Sweet Onion & Chedder Mini Breads

Makes around 6-8 breads   Prep time 1hr 30 mins   Cooking time Approx 25 mins

Ingredients:

For the dough:
500g Strong bread flour (white or other, it is really up to you)
310ml Tepid water
1.5 x 7g Sachets dried yeast
1 tbsp. Sugar
1/2 level tbsp. Fine sea salt
Extra flour for dusting

For the topping:

1 Red onion

1/2 tbsp. Olive oil

2 tbsp. runny honey

1/2 tbsp. Caster sugar

1/2 tbsp. Red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

150g Mature chedder

Equipment:

Baking sheet

Frying pan

Wooden spoon

Large mixing bowl

Preheat oven to 190c/180c fan-assisted/Gas mark 5

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and yeast and combine with your fingers. In a jug, add the sugar and salt to the tepid (blood temperature) water and stir. Gradually add the water to the flour mixture, combining with one hand (just so the other stays clean) in a claw shape until all the water is incorporated. 

Once you have a rough dough, tip the mixture on to a clean and slightly (don't go mad!) floured surface and begin to knead the dough. This just means pushing back and forward on the dough and turning it on itself for 5-10 minutes until you have a smooth dough. It should also be fairly elastic. 

Add some flour to the inside of your original mixing bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Loosely cover the bowl with cling film or a clean tea-towel and leave in a warm and draught-free place for 30 minutes. 

When you come back to the dough it should have doubled in size, if not, recover and leave for another 15 minutes. Next you need to knock back the dough, I usually do this by punching it to release the air. Then remove the dough from from the bowl and divide with a knife into 6 equal pieces. 

Slightly knead each ball of dough and stretch out into a rough oval shape around 1cm thick. Do this for all your balls of dough. You can place these on either a greased (just with olive oil) or floured (I usually flour) baking sheet and loosely cover again for their second proving, this will take another 30 minutes. 

In the meantime, you can get on with the topping. Place a pan on the hob on a medium heat and add the oil and the red onion, as thinly sliced as you can. Fry in the oil, adding salt and pepper for 5 minutes until the onions have softened. Then reduce the heat to it's lowest setting and slowly cook the onions until they are completely softened, this will take around 10 minutes. 

Add the caster sugar, honey and vinegar to the pan and cook for another 6-7 minutes until you have a sticky, jam like consistency and set aside to cool. 

Once cooled, evenly divide the onion mix between the breads and slightly spread but not all the way to the edges. Then sprinkle each bread with the grated chedder cheese and place in the oven. Cook for around 20-25 minutes but check after 15 minutes in case the topping is catching. 

You will know the breads are cooked by feeling the base; this should be dry and when tapped feel a little hollow. 

These are tremendous served on their own or as a starter or with your favourite soup.