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Caramelized Apple + Cheddar Cheese Soft Pretzels with Apple Cider Dipping Sauce
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So I have a little secret.
I have a disclosure for this post.
These photos you see here, while they were taken by me, they were totally inspired by Bev. You know Bev, right? You better know Bev because she is kind of awesome… and hilarious… and totally pregnant with two little what I am sure will be adorable twins. Twins that make her talk about diapers and cribs all day long, which in my opinion is the cutest thing ever.
Her posts are most likely going to make your morning, trust me on this one. The girl is a bad ass cook and she’ll make you laugh while doing it too!
Here’s the thing, I have a love hate relationship with food photography.
I love it when the food wants to look good and my camera is acting nice, but when the food just looks plain ugly and my camera decides to freak on me I kind of hate it.
To be honest, I mostly love it, but in no way do I think of myself as a food photographer. Like no way, I am just not there.
So when I am having a hard time shooting a particular food I grab my computer and start googling. I google something similar to the food I am photographing and then pray. Pray that there is a pretty photo to inspire a better way for me to style the day’s food to give it just what I am looking for, even though I may not know what that is yet.
Occasionally I come up totally flat, which sometimes ends up fine. I simply proceed to spend the next hour styling my shoot until it looks right and I love the photos, but I just will not stop until the photos are to my liking. Which can really be a huge time suck, but to me it is worth it. I have come to really appreciate a good photo!
Anyway, these cute little strombolis were giving me a rough time. So I googled and came up with notta, but then I Â remembered these strombolis and Bev’s gorgeous photos. Thanks God.
Or better yet, thank Bev! Thank you for inspiring these photos!
Ok, disclosure over.
On to the food!
These strombolis are so good.
Caramelized onions people. Yeah, they make everything that much better. They are buttery, sweet and just so good. Plus, they remind me of fall, french onion soup, football and comfort food. Which is a little weird considering I did not grow up with onions at all and only had french onion soup for the first time when I made it a year ago, but now that’s pretty much all my brain thinks about is food, food combos and food seasons. Caramelized onions just scream comfort and fall to me.
Actually, caramelized anything screams fall to me. There has been a whole lot of caramelizing going on over here and it’s so good!
I made these personal size for two reasons.
One, personal anything is always more fun and two, I have never had any luck with a giant stromboli. The filling always spills out and the inside never gets properly cooked. In the end it just turns into one giant lump of cheese. Although, no one complains, they still taste good, but these personal ones are a little easier to work with in my opinion.
Oh and did I mention they are also stuffed with Gouda cheese? Because they are, and it is kind of insane.
Love it.
Caramelized Onion + BBQ Chicken and Gouda Cheese Strombolis
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 601 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 1 cup warm water 100-105 degrees
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey divided
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Toppings
- 1 vidalia onion thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small head broccoli chopped
- 1 large cooked chicken breast chopped or shredded, or 2 small
- 3/4 cup of [your favorite BBQ Sauce | https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-barbecue-sauce-just-like-sweet-baby-rays/] plus more for dipping
- 1 cup shredded gouda cheese
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- To make the dough, in a large bowl, combine water, yeast and honey. Mix with a spoon, then let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add in 2 1/2 cups flour and olive oil stirring with a spoon until the dough comes together but is still sticky. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball and work the additional 1/2 cup flour into the dough, kneading it on a floured surface for a few minutes. You can also do all the mixing and kneading in your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Rub the same bowl with olive oil then place the dough inside, turning to coat. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 1/2 hours.
- About 30 minutes before you are ready to roll out your pizza dough start the onions. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the brown sugar and cook, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan frequently, until the onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove the onions and place on a plate, set aside.
- To the same pan add a drizzle of olive oil and the broccoli. Cook about 10 minutes or until the broccoli softens slightly. Remove from the heat.
