I am in love. With this onion poppy seed roll. So yes, it’s a bread roll, and it’s really just a thing, and that too a thing I will demolish in a few bites, but so what? This is true love. Why else did I bake up so many versions of this roll in the past week and still stay enamored? And I don’t really have words to describe how amazing they are, these rolls. They are savory with the caramelized onions, slightly crunchy with the poppy seeds, beautifully golden and crispy on the outside, and soft and cloudy and fluffy as can be on the inside. Onion Poppy Seed Rolls are usually made with a challah dough, and with raw onions, and I love the raw onion version too (which has a different, equally delish flavor). But the caramelized onions add a touch of class and richness. They do add an extra step – you have to caramelize them – but it’s totally worth it. You also have some choice in how you shape and bake these, and it will make all the difference to your rolls. If you want more of the crispy crust, bake them in a muffin tin. They’ll come out beautifully golden, and divine. If you want a nice presentation, make them pull-apart style, in the large pan, like the photographs. They bake up all snuggled together, like cinnamon buns, and they have less of a crust but a lot of fluffy crumb to slather vegan butter on. Check to get new recipe updates by email.
How to bake the most perfect onion poppy seed rolls:
These rolls are pretty much foolproof, so all I’ll say is to follow instructions closely. This is true for any baked good. I know everyone loves to make recipes their own, I do too, but unless you’re a seasoned baker who knows how ingredients in baking interact, leave the experimenting alone. Once you do learn, you can do all the experimenting you want. Make sure you follow the rise times. If you’re a new baker, remember that how long you knead your bread, and how long you let it rise, can make all the difference to how your bread turns out. Like I said above, you can use raw onions in these instead of caramelized and you’ll have great results with a different flavor. If you use raw onions, you will need less. When I make this with raw onions, I use just one medium onion. With caramelized onions, I use two because the onions cook down quite a bit as they brown. When you bake loaves of bread, you need to let them cool thoroughly before you slice them. Happily that’s not the case for rolls. You can eat these hot or warm out of the oven.
So go ahead, make some Onion Poppy Seed Rolls for yourself, and enjoy them! And when you do, come back and tell me about it.
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