French Onion Soup Rolls #BreadBakers

These French onion soup rolls have all the flavor of French onion soup in bread form! They are a great snack or accompaniment to any soup or stew. Or split them like a bun to use them for special sandwiches. The cheesy onion "jam" inside is fabulous.

Who doesn’t love a hot bowl of French onion soup, topped with crusty bread and melted cheese? I know it’s one of our favorites to eat at home and certainly to order in any French bistro. 

When this month’s Bread Baker’s host decided on the allium family as our theme for today’s event, I had what I thought was the brilliant and unusual idea of turning the flavors of French onion soup into a yeasty bread. Initially I was going to make a rolled loaf filled with cheese and caramelized onions but, as it turns out, my idea wasn’t so unusual. 

There are lots of recipes for French onion soup flavored bread! Who knew? The one I ended up adapting was for stuffed rolls and I must say, they are delicious! We ate them plain, with sliced corned beef roast and, one morning, I even made a fried egg sandwich with one. So good! 

French Onion Soup Rolls

This recipe is adapted by one from A Cozy Kitchen. The original makes a 9x13 pan full so I halved the recipe and also changed up the method. The rolls bake up fluffy and soft!

Ingredients

For the dough:

2/3 cup or 157ml milk, lukewarm

2 teaspoons sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons or 7 grams active dry yeast 

2 1/4 cups or 281g all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted and cooled), plus extra for the baking pan

1 large egg

1 teaspoon olive oil for the dough bowl

For the caramelized onions:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 large sweet onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandoline!)

Leaves from 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

Fine sea salt

For the rolls:

3 oz or 85g gruyere or cheddar cheese, grated 

Fresh thyme leaves for garnish

Method

Butter a 9x9 in or 23x23cm baking pan. Add the yeast and sugar to the warm milk and set aside to proof for about five minutes. The yeast should get bubbly. If it does not, you need to buy new yeast and start over. 

Mix together the flour, milk/yeast mixture, melted butter and salt in the bowl of your stand-up mixer (with the hook attachment.)

 

Add the egg to the flour mixture and knead with the mixer on medium speed for about 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

Rub a medium bowl with the teaspoon of olive oil and transfer the soft, wet dough to the bowl. 

Cover it with cling film and leave to rise for 30-40 minutes. (If your kitchen is cold, as mine is right now, you can put the dough bowl in another bowl or your sink filled with warm water.)

While the dough is rising, we’ll caramelize the onions. Add the butter to a wide-rimmed pan set over medium heat and add the sliced onions, thyme, and season lightly with salt.  

Reduce the heat to medium-low, add a tablespoon or two of water and cover the pan for 15 minutes to soften the onions.

Remove the lid and stir every few minutes, until the onions are caramelized. I kept the fire pretty low so mine took quite a while. 

A higher flame will caramelize the onions faster but you really have to be stirring a lot to make sure they don't scorch. Remove the onions from the heat and transfer them to a plate, spread out to cool. 

Punch down the dough. 

Divide it into 9 equal pieces and roll them into balls. If you want them to be the same exact size, you can weigh them out. Each piece of dough should weigh around 58 grams.

On your plate, divide the caramelized onions into 9 equal portions. Using HALF of the grated cheese, top each portion of caramelized onions with about 1/9 of the cheese. 

Use your hands to press each dough ball into a circle and put the onion/cheese mixture in the middle. 

Pinch up the sides to securely close the dough around the mixture. 

Place the ball, seam down, in your buttered pan and repeat with the remaining dough balls.

Cover the baking pan with a cling film and let the rolls proof for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The rolls should at least double in size.

When your rolls are almost finished the second rise, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Sprinkle on the remaining grated cheese and fresh thyme leaves. 

Bake the rolls in your preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. 

