French Bread with Onion

I think it's fun to make homemade bread. I'm always on the prowl for good bread recipes, and I found this one. It's not the best French bread I've ever tasted, but it was easy, the texture was great, and it had good flavor. I thought the onion flavor was a bit too strong, so I'm cutting down how much to add. I told my husband I thought it was too overwhelming and he replied, "Whatever. It's delicious." The original recipe used 1/4 c dried minced onion, so you can add that much if you'd like. I'm cutting in in half though. Also, sometimes I have no luck with bread, and I thought for sure this wouldn't turn out, so I didn't take a lot of pictures. Sorry! Nonetheless- Here it is with a picture and the recipe.
















French Bread with Onion:
1/2 c warm water
2 T dried minced onion (I almost think that finely diced Fresh Onion would give better flavor)
1/2 T sugar
1 t salt
1 1/2 c flour, sifted
1/2 packet active, dry yeast or 1 1/8 t yeast
1 T cornmeal
1 egg yolk, beaten

Combine the first 6 ingredients and place them in a bread machine. Place on the dough setting, and let 'er rip. I did add about 2 T of water since the dough was very dry after a couple minutes. You can add more flour or water (1 T at a time) so the dough looks and feels like dough.

Once the dough is finished, take it out. Cover it and let it rest for about ten minutes. Roll the dough into a 15x10 rectangle. This is where I thought for sure the bread wouldn't turn out. It was so thin! You roll it up jelly-roll style- like you would if you were making cinnamon rolls. Pinch the edges to seal them and tuck them under. I've done bread before, but this was seriously the skinniest little roll I've ever seen. It looked like a breadstick! I was thinking, "Uh, ok. I'll just give this hard little breadstick to my kids to play swords when it comes out of the oven." I was wrong! Sorry kids, no edible swords today.

Sprinkle some cornmeal on your baking sheet and place the rolled-up dough on there. Cover it and let it rise for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 375.

Tip Alert! How to get bread to rise without heating up the kitchen. Get a 4 c measuring glass, and fill it with water. Heat it up in the microwave until the water is boiling. Take it out. Put you cookie sheet with the bread in there. Make sure it's covered. Put the container with boiling water in there as well. You may have to get creative and put the bread on a diagonal so the water can fit in there. My microwave has a rack at the top which is perfect for the bread. If you don't have that, use your creativity! The bread rises so nicely in there, and you don't have to worry about turning on the oven. :)

Once your dough is doubled in size, take it out and make slits in the top. Not too deep- you're not cutting the top off a pumpkin here. You just want the slits to be noticeable. Brush the entire loaf with the beaten egg. I did not brush it enough. I just did a little on the top. It would have turned out beautifully if the whole loaf was brushed. Be gentle though. The dough has feelings, too. Don't be too rough, or it will go and deflate on you. (No, I don't really think the dough has feelings.) :)

Bake it for 20-25 minutes.

It was pleasantly surprised! It really did turn out well, and I'll be making it again sometime soon.

I also thought that some cheddar cheese would be good in here with fresh, minced onion. Just a thought!

I adapted this recipe from :Taste of Home: Dinner on a Dime."