Sunday, July 10, 2011

Pull-Apart Cheesy Onion Bread


I love any sort of pull apart bread. So when I saw this savoury version of pull apart bread (!!!) I made immediate plans to bake it. Onion is cooked in lots of butter. A quick bread dough (no yeast involved) is rolled out and cut into rectangles. Each rectangle is topped with an onion/poppy seed/Gruyere cheese mixture. Next the rectangles are ever so carefully stacked (there are 10 of them! It's a topsy turvy tower), then squished into a loaf pan and baked.


The end result is good, though honestly not as magical as I'd hoped. There's so much "stuff" (onions and cheese), that it doesn't quite stick to the dough and is more like slices of cheese/onion bread (nothing wrong with that!) So I was thinking it might be even more delicious if some of the onions (or most?) are mixed into the dough.

If this sounds good, you might like:
Yorkshire Pudding
Light Brioche Burger Buns
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Peppered Pear and Goat Cheese Scones

Pull-Apart Cheesy Onion Bread
Adapted from Food & Wine, found on Dana Treat

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, 1 stick cubed
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup coarsely shredded Gruyère cheese (3 ounces)
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425F. Butter a 9"x5" loaf pan. In a large pan, melt the 1/2 stick of uncubed butter; pour 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into a small bowl and reserve. Add the chopped onion to the pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in the poppy seeds and season with salt and pepper. Scrape the onion mixture onto a plate and refrigerate for 5 minutes, until cooled slightly. Stir in the Gruyère.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the cubed butter and pulse until it is the size of small peas. Add the buttermilk and pulse 5 or 6 times, just until a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and knead 2 or 3 times. Pat or roll the dough into a 2-by-24-inch rectangle. Spread the onion mixture evenly on top. Cut the dough crosswise into 10 pieces. Stack 9 pieces onion side up, then top with the final piece, onion-side down. It's difficult to move the whole stack to the pan, so I'd recommend doing half at a time. Carefully lay the stack in the prepared loaf pan and brush with the reserved 2 tbsp of butter.

Bake the loaf in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until it is golden and risen. Let the bread cool for at least 15 minutes before unmolding and serving.

11 comments:

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Aw man sorry this didn't fulfill its full potential -- I was thinking it looked pretty magical myself and this savory version is more tempting than the sweet ones I've seen. I made some yeasted "Chubble" cheesy bubble bread that was pretty good last winter. Similar concept I think. Either way your bread still looks lovely :)

Anonymous said...

maybe you could caramelize the onions so that it would be like a combo of a pissaladiere and pull apart loaf...

Kristin (Book Sniffers Anonymous) said...

Okay, that looks insanely delicious and cheesy!

Hannah said...

Well it sure does look magical to me! Ah man, next time I get some daiya, I think I may need to explore this idea further... I haven't made much bread lately, anyway!

Joanne said...

I've been seeing a lot of pull-apart breads lately, but this looks like the best filling yet!

Johanna GGG said...

I've only had pullaparts from our local bakery but love the idea and any quickbread with cheese gets my vote

Jabba said...

Damn lady - this looks amazing. I'm always intimidated by recipes that call for the use of a food processor since I don't have one.
I might try this anyway though - I mean, seriously - it's not like this would have been impossible for my Grandma to make.

Eileen said...

Ooh! Okay, this looks 100% better than the usual sweet and sticky monkey-bready concoctions. I would totally try mixing the onion into the dough, too. And poppyseeds! EXCELLENT plan.

Ellie said...

This looks amazing!! My next appetizer :)

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Heavens, that looks amazing!

Shanni said...

I want to eat this. I wish my oven distributed heat evenly.

-Shanni
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