Chef Britt invites you to experience the comforting delight of bialys, freshly baked in a classic wood-fired oven. With its simple caramelized onion filling, this humble roll is sure to fill your senses with warmth and pleasure. Taste the difference of wood-fired goodness!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Fermenting the dough in the fridge for up to 36 hours builds flavor slowly, rather than relying on a quick room-temperature rise
- Handling the shaped dough balls as little as possible preserves a more open, airy crumb structure, rather than overworking the dough and toughening it
- Deglazing the skillet with water as the onions cook lets you push them toward a deep caramelized color without burning them
- Stretching an indentation into the center of each dough ball, rather than cutting a hole, creates a pocket for the filling while keeping the dough fully intact
Homemade Bialys
Britt Shoffner
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
9
Prep Time
5 hours
Cook Time
30 minutes
Calories
273
Chef Britt stokes the Clementi Wood-Fired Oven to show you one of her favorite breads of all time: Bialys! This humble roll is filled with a simple caramelized onion filling and sure to comfort the soul.
Ingredients
-
550 grams '00' Antimo Caputo Chef's Flour
-
1 gram (or 1/4 teaspoon) Instant Dry Yeast
- 20 grams sugar
-
2 grams (or 1/2 teaspoon) Jacobsen Kosher Salt
- 350 grams room-temperature water
- 20 grams high-temperature neutral vegetable oil, such as grapeseed oil
- 1 large or 2 small yellow onions, medium dice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
-
Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt, to taste
- Water, as needed
For the dough:
For the caramelized onion filling:
Directions
To make the dough:
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add water and oil to dry mixture, and mix with a spatula or by hand until no dry patches of flour are present.
- Transfer dough to an oiled container, seal, and then place it in the fridge for 16-36 hours, depending on your schedule. 24 hours is ideal.
- After the bulk fermentation in the fridge, scale 100-gram dough pieces (9 total pieces).
- Using a good wooden surface, shape the dough balls into rounds. Try handling this dough as little as possible to get a better crumb structure in the end.
On an 18”x13” sheet pan, place a good amount of coarse-ground cornmeal or semolina over the entire sheet pan. Place dough balls evenly spaced on the prepped sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and allow to “bench rest” for approximately 4 hours. This time allotted can vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen or environment. The dough balls will roughly grow ⅔ in size, and relax into the pan slightly.
To make the caramelized onion filling:
In a Lodge 10” Cast Iron Skillet place the butter, diced onions, about a tablespoon of Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt, and a small amount of water and cook over high heat. Once the onions are translucent, lower the heat to medium/medium-high heat and stir frequently.
- Continually stir and add water to deglaze the pan as necessary until the onions take on a caramelized color.
- Transfer the onion mixture to the fridge to cool before filling bialys.
To assemble and bake the bialys:
About an hour or two before the dough will be ready is when you will need to get your fire prepped on your Pizza Oven. Sweep out any ash that may have accumulated from previous fires, and build a new one.
- Once your logs have burned down to a pile of embers, use the grate to shove all the embers to the side of the oven and sweep out any extra ash that may have accumulated. Keep the fire rolling by adding wood as necessary.
- Ideal baking temperatures on the deck are between 650-750°F, check with an infrared thermometer.
- Once the dough is ready to bake, fill the bialy dough with your caramelized onion filling. Do this by dipping your hands in flour, then making an indention with your thumb in the center of each bialy dough ball. Carefully, stretch out the center (without tearing the dough) to make pockets for your filling. (In the video, chef Britt carefully stretches her bialys into an oblong shape, but you can keep them in rounds if that is better for you.)
- Fill each bialy with about 2-3 tablespoons of filling, and transfer 2-3 bialys to the peel.
- Slide the bialys into the hot oven and bake until they have risen and accumulated a nice color on the outside. The filling should also be bubbling when you remove the bialys. This takes roughly 5-6 minutes.
- Work in batches and rotate the bialys as needed.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why ferment the dough in the fridge for up to 36 hours instead of letting it rise at room temperature?
A long, cold fermentation builds flavor into the dough gradually, developing more complexity than a quick room-temperature rise would in just a few hours.
Why handle the shaped dough balls as little as possible?
Minimal handling preserves a more open crumb structure in the baked bialy, rather than overworking the dough and toughening its texture.
Why add water to the skillet while the onions caramelize?
Deglazing with water as needed lets the onions continue cooking toward a deep caramelized color without burning, since the liquid helps lift browned bits off the pan rather than letting them scorch.
Why stretch an indentation into the center of each dough ball instead of cutting a hole for the filling?
Stretching the center out, rather than cutting into the dough, creates a pocket for the onion filling while keeping the dough fully intact around the edges.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
2 out of 5 — the dough and onion filling both come together easily indoors, but reaching the 650-750°F deck temperature this recipe relies on for a quick 5-6 minute bake is very difficult to replicate in a home oven.
Recipe Highlights
Extended cold fermentation: Builds flavor slowly over up to 36 hours.
Minimal dough handling: Preserves an open, airy crumb.
Water-deglazed caramelizing: Deepens onion color without burning.
Stretched-pocket shaping: Holds filling without cutting the dough.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 7.18 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 273
- Carbs
- 52 grams
- Protein
- 4 grams
- Fat
- 5 grams
- Sodium
- 437 milligrams
