Yesterday I had the baking bug. I caught it when we went to Winco & bought a generous bag of bulk yeast from the big vats (I love scooping the big vats). Up until yesterday I’d only used the little sachets of yeast, forcing myself to ration the portions & plan recipes carefully. This time I felt liberated, free to experiment on new recipes with a jar of yeast at my disposal.

I actually made two different recipes while I was getting down & dirty with the dough so I’ll have two posts for you today.

Firstly, I wanted to try the famed “no knead bread” recipe that’s been passed around the internet a kazillion times, originally from the NY Times I believe. Now, I didn’t find the original post, so no doubt this has had a few changes.. & I’ve already added changes myself. I am making a caramelized onion cob, or more acurately a “coburg” with the dough.

The other recipe which I’ll post after is a custard-filled bread, so stay tuned if you have a sweet tooth.

Ok team, let’s get to work!

Caramelized Onion Cob Loaf

Dough-

• 3 cups flour (Bread flour is recommended, surprise surprise, but I used plain flour cos I had it on hand)
• 1/2 t instant yeast
• 1t salt
• 1 1/4 cups warm water

Onion mixture-

• 1 large onion
• garlic to taste
• olive oil for frying
• 1T sugar
• herbs/spices to taste (recommendations- cardamom coriander/ basil oregano/ thyme)

You have to prep the dough the night before you want to bake, to let the dough prove 12-24hrs.

At midnight I started by mixing the yeast, salt, flour & water in a big pot.

It all looks pretty goopy & ugly, not a smooth dough at all.

I put the lid on, with plenty of room for the dough to rise while I slept. It even came into the bedroom with us to stay warm through the night.

…zzzzzz….

The next morning…

I awoke to the yeasty smell of a busy dough. It’s now a bubbly mess. (Mine was actually too wet so I’ve changed the liquid amount above. I needed to add more flour, but only had wholewheat left in the pantry. It really changed the consistency unfortunately, but it was my only option.)

So I started by caramelizing the onion over a low flame & then mixed it though the dough.

Floured up the countertop, flopped my dough on top & started working it in.

Eventually it all came together as a ball, but I can’t help but think the kneading really overworked the bread when it needed the captive air.

When it came out of the oven (450F for 45mins) it was a little doughy & hadn’t risen with large bubbles like I had hoped for, but still pretty good. Maybe also the wholewheat flour contributed to the heaviness. The flavour is good & the crust has a nice crack to it. I’ll definitely try it again.

It was great with grilled cheese. The sweet onion & salty cheese was magic.