Cheese and Scallion Whole Wheat Cloverleaf Bread

The first time I saw this cloverleaf shaped bread I fell in love with it. It is so cute! I put it on my wishlist right away. I had not really planned on making it today. My plan was to make cheese and scallion scones. At the last minute I switched to this bread. I figured I could stuff the bread with herbs, cheese and scallion. I am so glad I did. It was a big hit. My daughter loved it.

I used fresh thyme as the herb. I had some leftover feta cheese which I used along with some Cabot sharp cheddar. I would have liked to use some carrots but I ran out of time to cook them. When I shaped the clover I forgot to add the shredded cheese. I remembered only after the bread had spent 10 minutes in the oven. I took it out of the oven separated the clover leaves and add some feta cheese. I then replaced them in their muffin cups. About 8 minutes before they were done I sprinkled the shredded cheddar over the top. That gave the bread time to cook through without burning the cheese. The roasted cheese tasted great.

The bread is soft and fluffy. It has a muffin like bottom. The three leaves peel off like monkey bread. The herb, scallion and the cheeses each add a little something to the flavor of the bread.

You will need
For the dough
125 gm whole wheat flour
150 all purpose flour
4 gm instant dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. olive oil

For the filling
2 tbsp. feta cheese
2 tbsp. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I used Cabot)
1/4 medium onion
1 stick scallion
4-5 twigs fresh thyme

Combine all the ingredients for the dough and form a soft dough. Knead for a few minutes until soft and elastic. Cover and keep aside for an hour or until it doubles in volume.

Meanwhile slice the onion. Remove the thyme leaves from the twigs. Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the onions and thyme with a little salt until the onion are tender. Turn off heat and let the onions cool completely. Dice the scallion and keep aside.

When the dough doubles transfer it to a floured work surface and divide into 12 portions. I made 1/2 the recipe and got 6 portions. Add a little onion mixture and a little of the diced scallion to each portion.

Roll each portion with the stuffing in it and form a ball. It is okay if the stuffing is not completely contained inside it.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease the bottom of the muffin pan. Place three of the prepared balls in one muffin pan. Sprinkle some feta cheese in the middle. Repeat for the remaining portions. Cover and keep aside for 20 minutes.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the shredded cheese over the top.

Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese has melted and starts turning brown.

Enjoy!