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, it’s Bread Baker day and our theme is the allium family with includes onions, garlic, leeks and, believe it or not, about 920 species in all!  Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories! Check out the list of lovely breads below: 

• French Onion Soup Rolls from Food Lust People Love
• Garlic Cloverleaf Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Garlic Confit Focaccia from What Smells So Good?
• Gluten-Free Millet Chives Flatbread (Bajra chives Paratha) from Cook with Renu
• Moroccan Rghaif from Sneha’s Recipe
• Onion and Bay Loaf from A Messy Kitchen
• Onion Garlic Loaf from Ambrosia
• Onion Lover Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Scallion and Sesame Rolls from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Whole Wheat Onion Kulcha from Magical Ingredients

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these French Onion Soup Rolls!

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Bacon Potato Silver Dollar Pancakes #BreadBakers

Bacon Potato Silver Dollar Pancakes are made with mashed potato, crispy bacon and green onions, stirred into pancake batter and cooked on a griddle until golden. These make an excellent breakfast or snack. So good!

 

Happy Valentine's Day! We don't really celebrate the holiday by doing anything special but we do like to open a good bottle of wine and enjoy a tasty meal at home. If you don't know what to serve your special someone, these silver dollar pancakes would be great as an appetizer topped with a slice of goat cheese and a sprinkle more of green onion.

Bacon Potato Silver Dollar Pancakes

I cheat for these and use the pre-cooked real bacon crumbles from Costco. I fry them a little bit more and drain on paper towels to get rid of more bacon fat. According to the interwebs, one half cup of bacon crumbles is the result of frying 8 slices of regular (not thick cut) bacon.

Ingredients for about 27 silver dollar pancakes

1/2 cup or 60g cooked smoked bacon, chopped in bits

1 cup or 125g flour

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Fresh black pepper

1/2 cup or 120ml sour cream

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1 large egg

Rounded 3/4 cup or 200g leftover mashed potatoes 

1/4 oz or 7g green onions, plus more to serve, if desired

Method

Combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and a few generous grinds of fresh black pepper in a large mixing bowl. Add in the crispy bacon and stir well.

Whisk the mashed potato, egg, sour cream and milk together in a smaller mixing bowl.  

Now fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the green onion tops and fold again.

Lightly grease your griddle by brushing it with a little oil or bacon fat.

Spoon batter onto the griddle to make 5-6 little pancakes. You could fit more on there but then they'd be a challenge to turn over. 

When they have browned on one side, turn them over with a spatula to brown on the other. This takes just a few minutes over a medium flame.

Remove to a plate and keep warm as you cook the rest of the pancake batter in similar batches. 

We ate these plain and they were delicious just like that but the goat’s cheese circles added a great punch of flavor, served with a glass of crisp rosé. 

Enjoy! 

It’s National Potato Lovers Month so my Bread Bakers are creating their recipes with the humble potato. Check them out in the links below. 

• Bacon Potato Silver Dollar Pancakes from Food Lust People Love
• Baked Vada Pav from Cook with Renu
• Feather Rolls from A Messy Kitchen
• Loaded Baked Potato Pizza from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Okinawan Sweet Potato Pani Popo from Magical Ingredients
• Potato Bread with Roasted Apples from What Smells So Good?
• Potato Crescent Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Potato Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sweet Potato Biscuits from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Turkish Stuffed Pogaca with Cheese & Potato from Sneha’s Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Bacon Potato Silver Dollar Pancakes!

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Feta and Mixed Fruit Focaccia #BreadBakers

Slightly sweet and a little savory, this feta and mixed fruit focaccia is the perfect snack to eat with a cup of tea or even a cold glass of beer or a cocktail. The somewhat bitter candied peel and soaked dried fruit are a great combination with the salty feta and soft pillowy bread.

It’s time for my Bread Baker friends to share their recipes again and today’s theme or ingredient is dried fruit. I was quite delighted when our host chose this theme because I have a big bag of mixed fruit that was supposed to be a steamed Christmas pudding, which never materialized. Mainly because my husband and I are the only ones who like it and who can be bothered some years, if you know what I mean. 

