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Cheddar Cheese And Onion Pretzel Bread

After doing a lot of baking last month, I had given my oven (and myself) a two week baking break. It wasn't easy to ignore the way my oven seemed to be asking me when I was going to get back to keeping it company. So I finally gave in and baked some Grissini, and that was it.
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Course breads
Cuisine global vegetarian
Servings 10 portion

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup onion finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsps butter
  • 2 tsps yeast dry active
  • 1 1/2 tsps sugar
  • 3/4 cup water warm
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese grated sharp
  • 1 1/2 tsps black pepper crushed
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp salt sesame seeds coarse or some white (optional)

Instructions
 

  • In a pan, sautxe9 the onions in butter till soft but not brown. Keep aside to cool a bit.
  • Add the sugar and yeast to the warm water, stir and allow to prove. In a mixing bowl (or processor bowl), put the sautxe9ed onion, cheese, flours, Italian herbs and salt. Mix (or pulse) a couple of times and add the yeast mixture.
  • Knead very well, adding more water if necessary, till a moderately stiff dough which is smooth and elastic is obtained. Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl, coating the ball with oil by turning it round in the bowl. Cover and allow the dough to double in volume (about an hour or so).
  • Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, letting it rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough out into a 24" long smooth rope. Place it on a greased baking sheet and shape into a large pretzel shape. Moisten the ends of the pretzel and tuck them underneath to seal.
  • Cover and allow to rise till almost double (about half an hour). Brush the top of the bread with cold milk and sprinkle coarse salt or white sesame seeds if preferred.
  • Bake at 190C for about 40 minutes till golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped. If the bread is browning too much, cover it loosely with aluminium foil during the last 20 minutes in the oven. Cool completely on a rack.
  • It is important to use a sharp cheddar cheese to make this bread for the flavour of the cheese to really come through in this bread. Baking this bread not only guarantees a bread full of flavour but an added bonus of heavenly aroma of warm cheese and bread baking in your oven.