Mini Poppy Seed Onion Rolls (and Onion Twist Bread)

We bought onions at Costco. So I decided to make carmelized onions out of some of them, as well as an onion twist bread. (The bread dough was going to make two large loaves, so I decided to make some Mini Poppy Seed Onion Rolls for social hour out of half of the bread.)

Ingredients:

Filling (I used half of the filling for mini rolls, 1/2 for the bread)):

• 3 large Vidalia onions, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced ⅛- to ¼-inch thick
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
     
• 2 - 3 ounces feta, crumbled
• 2 -3 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, diced (optional)

Dough (I used 1/2 of dough for the mini rolls, 1/2 for the bread):

• 6    ounces warm water
• 3    teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
• 2    tablespoons sugar
• 3    teaspoons salt
• 6    tablespoons oil
• 6    ounces milk
• 27   to 29  ounces All-Purpose Flour (I needed to use the 2 extra ounces of flour)
• 1/2  cup instant mashed potatoes (or potato flakes)
• 4    tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
• 3    large eggs

Instructions:

1. Mix yeast and sugar with about a cup of the flour into the warm water in a stand mixer bowl. Let the yeast proof for 5 to 10 minutes. (I find this proofing really helps the rising of enriched breads.)
2. Combine the milk and oil and warm to 100 degrees or so.
3. Add the milk mixture and the eggs to the yeast mixture. 
4. Add 27 ounces of flour, salt, and potato flakes.
5. Knead the dough to form a smooth ball that is lightly sticky.
   (Add in another tablespoon or ounce of flour as needed to make sure the dough is not extremely sticky.)
6. Scoop out dough, spray bowl with cooking spray, and return dough to bowl.
7. Cover bowl, and let the dough rise or about 90 minutes
   (My dough rose well, the initial proofing of the the yeast helps.)
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the sliced ovens in a dutch oven, drizzle with the olive oil.
9. Stir onions to coat with oil.
10. Cover with lid, and bake for about 45 - 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. (You may want to leave the lid ajar for some of the cooking if you want more moisture to escape.)
11. After onions are brown enough, remove from oven and allow to cool.
12. Spray two 24 well mini muffin pans with cooking spray.
13. Divide dough in half. Roll dough out into a 12 x 18 " rectangle.
14. Spread 1/2 of cooled on dough. Sprinkle with 1/2 the cheeses and poppy seed. (Sprinkle with rosemary if using.)
    
    
15.  Slice dough into 48 pieces. (I cut it in half, divided each 1/2 into thirds, and divided each third into 8 squares.)
16. Gather up to corners of each square, pinching together to enclose filling.
    
    
17. Roll to shape, and place in mini muffin well. (I placed them seam side up in the pan. Next time I might smooth out the seam better, and place them seam side down.)
    
18. Preheat oven to 350.
19. Mist plastic wrap with cooking spray, lightly cover rolls and let rise until puffy and doubled. (about 30 minutes.)
20. Bake for about 15 minutes until they are golden brown.

Carole's Notes:

I liked this! The onion/cheese/poppy seed filling is sweet with a little tang from the rosemary and feta. Most of the onions were at the bottom of the roll - I recommend closing off the rolls, and placing the seam side down next time.

I spread the other half of the dough with the other toppings, and rolled it up along the long end. I sliced the roll nearly in half with a knife, and twisted the sections together, trying to keep the cut sides up. I tucked this bread into a greased 12" x 4" bread pan, and allowed it to rise. I let it rise while the rolls were baking, and then baked it for 35 to 40 minutes.

This made a nice sandwich loaf.



The recipe was adapted from
http://carolelikesroundfood.blogspot.com/2017/03/pepperoni-herb-leaf-loaf.html
and
http://carolelikesroundfood.blogspot.com/2017/03/olive-sourdough-bread.html