Mixed peel is a combination of raisins, sultanas and currants with candied orange and lemon peel. It’s used in fruit cakes, tea loaves, Chelsea buns, and, of course, traditional British Christmas cakes and steamed Christmas puddings.  

Mixed fruit is available year-round in British supermarkets but it really comes into its own during the holiday season. One spot on a shelf in the baking aisle often becomes a whole table of it in the front of the store with other seasonal items like fondant icing, marzipan, confectioner’s sugar and Christmas decorations.

If you can’t find mixed fruit where you live, you might find this Q and A on Nigella Lawson’s website helpful. 

Feta and Mixed Fruit Focaccia

This recipe is an adaptation of one from King Arthur Flour baking website. Theirs is much sweeter and doesn’t contain any feta. I stand by my decision. We enjoyed this version much more than we would have a wholly sweet bread. 

Ingredients

3/4 cup or 110g mixed fruit

3/4 cup or 80ml boiling water

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon instant yeast or active dry yeast

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 1/2 cups or 187g unbleached bread flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 oz or 50g feta, crumbled

Method

In a large bowl, combine the mixed fruit with the boiling water; let soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the fruit, reserving 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid; set the fruit aside.

Add the sugar and sprinkle the yeast over the top of the reserved soaking liquid and set aside to proof. 

If your yeast is active, it should start to bubble up and get frothy. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the soaking liquid.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the beater paddle, combine the flour and salt. Mix just to combine. 

Add the soaking liquid/olive oil mixture and all but about 2 tablespoons of the fruit. The reserved mixed fruit will be used to top the focaccia. Mix until the fruit is evenly distributed, but the dough is still tacky, about 3 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for 1 minute.

Prepare one 8" or 20cm square pan by coating the bottom with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 

Place all of the dough in the pan. Grease your hands and spread the dough out as much as possible without tearing it.

Cover the dough and let it rest, pressing it out every 10 minutes until it fills the pan; this may take up to about 40 minutes. 

Then let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

Meanwhile, near the end of rising time, preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C.

Just before baking, grease your fingers and press dimples into the risen dough.

Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle the reserved mixed fruit and crumbled feta over the top. 

Bake in your preheated oven until the focaccia is deep golden brown on the top and bottom, about 25 to 30 minutes. If it starts to brown before you think it's cooked through, cover the top with foil. 

Remove from the oven and transfer from the pan to a rack to cool. Despite the olive oil, mine tried to stick to the pan. A gentle prod with the spatula did the trick to release it. 

Cut into squares or rectangles using a serrated knife, and serve warm.

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, it’s Bread Baker time, the second Tuesday of every month and we are sharing bread recipes with dried fruit. Many thanks to our host, Kelly of Passion Kneaded! Check out all the links below. 

• Apricot Braided Breakfast Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Cranberry Raisin Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Fennel and Golden Raisin Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Feta and Mixed Fruit Focaccia from Food Lust People Love 
• Panettone from Culinary Cam
• Pineapple Sour Cream Coffee Bread from A Messy Kitchen
• Walnut Raisin Wool Roll Bread from Passion Kneaded

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Feta and Mixed Fruit Focaccia!

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Cheddar Spinach Quick Bread #BreadBakers

This Cheddar Spinach Quick Bread is leavened with baking powder and soda, no waiting on a rise. It mixes up quickly. Enjoy a savory, tasty loaf with only 55-60 minutes of baking.

This month my fellow Bread Bakers and I are sharing recipes to celebrate the harvest, using seasonal produce. Where I am right now, spinach is a year-round crop so it’s always seasonal! 

I almost always have a bag of fresh spinach in the refrigerator to eat as salad or to toss in pasta dishes, soups and stews. Spinach adds flavor and much needed vitamins and iron to any diet. I always have frozen spinach in the freezer! 

Cheddar Spinach Quick Bread 

This recipe was adapted from one on Every Day Healthy Recipes. Do not skip the spinach drying step to make sure your bread batter is not too wet. 

