note: if you let them rise too long, when they bake, the mushroom tops will topple.
  8. Bake loaves at 350 degrees about 35 minutes, until golden on top and loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove bread from pots to cool.

Despite several attempts, we never baked a batch of these breads that released cleanly from the clay pots, even though we followed directions to season with oil, before generously greasing, flouring and filling them. Since most of the bread poufs up to create puffy round tops anyway, we served the tops and just ate what little bread was left in the pots with a fork. We've modified this recipe to suggest lining pots with aluminum foil and then greasing and flouring the foil, for a better release.
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