I love baking bread and when I saw the event “We Knead to Bake” by Aparna, I could not resist. For this month we are baking a pull apart bread and we were able to pick our choice of filling. Since I had already posted a garlic parmesan pull apart bread I decided to use cilantro pesto. The bread was done and it tasted great, but there was one small problem with it according to my kids. Well, it was too green for them . Hmm .. how did I not think of that, given that I have picky eaters. The picture below is the cilantro pesto pull apart bread. I had to post it for the effort that went into it.
So, I decided to bake another one. I had always wanted to caramelize onions to see how they taste and decided to use that as the filling. Since we love cumin flavor, I could not pass that up. Oh my, it tasted so good. The sweetness from the onions and the cumin flavor made each bite flavorful. Half the bread was gone when it came out of the oven and the few left over pieces tasted even better the next day. Off to the recipe.

My Notes
1. For cilantro pesto filled bread : Make cilantro pesto and spread that over the 12 x 12 inch square. Repeat other steps and stack.
2. All purpose flour can also be used instead of bread flour. Use the same amount.
3. If using active dry yeast, proof it first with some warm water and sugar and then add to flour. You can add the same amount of yeast as mentioned. For proofing : Mix active dry yeast, little luke warm water(about 1 oz.) and sugar. When it gets frothy, add to the flour. Skip adding sugar to the flour since we have already added it for proofing.

1 year ago: Mullu Murukku

Pictorial
1. Take garlic and chilly in a blender and make a paste.2. Paste ready for dough. You do not have to grind it finely.3. Take flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix.4. Add the paste and olive oil.5. Crumble together.6. Using milk form a dough.7. Dough ready. It will be sticky. 8. Knead well for about 10 minutes to get a smooth dough. Grease your hands with oil if needed. Cover and keep aside to rise.9. Dry roast cumin seeds.10. Pound using a mortar and pestle. You can also use a coffee grinder or blender.11. Pounded cumin seeds. Keep aside.12. Heat a tbsp of oil and add the onions, salt and pepper.13. Onions ready. Keep an eye and stir often. It took around 30 minutes.14. Meanwhile the dough has risen.15. Place on a floured surface and shape it into a rectangle.16. Roll it into a square 12 x 12 inches.17. Brush butter over it.18. Add the pounded cumin seeds, onions and cheese. Use as much as needed.19. Slice into 6 strips using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.20. Stack all the strips gently with the topping side facing up.21. Gently slice the stack using a sharp knife into 6 equal square stacks.22. I was very excited after seeing the stacks and forgot to click them together. :). This is how it looks and the filling used here is cilantro pesto.23. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.24. Carefully place the stacks in the pan. If your pan can stand vertically, keep it vertical and place the stacks in it. I could not fit them in one loaf pan and I put the remaining 2 stacks in a different pan. Do not overcrowd or crush the stacks. They need room to rise again. Cover and allow the dough to rise again.25. After an hour the dough has risen. Brush the top with milk and bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30 - 40 minutes until the top is golden brown. It took 40 minutes for me.26. Out of the oven.
Soft pull apart bread ready.
Enjoy!
Sending to Bake Fest #15 hosted by Sumee, Yeastspotting

and linking to We Knead to Bake.