Ingredients

4 oz or 115g fresh baby spinach

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

3 oz or 84g extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

3/4 cup or 185g Greek style natural yogurt

3 tablespoons canola or other light oil, plus extra for the pan

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 large clove garlic, finely minced

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 9.5 in or 23cm loaf pan by greasing it lightly and lining it with baking parchment. 

Rinse and dry your spinach thoroughly with a salad spinner or, if you don’t have one, put the spinach in a clean towel and go outside and swing it around vigorously so that centrifugal force dries it out. If your spinach says wash and ready to eat, just do the drying part.  

Chop the spinach roughly with a knife then pulse it in a food processor until finely chopped but not pureed.

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, soda and salt and stir thoroughly using a whisk. Tip in most of the grated cheese, reserving some for the top, and stir to coat it with the flour mixture. 

In another large bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, yogurt and minced garlic until well combined.  

Add the chopped spinach and stir until thoroughly mixed.

Pour the spinach mixture into the flour bowl and fold gently until just combined. 

Spoon the thick batter into your prepared pan, smooth out the top with a spatula or spoon and sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top. 

Bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour (or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean). If it browns too much before it’s cooked through, cover the top with foil. 

Remove the loaf from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes then lift out of the pan with the paper and place on a rack to cool. 

Once cool, slice to serve. This bread was wonderful just as it is and also excellent toasted.

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, it's Bread Baker time and we are sharing recipes with seasonal produce. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Broccoli & Oats Sandwich Bread - Gluten Free by Sneha’s Recipe
• Cheddar Spinach Quick Bread by Food Lust People Love
• Cranberry Orange Beet Bread by Palatable Pastime
• Honeyed Spelt and Oat Levain by A Messy Kitchen
• Pomegranate and Blueberry Jam Milk Buns by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Pumpkin Nasturtium Pull Apart Bread by Cook with Renu
• Sweet Potato and Cranberry Quick Bread by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Winter Squash Sourdough Boules by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

 

Pin this Cheddar Spinach Quick Bread! 

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Soft Sourdough Pretzel Knots #BreadBakers

These soft sourdough pretzel knots are simple to make, requiring only one rise before shaping. They are wonderful warm or toasted for snacking. Split in two, they are great for small sandwiches.

Most traditional pretzel recipes, like those for good chewy bagels, call for a quick dip in boiling water before baking. Sometimes I’m up for it but often I’m not so I was glad to find a recipe on kingarthurbaking.com that skipped that step. The pretzels still turned out lovely, soft and a little chewy. 

We’ve been enjoying them with all sorts of fillings and toppings. Definitely a keeper recipe!

Soft Sourdough Pretzel Knots

As mentioned above, this recipe is adapted from one on the King Arthur Baking website. The final wash calls for non-diastatic malt powder or granulated sugar but I figured, if the point was color, dark brown sugar would help. It did! I also substituted powdered coconut milk to great effect, making this a vegan recipe. 

Ingredients

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons warm water

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 cup or 227g sourdough starter, unfed/discard

3 cups or 381g unbleached bread flour

1/4 cup or 28g powdered coconut milk (or dry milk powder)

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

For baking:

1 tablespoon, firmly packed, dark brown sugar 

1 tablespoon water

flakey salt

Method

Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with vegetable oil spray, or lining it with parchment paper. Grease the parchment with vegetable oil spray to make double-sure the pretzels won't stick.

Measure the dry active yeast into a small bowl and stir in the two tablespoons of warm water along with the sugar. Set aside to prove. The yeast should activate and become foamy. 

Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Mix and knead the dough ingredients, including the bowl with the activated yeast — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a cohesive, fairly smooth dough. It should be slightly sticky; if it seems dry, knead in an additional tablespoon of water.

Cover the dough with a damp cloth or cling film and let it rest for 45 minutes. My kitchen is pretty chilly right now so I put my dough bowl in a larger bowl of warm water. That works a treat to help the dough rise properly. 

