I love this recipe! I followed the recipe pretty closely, just made 3/4 the amount of dough and 1/2 the amount of onion filling (used filling no. 1), which turned out to be just the right amount, resulting in 9 3-oz rolls, just the right size. The recipe in the book called for 5 tsp. of instant yeast, but I only used 2 1/2 tsp, and it worked just fine. I mixed the malt in the water mixture (saved the onion soaking water--thanks to Eric's earlier post!). I photographed just the end results, with no crumb shot, as I made them late in the evening and we were eating dinner and watching the 49'er/Giant game while they were baking. (Not recommended! Can't believe we resisted! But wait til tomorrow's lunch!) The dried onion flakes worked very well; I have the Safeway brand, and they are cut quite fine. I had tried using them as a bagel topping but never knew how to handle them. Leaving them in boiling water for 30 minutes was the secret, then mixing in the poppy seeds, oil and salt. I baked the rolls on the preheated stone at 400 with light steam (spritzed twice), raised the temp to 425 after 10 minutes as they looked a bit pale; at 12 minutes decided to turn the oven to convection (375 being equivalent of 400), and left it that way for another 5 minutes, so 17 minutes total. They browned up quickly once I set the oven to convection (I probably missed an important play retrieving them, but first things first!). I found the directions clear enough, which suggested putting the onion mixture on waxed paper to press the boules to 1/2" after they rested for 15-20 minutes. I did forget to press the middle down with my thumb before loading them, so I did a little push at half bake (no burns encountered, done quickly). It worked well enough. I have luscious memories of onion pletzels from my Brooklyn childhood, so I think I'll try that variation next time. And I love this smooth, silky
dough; it mixed up easily at speeds 1 and 2 in my K/A Pro 6. Next on the list will be Kaiser rolls.
Very Joyful!
I made these as a test-baker
I made these as a test-baker and they were delicious then. I'm looking forward to my bake later this week. Circumstances have conspired against me yet again this week -- a nasty cold knocked me down the for the weekend, so I'll be baking (and posting) about the Danish pastry at a later date.
Looking forward to seeing all the onion rolls!
Hope you are feeling better...
ummm time for some hot chicken soup... and comfy healing balms... best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Get well @ Urchina
Hope you feel well soon. This has been a nasty winter out our way (SF Bay Area), I think because we didn't get a cold snap until well into the season (to get rid of all those little virus bugs). I've been down with bronchitis and stomach flu (those darling grandkids are little petri dishes, but, hey they're worth it!), so haven't been baking much other than the necessaries. So hope you're feeling fit soon! Those onion rolls are such a good choice for us! And it's nice to be able to make up lessons from previous weeks. Thanks for organizing us!
Joy
This is copied from my blog.
This is copied from my blog. There seems to be some missing information in the Onion Rolls recipe on p. 114.
We 3 sisters
Loved this recipe too. Gmabaking (Barb in WA) made them and her grandchildren loved them so much she had none to take pictures of!!! It was a great Football Sunday to have fresh onion rolls to go with brisket here in Texas... My sister Helen (gmabaking2) made a feast for game day, brisket and those great rolls... the recipe was so easy and tasty and there was so much onion filling left that I whipped up another batch of the medium enriched dough and made 2 loaves of onion bread by putting all that great filling into the dough... Great, Great, Great... we will all definitely be using ITJBs enriched dough recipe again and again.
Another successful baking day in Washington state in the great state of Texas! Next week: Mandelbroyt!
Need to add
that the toast I made with the onion loaves from the leftover filling is to die for! It is so great tasting, cries for that jalapeno jelly... the taste, not the onions bring tears to my eyes!!! Loving this one, for sure!
Very Joyful indeed!
Your rolls look perfect! The heavenly aroma while baking and while eating these is addictive. We haven't found them to be very good the next day as they seem to stale rather quickly. However a brief run by the toaster and they come back nicely. Glad you liked them.
Eric
Really tasty
I made these almost as per the recipe, like Joy I cut down on the yeast. I mixed by hand with some S & Fs. Then found I had no yellow onions, so half of these are made with shallots ( am not sure what you call these in the US ) and half with spring onions, which I think you call scallions. I had not thought about adding breadcrumbs and salt, but it worked a treat. I was really pleased with the way they turned out, and yet again this is something I would not have tried without the challenge. cheers Nici ( from Edinburgh)
Oh, those look good!
I'm going to have to try the green onion (scallion) idea. Those look good!
