• To begin this oven-baked blooming onion recipe, preheat your oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cut about 1/2 inch off the bottom of a large onion and peel the skin off. Check out the video of how to peel and slice the onion.
• Next, place the onion on the cutting board with the sliced side down. Starting approximately 1/2″ from the top, make a downward cut all the way through to the board.
• Repeat to make four evenly spaced cuts around the onion. Continue slicing between each section until you have 16 evenly spaced cuts. The video included shows how to do this easily.
• Turn the onion over and use your fingers to gently separate the outer pieces.
• In a medium bowl add flour, bread crumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients to mix. Set to the side.
• Hold sliced onion in your hand as you spoon my Vegan Mayonnaise Recipe on top and begin to rub into the onion.
• Make sure to get in between the petals as well. Coat well, even on the outside. Yes, it’s going to get messy, but it’s well worth it, I promise!
• Place the mayonnaise-coated onion in the bowl with the dry ingredients.
• Place a plate over the top of the bowl and GENTLY rock around to coat the onion. Use a spoon to sprinkle more inside petals, if necessary.
• Place breaded onion on baking pan with parchment paper. Another option is to make these in your air fryer. Recently, this has become my favorite way to cook them because they cook quickly in about 15-20 minutes and come out nice and crispy.
• If baking in the oven, cover with an ovenproof bowl. Some people make a foil tent instead, but I don’t like to use foil to cook due to some research showing it may be linked to Alzheimer’s Disease.
• If you are making more than one onion, use a large rectangle baking dish to act as a tent over all of them at the same time. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes covered with the oven bowl.
• Remove the bowl, and cook an additional 30 minutes until golden brown.
• Take out of the oven and serve warm. Serve with my Chipotle Ranch Sauce.

Vegan Mayo

• Add all mayo ingredients to a blender and process until smooth. This will make more mayonnaise than needed for the dip. Pour leftovers into an airtight container and store for 7-10 days in the refrigerator. It is great on sandwiches and in other dips and sauces.

Chipotle Dipping Sauce

• Place all sauce ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. This will include a 1/2 cup of the mayo recipe.