French Onion Cheese Bread

On Saturday morning I was sitting at my daughter's gymnastics class with my iPad so I could browse recipes to finalize my Father's Day Menu. I only had a small bowl of yogurt that morning, and my daughter claimed my Kind bar as her own before class, so I was starving. Looking at mouth-watering food pics while hungry is pure torture, especially when I was searching for some sort of bruschetta or crostini using Gruyere cheese. So many pictures of gooey melted cheese and crusty bread. Why was I doing this to myself??

After pulling myself together and focusing, I decided on a recipe for French Onion Cheese Bread that I found on the web site foodiecrush. Upon reading it I figured that it would taste like French onion soup just without the broth, and I was right. The French bread base is the crouton, and then there is a layer of creamy and nutty melted Gruyere cheese followed by some sweet caramelized onions. I served these as an app but can also see them being a great side.

Caramelizing the onions takes a while, but once that is done (and you can do it ahead of time), these are quick and easy.

French Onion Cheese Bread
Source: foodiecrush

My notes and small changes are noted in italics

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only (I used 1/2 tsp of dried thyme)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
• 4 French rolls, split in half (I used half of a baguette, split in half and then each piece halved = 4 total pieces)
• 2 cups Gruyère or Fontina cheese, shredded (I used just over 1 c of Gruyere)

Directions

• Caramelize the onions: Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and thyme leaves and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower heat to medium low, add the sugar, salt, and pepper; stir and cover and cook for 1 hour (mine took 35 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add balsamic vinegar and cook for another 10 minutes or until onions are caramelized, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Place bread halves on a baking sheet, cut side up. Sprinkle evenly with shredded cheese then spoon caramelized onions on top.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese has melted and bread turns golden brown.
• Cut into pieces and serve immediately. Garnish with extra thyme leaves if desired