Missing info @Lloyd
I replied to your blog, but a few more comments here. You're right, the instructions aren't specific, esp. in #2. It doesn't say that you can use one-quarter of the onion filling for about three rolls (the recipe makes 12), then another one-quarter for the next three rolls, etc. I found that was about how it worked on the waxed paper (or parchment, which would be a little hardier). And it doesn't say onion side up in #3, but that would be understood, wouldn't it? And, in #4, there's no reason to add filling, is there? So technically, maybe some more specifics would be helpful. Then, there's always the photograph in the middle of the batch of them that immediately follows the recipe.
Joy
Thanks, Eric!
Next time I'll get started earlier in the day and have these ready for dinner! But the two I didn't freeze (hope they freeze well)--it's just the two of us most of the time but the kids & grandkids are coming next weekend--will go into the toaster for lunch!
Joy
here we go
It's week 8 in the Inside the Jewish Bakery Challenge - Semester 1. This week is Onion Rolls. Sadly, I'll be sitting out the next few dessert-heavy weeks.
Once my confusion over how to deal with the onion mix was clarified (thanks all) this proved to be an easy, fast bake (in terms of actual prep). My notes follow:
These are tasty and the outside is crunchy. They aren't overpoweringly onion-y, which I'd been concerned about. I think the flavor would be improved if I make a soaker with the whole wheat next time and let it sit in the fridge overnight prior to adding yeast. I'll make them again for sure.
Beautiful onion rolls, Lloyd!
Glad you moved forward with these. The rolls are beautiful, and sounds like you have plans for tweaking the dough for flavor. Keep us posted!
Joy
I so love these rolls
Finally! I'm back on my feet and had time to bake these for dinner tonight. Hooray!
We're onion freaks in this house (we go through 5-10lbs of onions a week just in our regular cooking) so I used all the onion water from rehydrating the dried flakes in the dough for the rolls. I let mine bulk ferment for 2 hours (partly due to the vagaries of my schedule today, partly because I was interested in a slightly leaner dough than I normally have) and then scaled and topped and did the final proof. The final proof ended up being about 1.5 hours due to my forgetting to turn the oven on in time to preheat (duh!) and I think they overproofed a little -- they were tall and puffy when I pulled them from the proof box (our microwave) but deflated terrifyingly when I punched the hole down the middle. I crossed my fingers and...
They did fine. Big oven spring. I ended up with nearly spherical rolls -- you can't even tell I dimpled the middle. They're really tasty, and the onion water gives a good onion-y flavor throughout. I didn't use poppyseeds on the filling (I used Onion Filling I) and would like to add them next time, provided I can get fresh poppyseeds for baking (see: Mohn Bar note on rancid poppyseeds -- ick!).
I ended up using a full 1/2 of the filling, as I topped ours generously. The rest of the filling I added to the meatballs I made for dinner tonight -- we had Italian meatball sandwiches with these rolls as the bread. They were perfect. Next time I make them I'm going to shape them like hot dog buns and use them for bratwurst. That would be awesome. Maybe for the Super Bowl....
As for crumb -- mine was very uniform, springy, even-textured. I use KA bread flour and think it can make the dough a little tough for my preference. Next time I'll probably sub in about 1/4 whole wheat flour and see if that makes the dough a little more tender. But the flavor is fantastic and my family requested that we put these into the regular rotation.
I'll post pics on Friday -- hopefully. If we don't eat them all first.
Oh my these are good
These rolls are so tasty, but then I love onion bread in any form. I made the dough in my bread machine (Zojirushi) on the dough cycle. I put all the liquid ingredients in first then the dry ingredients with the yeast on top. The only change I made was to reduce the yeast to 2 ½ teaspoons as Joy suggested. I made these after work because my weekend was too busy to bake this time. They were so easy. I used Onion filling I, with the dehydrated onions, which made it so simple. I baked them on my stone in the upper third of the oven and they browned nicely. The only problem was that they came out of the oven smelling wonderful and it was time to go to bed! We toasted them and put avocado on them and they were wonderful. We have an avocado tree that’s producing lots of ripe avocados at the moment. This is a recipe that I will certainly make again.
Carlene
All of these onion rolls are
All of these onion rolls are making my mouth water...
One question, from the OP:
I haven't read the recipe, but did you mean 30 seconds? I think they'd be pretty strange after 30 minutes!
30 Minutes
No, I did 30 minutes. You are rehydrating the onions flakes, 30 seconds would not be enough. They are delicious and easy to make. Do try them.
Carlene
Oops, I misread Carlene :)
Oops, I misread Carlene :) Sorry. You're absolutely right, 30 seconds wouldn't be enough for the onion flakes.
