Happy Sunday to everyone! This week the recipe is for Braided Onion Bread. This is really bread for onion lovers, as each strand of the braid is filled with a mixture of onions, garlic, butter, paprika and Parmesan cheese! The bread itself is a kind of strange in that it must rise before it is kneaded, but that gives a nice tanginess to it, without being a sourdough.

Onion Braid Bread
Ingredients:
1 package dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
4 cups all purpose or bread flour
1 cup water
1/3 cup milk (whole milk is best, but you can use any milk you have on hand)
¼ sugar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup finely chopped onion (best to use white or yellow, red don’t quite cook through)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Filling:
¼ cup ( ½ stick) butter
1 cup finely chopped onion (white or yellow work best, though red gives a slight crunch)
2 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika ( I like the kind called Half-Sweet, if you can find it, but any will do)
Crust:
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon salt
¼ cup warm water
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Baking pan: One baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
Method:
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl combine two cups of the flour and the yeast; stir to combine. In a sauce pan heat the water, milk, sugar, salt and butter to about 125 degrees. When the butter is not quite completely melted remove from the heat and stir in the egg.
Pour the liquid over the flour and yeast. Blend with a wooden spoon or the mixers flat paddle at low speed until the flour is all moistened. Increase speed and beat with the mixer or wooden spoon for 2 minutes.
This will give you a very loose batter. If using the mixer remover the paddle and attach the dough hook. Add flour ¼ cup at a time, letting the dough absorb the flour before the next addition. This is going to take about twenty minutes total, so don’t panic or give up.
Do the same if using a wooden spoon. This is going to be a real work out for your upper arms but it does not take as long as the dough hook method.
The dough should be revolve around the dough hook and clean the sides of the bowl. If it is not doing this, add a little more flour until it does.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 45 minute to 1 hour, or until it has doubled in volume.
While the dough is rising, make the filling.
Filling Method:
In a small sauce pan, melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Set aside.
Kneading:
If by hand, punch down the dough and turn it out onto a well floured work surface. The dough might be sticky because it is so soft. Pick it up and throw it down hard on the work surface a few times until it becomes elastic (a really good way to get any anger you might be carrying around out). Then knead for 10 minutes with the push- turn- fold method.
If by mixer, punch down the dough, attach the dough hood and knead for 10 minutes. If moister breaks through, add a few sprinkles of flour.
Shaping the braid:
If you kneaded the dough by mixer turn it out on to a well floured work surface. Cover with a tea towel and let rest for 5 minutes. Then with your rolling pin roll into a 12"x18" rectangle.
Cut the dough into three strips 4" wide. If the dough jumps back from the blade, let it rest another 3 or 4 minutes (this will make it much easier to work with).
Divide your filling into three equal portions. Spread it on the strips, leaving a ½ boarder all the way around. Roll each piece from the long edge until you are 1" inch from the top edge. Then pick up the top edge and pinch to seal. Don’t roll all the way to the top edge as some of the filling is likely to come out and make sealing the seam much harder.
Repeat with the other two strips and then move them to the baking sheet, seam side down.
Braiding can be kind of hard if you have never done it before, so the Dog provided you with some picture to help.
Set the filled cylinders about an inch apart, like this:
Starting from the middle braid to the top of the loaf. It should look like this:
Go back to the middle and braid to the bottom. When you are done it will look like this:

Pinch the both ends of the braid tightly together to seal.
Cover with a wax paper and let rise for 45 minutes or until the braid is puffy and there are no spaces between the cylinders.
Baking:
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees for 20 minutes before baking. Mix the water, corn starch and salt together in a small bowl. Brush the mixture over the entire braid. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the loaf.
Slip the braid into the hot oven and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Thump on the bread to test for doneness. If you do not get a hollow sound, return to oven for five more minutes.
Braided breads can be fragile when they are hot, so use the parchment paper to slide it onto the wire rack to cool, then slide the paper out from underneath. If you did not use parchment paper, a large spatula is a good helper for this.
When you are done, your kitchen will be filled with the aroma of onions and Parmesan cheese. This bread is great with soups or toasted with a cheese spread.
The flour is yours.