Caramelized Onion Bread

Before I go into this recipe, I would like to introduce to you the newest addition to my family.  She is everything I ever dreamed about.

A Kitchen Aid Professional 600 in Nickel Pearl.  Oh my heavens.

The story is that my fiance and I have some very generous people in our lives.  You see, we haven't started making our wedding registry yet, but we knew that the first thing we wanted to put on there is a Kitchen Aid.  But before we could even get to doing that, Drew's sister, her husband, and his parents pitched in to get us this baby for our engagement gift instead.  And had it sent straight to me. 

It was a glorious Saturday morning.

Of course, I wondered whether it was proper etiquette (i'm so very awkward at these things) to use the gift before we got married, but after consulting Drew, some of my married friends, and some other sources, it seems that engagement gifts are okay to be used.  So, I rejoiced and got to know our dear Stella a little better :)

Thank you so much, A, D, L, E, M, and J for the amazing gift!! 

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I decided to make caramelized onion bread, a recipe in the "savory muffins" section of my cupcake book from Dani :)  I thought this would be a perfect debut recipe for Stella, since there are a lot of ingredients, and I wanted to see how she would do when a double batch recipe. 

Here it goes!

Ingredients (1 loaf or 12 muffins):
-1 large onion, chopped
-1 tsp red pepper flakes
-2 cups flour
-1 cup cornmeal
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt
-1 egg
-1 stick butter, softened
-1 cup milk
-2 tsp thyme

1.  First, caramelize the onions in some oil over low heat.  This takes time, so be patient, grasshopper.

2.  Preheat oven to 350F.

3.  Combine the dry stuff (red pepper flakes, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt) in a bowl and set aside.

Mix mix mix.  I used a rice scooper.  Be true to yourself.

4.  In your working bowl, combine the wet ingredients (egg, butter, milk) and thyme. 

Here we go!

5.  Now, little by little, pour in the dry ingredients until well combined.

Good job, Stella!

6.  When onions are done caramelizing (nice and translucent), fold half of the onions into the mix.

Perfect!

7.  I decided to use a muffin pan for this bread because this way it will cook faster, and they'll come out as a to-go size :)  But you could definitely use a loaf pan and make it into a loaf.  Here, i greased a muffin pan and filled it with batter. 

Top with the remaining onions and bake for 20 minutes (40-45 mins if you're using a loaf pan). 

When you take them out of the oven, they look like this. 

Yum! 

Delicious onion bread with caramelized onions on top.  It makes a dense muffin because of the corn meal. 

I loved them!  The only problem is to try not to eat 4 of them in one sitting when they come out of the oven so hot, savory, and inviting.

Here's what it looks like on the inside.

Oh my.  I love the thyme at work here in this recipe, it's an amazing contrast to the sweetness of the onions. 

Yay for a successful first run!  Many--and i mean MANY--more to come in the future, near and far. 

Have a great week, everyone!

For a printable version of this recipe, please click here.