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface then divide it into 12 equal balls, each weighing about 2 1/2 oz or 71g. (My whole dough ball weighed 848g so that weight for each ball was spot on.)

Roll each piece of dough into an 12 in or 31cm rope. 

Shape each rope into a knot. I found this very tricky but the key seemed to be making sure the piece of dough was at least 12 inches long. Any shorter and forming the knot is a struggle. Video instructions here, also from King Arthur Baking.

Dissolve the brown sugar in the water. Brush the pretzel knots with the solution, and immediately sprinkle them lightly with flakey salt.

Bake the pretzel knots for 20-25 minutes, until they're a lovely golden brown. I turn my pan halfway through to make sure they brown evenly since my oven seems to have hot spots. 

Remove the pretzel knots from the oven. Serve warm or leave to cool on a wire rack. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for me and my fellow Bread Bakers to share recipes. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host Renu from Cook with Renu who chose our theme Anything Pretzel. 

• Air Fryer Soft Pretzel Bites from Cook with Renu
• Homemade Pretzel Bites from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Keto Pretzel Bites from Sneha's Recipe
• Pretzel Hamburger Buns from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Soft Sourdough Pretzel Knots from Food Lust People Love
• Toffee Apple Pretzels from A Messy Kitchen
• Double Jalapeno Cheese Pretzel from Magical Ingredients

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Soft Sourdough Pretzel Knots!

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Banana Split Quick Bread #BreadBakers

This banana split quick bread is baked with all the things you love about that special dessert, save the ice cream. Serve it with a scoop, if desired but it’s wonderful treat all on its own. 

For this month’s Bread Bakers I’m the host so I decided to take ever-popular banana bread and ask my fellow bakers to put their own spin on it. I didn’t have a recipe in mind myself and then suddenly, the deadline to bake was upon me. 

Inspiration struck at my local grocery store where some clever person had put together the ingredients (sans ice cream since it wasn’t in the freezer section) for banana splits in the hope that shoppers would take the hint. 

Crushed pineapple, maraschino cherries, chocolate sauce, pecans and, of course, bananas. Like most independent ideas I seem to have, I discovered that this one has been done before. Deep sigh. 

Banana Split Quick Bread

This recipe is adapted from one on Taste of Home. Among other changes, and since it’s cherry season, I used fresh ones instead of maraschino cherries. If you like them, feel free to use them. They do make a brighter show when the bread is sliced. 

Ingredients

1/3 cup or 75g butter

2/3 cup or 132g sugar

2 large eggs

1 3/4 cups or 218g all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup or 185g mashed ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 medium)

1 can (8 oz or 227g) crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup or 90g semisweet chocolate chips

3 1/2 oz or 100g fresh cherries (weight after stemming and pitting – about 1/2 cup chopped)

1/2 cup or 60g chopped pecans

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a loaf pan with baking parchment. 

Chop the cherries with a sharp knife.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the first egg and beat until incorporated.

Add the second egg and beat well. 

Beat in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, bananas and pineapple. 

Fold in the chocolate chips, cherries and pecans.

Spoon your thick batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top. 

Bake at for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pan about three-quarters of the way through. If the top is brown before it’s cooked in the middle, cover the loaf lightly with some foil. 

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

If you can resist, leave to cool completely before cutting. 

I just couldn’t wait and so the bread knife kind of smeared the warm chocolate bits on the cut slices. No matter, still tasted delicious! 

 

Enjoy!

Do you like banana bread? If so, this is your month for Bread Bakers! Check out all the creative recipes below. 

• Air Fryer Banana Blueberry Oats Muffins from Cook with Renu
• Banana Cinnamon Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Banana Split Quick Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Coconut Flour Banana Bread - Gluten & Sugar Free from Sneha’s Recipe
• Simply Banana Bread from A Messy Kitchen
• Sugar Free Sourdough Banana Bread with Pecans from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Tangzhong Banana Buns from Magical Ingredients
• Triple Berry Banana Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Yeasted Banana Sandwich Bread from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Banana Split Quick Bread!

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