The Fresh Loaf

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Onion Bread Recipe

RyeBread's picture
RyeBread

Onion Bread Recipe

Hi everybody,

I like the combination of onions and white bread. The recipe includes a cold fermented poolish and a large amount of roasted onions. You will find the recipe below. If you want to have a closer look at the different steps, here is a link to our recipe video:

Onion Bread Video

Recipe:

Roasted Onions

300g chopped onions

2 tablespoons oil

2g salt

Peel and chop onions into small pieces. Place a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and allow it to heat up. Then add the chopped onions to the pan. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes or until they become golden brown. Remove the onions from the pan, transfer them to a bowl and let cool down.

 

Poolish:

200g wheat flour type 1050 or 120g bread flour + 80g whole wheat flour

200ml water 20°C or 68°F

2g fresh yeast or 0.67g instant yeast

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Mix until well combined using a wooden spoon. Cover bowl and let rest at room temperature for about 2 hours. Place the covered bowl in the fridge and continue proofing for 24 hours at 5°C/40°F. The poolish is ready when it shows bubbles all over the surface.

 

Ingredients for the dough:

Roasted onions

Poolish

350g wheat flour type 550 or bread flour

70g strong bread flour

270ml water 20°C or 68°F

14g salt

4g fresh yeast or 1.33g instant yeast

 

Put all ingredients except roasted onions in a large bowl. Mix by hand for 1-2 min. Then add roasted onions and mix further until everything is well combined. You won´t find gluten structure development at this point.

The dough is fermented over the next 2.5 hours at room temperature, which was 26°C or 79°F.

Perform three stretch and folds during that time to strengthen the gluten according to the following schedule:

Let rest for 30 min at room temperature.

Perform first stretch and fold. Gluten has already development.

Let rest for 30 min at room temperature.

Perform second stretch and fold after total resting time of 1 hours. Gluten development continuous.

Let rest for 30 min at room temperature.

Perform third and last stretch and fold after total resting time of 1.5 hours. Be more gentle compared to the first two ones.

Let rest for 1 hours at room temperature.

 

Prepare a proofing basket.

Perform final shaping and put dough in a proofing basket. Cover it and let rest for about 45 min at room temperature.

Preheat dutch oven in your oven in time for 45 min at 250°C or 480°F

After final proofing, score dough and put it carefully in the preheated dutch oven. Close the lid and put the dutch oven in the oven.

Bake for 10 min at 250°C or 480°F. After that, continue baking at 210°C or 410°F for 35 min. To get a darker crust, you can remove the lid for the last 10 min.

Enjoy your homemade onion bread after a total baking time of 45 min.

Bronze's picture
Bronze

I just made bread like this! Only it was also shot-through with sharp, flavorful cheese. From Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Interesting how similar they are! Same shape, size, similar pre-fermenting steps. Only mine did not turn out so gorgeous; especially that cross-section! Nice job. Thanks for sharing!

RyeBread's picture
RyeBread

Thanks. I haven´t used cheese so far but I´m sure it tastes great. These kind of breads are also perfect to incorporate all kinds of seeds - sunflower, pumpkin and so on.

Dave Cee's picture
Dave Cee

Onion bread my personal favorite. All Hail Mini Oven, discoverer of the serendipitous pairing of caramelized onions and caraway seeds. 

RyeBread's picture
RyeBread

A delicious combination and a good looking bread. Onion bread is also one of my favorites. What flour did you use? Bread Flour?

Dave Cee's picture
Dave Cee

75% hydration. Caramelized yellow onions. Toasted and re-hydrated caraway seeds. Sourdough starter. Kosher salt. Not particularly photogenic but tasted good. Thank you for asking. Best wishes. Dave

All Hail Mini Oven!