- Add the shredded or chopped chicken to a medium size bowl. Add about half of the bbq sauce and toss the chicken with the sauce.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Now grab the pizza dough and divide it into 4 balls (or 8 smaller balls for appetizer size). On a large floured work surface, roll out each pizza ball until you get about an 8-inch circle (or about a 6 inch circle for the appetizer size). Spread each circle with a little bit of BBQ sauce and then sprinkle with equal amounts of gouda and cheddar cheese. Top with equal amounts of the shredded BBQ chicken, broccoli, and then sprinkle with cilantro and parmesan. Tuck in the two sides of the dough and then roll up into a log, sealing the edges together by pinching the dough with your fingers. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, and continue until all 4 (or 8) are complete.
- Brush the tops of the strombolis with the egg wash. Now take a sharp knife and cut about 3 slits in the top of the dough to create steam vents.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 450, then reduce the heat to 375 and bake another 20 to 30 minutes or until the dough is cooked through and golden brown on top.
- Serve with BBQ sauce for dipping.
I mean who could not?!
Oh man, these sound heavenly. Perfect timing – I’ll make them for the next football game. 🙂
BTW – You’re photos turned out amazingly well. I really need to work on my food photo skills!
Thanks Tiff!
Loooove these photos (Bev is one awesome photo inspire-r, for sure :)). And loooove this recipe — we are huge stromboli fans in this house but we haven’t made them in forever! Time to change that!
Thanks Stephanie!
Excuse me sista but you are totally a food photographer!! I die for your photos they always looks amazing 🙂 And I’m 100% down with this recipe, caramelized onions make me swoon.
You are too nice! Thank you!!
Oh and caramelized onions have the same effect on me!
Tieghan, are you KIDDING me!?!?
1) It’s scary that we might share the same brain, because I would also say that “pretty much all my brain thinks about is food, food combos and food seasons.” Hmmmmm …
2) Your photos are killer-good! I feel your pain, though. Gretchen is the evil genius behind our blog’s food photos, and I feel her wrath when I make something not super-pretty like Edamame Hummus that she somehow has to make beautiful. (Ughhhh … sorry about that one, G!)
3) This recipe is unbelievable! Maybe you and Gretchen should hang out together since you are both, clearly, evil geniuses in your own rights! 😀 Pinning ASAP … wanna eat this NOW!
Haha! Thank you so much, Shelley!! You are so sweet and thanks for pinning!
You had me at bbq chicken – for real. Need this!
Thanks Rachel!
These sound so good and I like that you got some broccoli in there to keep things nice and healthy!
Thanks Kevin! I try and add a little green whenever possible!
I love stromboli. Growing up in the Philly area we had stromboli a lot. These look great!
Thanks Norma! I bet those Strombolis were killer!
I need to be better about looking for inspiration. I’m always in such a huge hurry with so little time I just snap the heck out of it. Haha
Thanks Carrian!
These are gorgeous and now I’m craving them for breakfast. YUM!
Thanks Robyn!
Girl those are pretttttty photos! Better than mine! But you’re super sweet.
Now feed me.
Oh, if I could I so would!! LOL!!
Gorgeous, Tieghan! Beautiful food styling and photography, girl. Don’t doubt yourself for a single second. Caramelized onions with Gouda in Stromboli with BBQ sauce? OMG! Need…now! Do you serve take out? NOM! Thanks for sharing. Pinning!
Thank you, Stacy!! You are so sweet and thanks for pinning too!
I’ve never really thought of food photography in that way before. I usually just close my eyes and pray. Half the time, I get crap. But this idea of inspiration is pretty brilliant. As is the idea of tossing caramelized onions into a Stromboli. Caramelize onions make EVERYTHING better.
Hah! Thanks Kim! And yes, caramelized onions do make everything better!
Your pics are BEAUTIFUL, girl! Don’t ever think otherwise 🙂 My mouth is watering at the site of these! Yum yum!
Thank you, Jamie!
Lady, you need to stop it! You’re an incredible food photographer (SO is BEV!)!!!! Now, these strombolis…what time can they be in New York today? xo
How about this, I have always wanted to visit New York, so I am thinking I will just hand deliver them. How is tomorrow, around noonish?
LOL! But I seriously with I could do that!
Thanks Ashley!
Would you believe I was caramelizing onions at this very moment?? They were meant for salad, but now I’m planning to keep some so I can make these strombolis with them. They look so awesome with bbq chicken, wow! Pinned 😀
Ha! No way!! That is awesome!!