Caramelised Onion & Aged Cheddar Rolls

You’ve heard of cinnamon rolls, well here’s a super savoury version for you. I love aged cheddar! It’s so delish with the caramelised onion but a crazy old tasty cheese or creamy blue would go down a treat here too.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp dried yeast (check the exp date!)

3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp milk

375g plain flour

60ml olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

2 medium size onions, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp picked thyme leaves

2 Tbsp butter

olive oil

1 1/2 cup aged cheddar, grated

Prep It

Heat milk in a small pot, until just warm. Sprinkle in yeast and set aside for 5 minutes to bloom. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl or bowl of your stand mixer and add olive oil . After 5 minutes add milk yeast mixture and mix well. Transfer dough to a clean surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic-y. Alternatively you can use your stand mixer with the dough hook if you have one.

Oil the bowl you just used to mix the dough (or stand mixer bowl) with a good drizzle of olive oil, return dough and cover. Leave to prove in a warm spot for about 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.

Caramelise It

Cut onions in half and thinly slice. Pick thyme leaves or if it has soft stems you can just roughly chop. Place butter in a medium pot with a drizzle of olive oil on medium heat. Add onions, thyme and a good pinch of salt and cover with a lid. Cook for about 5 minutes, until onions start to soften. Remove lid and keep cooking for a further 10-15 minutes stirring often, until onions are golden brown and jammy. If the temperature is too hot and they start to stick you can add a Tbsp of water, stir and continue to cook. Grate your cheese so you are ready to roll (literally).

Roll It

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 25cm cake tin or baking dish with oil. I like to use spray oil for this sort of thing.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle shape thats about 1cm thick with the long end facing you. Spread onion mixture onto the dough and then sprinkle over the cup of cheese. Save the half to sprinkling on top.

Starting with the long side facing you, roll the dough up incasing all that oniony cheesy goodness. With the seem side down cut the log into 12 even pieces and place each pieces in your greased tin with 1-2cm of space in between. Set aside in a warm spot for about 20 minutes to prove.

Bake It

Sprinkle over remaining half cup of cheese and bake in the center of the oven for about 25 minutes, until golden and and cooked through. Cool slightly before turning onto a plate or cake rack.

Eat It - WARM!