My onion filling
I carmelized a big chopped sweet onion in a little olive oil, then blotted it between paper towels. I made twelve little onion piles, into which I squished each 3.1 oz dough ball. Really delicious. Next time, I'll add a little fresh chopped rosemary and a bissel of balsamic vinegar. Yes, not something out of a traditional Jewish bakery, but for me part of the fun here is sometimes taking the original recipe, mixing it up, and sharing the results.
Before the week ends
I just want to go on record as saying this was the BEST we have baked so far in the challenge... although the closed pockets were a great hit!!! But what enthusiasm I have seen here... what JOY... it is truly refreshing... I was a little concerned from the lack of responses on previous weeks.... Either the "challenge bakers" are just warming up to the challenge... OR... everyone, as myself, LOVED these rolls. Great to see such a diverse group of people coming together to "break bread". Amen!
Closed Pockets
I didn't get to do the closed pockets yet, because we gone for the long MLK weekend. I am going to get to them, but it will have to be when I have a Sunday free so I can take them to work immeadiatly so that my husband and I don't eat them all ourselves :)!
Carlene
Pleasant surprise
I would normally never buy, or bake, onion bread. That's because I like a bread that goes with both, savory and sweet toppings. (The only exemption from this savory/sweet rule is my olive bread).
But that is the good thing about a challenge - you have to overcome your preconceived notions (or prejudices) and do something out of the ordinary.
At first I wondered whether I shouldn't make only half of the recipe (who should eat a dozen onion rolls?), but dividing the one egg seemed too much of a hassle. I did the bulk fermentation in the refrigerator overnight, since even an enriched Vienna dough can benefit from longer fermentation (see BBA). I, also, wondered about the amount of instant yeast, but the dough didn't seem to overproof in the fridge. Next time I would probably make a pre-ferment (paté fermentée), though.
I made the onion filling with fresh onions, and added the poppy seed. The amount of filling would have been sufficient for 3 times as many rolls, I used only a third of it.
Other than that everything seemed to be pretty straightforward. The baking time (about 18 minutes) was quite a bit longer than the 10 - 12 minutes given in the recipe.
The rolls looked very nice, when they came out of the oven, and the taste was a pleasant surprise. I really liked them, (toasted because I don't care for soft crusts). And the good thing: since the lower half has no onions I can have the upper half with a savory toppings, and the lower with jam!
Karin
looks good
Those look great. Try an entire one with some butter and jam -- you'll be surprised how well the onion bit goes with sweet. I've been eating them with some Cranberry-Orange-Habenero jelly I made, they're great.
I really
love this!
Karin, I did do these with a
Karin,
I did do these with a soaker and a leaven and I used the reserved onion water in the final mix. They turned out great! You had a great idea!
Janet
Onion and jam
Thanks, Loyd - and you are right, the onions, though regular yellow kitchen onions, are not at all pungent, but rather sweet.
I thought the rolls would go well with the 3-Fruit Marmalade that Dan Lepard just posted in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/27/marmalade-recipes-preserves-dan-lepard. It's the easiest way to make it that I've ever seen. I will add some Grand Marnier or Triple Sec.
Karin
Marmalade
Karin, thanks for the post on the Marmalade. I made a batch and we have eaten two jars of it already. It looks like I am going to have to make more! It was soooo simple and is so delicious.
Carlene
Marmalade
Carlene, I made it, but thought at first I had screwed it up. I didn't realize I had to keep the pulp after cooking, and discarded it with the pith. And then the marmalade didn't set. I tweeted with Dan Lepard and he told me the pulp would retain the little bit of pectin that citrus has. He also said adding an apple would help. In the meantime I had re-cooked the marmalade, upped the sugar by 100 g and added some pectin. It set - after 3 days.
Licking the wooden spoon I also thought it was too bitter. But when the marmalade had set, and I tasted it, it was wonderful, very intensive flavor, hard core marmalade lover's paradise.
Karin
Marmalade set
Karin,
Mine set just fine and I did discard the pulp with the pith and I didn't add pectin. I did cook the rinds and the sugar for more than 30 minutes to get them up to 104C /219F. Don't know if that would make a difference. Mine was still not too sweet, but I think that's what my husband liked best about it. He said he didn't generally like marmalade because it was too sweet. I also weighted the fruit and made sure I had the number of oranges he said, and didn't add as much lemon.
Carlene
Success!
After the complete disaster w/ the cheese filling last week, these were a refreshing & easy bake.
great
Great bread, and excellent photos!
Thank you
for the compliment. Coming from an experienced fellow baker, that means a lot! :)
Made mine with the Sweet Egg Dough ...
... and then we ate them too fast to take a picture. I think this means they are TOO good, don't you? ;-)