Cheese Bread

I really love cheese bread from the bakery and I was sure it would be easy to make at home.

More than ten years ago I had tried making cheese bread with the recipe which came with my bread maker and it was pretty disappointing. Because the bread maker requires you to add the cheese at some point while kneading, the cheese got too chopped up and incorporated - I preferred to see and taste the cheese in the centre.

Okay, this recipe is not a part two of the Trade Secrets post - while the recipe for cheese bread is really easy, it does require that you already know how to make bread or at least you know how to use a bread maker, as this bread could be made in the bread maker on the dough cycle. I have done this with other loaves with great success. It allows you to make a regular sized loaf in loaf pans, rather than the monster tall bread machine give-away loaves.

What I have done is to start bread dough in the bread maker, follow the regular instructions that come with the machine, then set to "dough" instead of the full "loaf" setting. When it is finished, treat as though it has just finished its first rise (although it is somewhat longer than it would have been by hand) and if you choose this way, you may proceed to those instructions when you take your dough out of the bread maker pan.

In this case, I used my KitchenAid and I used a modified version of the following recipes:
The KitchenAid Basic White Bread recipe - http://breadtopia.com/downloads/Basic_White_Bread.pdf
and
Robin Hood Canadian Cheddar Cheese Bread - http://robinhood.ca/recipe-details.aspx?rid=2789

My exact recipe I have listed below. For the most part, I used the KitchenAid recipe  and method but added 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 1 beaten egg and 1 tsp Tabasco Sauce to the warm milk mixture. I proceeded in the first phase as the rest of the KitchenAid directions adding the cheese during the "shaping a loaf phase". The only other change I make is to use the larger 9 1/4 x 5 1/4 loaf pans. I had no trouble filling these babies up - the smaller ones  (8x4ish?) would have been far too small for this recipe.

After the first rise (which in this heat was 30mins but is usually more like45- 60), punch down dough. Divide in half. Roll out your dough into a 6x14" rectangle. Sprinkle with 3/4 cups of grated old or extra old (sharp) cheddar cheese. Roll up, jelly roll style,  at short end and pinch edge and ends closed. Set in greased loaf pan. Repeat for second loaf. Allow to rise until double (about 60mins).

Brush with your favourite wash - I use beaten egg and water. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup more grated cheese. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 mins. This works in my oven and pans, yours may prefer longer or hotter. You may wish to bake as you usually would. Bread is done when it is golden, sometimes has left sides of pan and/or sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.

RECIPE for CHEESE BREAD:

½ cup  milk

3  tablespoons sugar

2  teaspoons salt

3  tablespoons butter or margarine

1 beaten egg

1 tsp Tabasco Sauce

2   packages active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons Instant Yeast

1 ½  cup warm water (105F to 110F)

5-6  cup white unbleached flour

½ cup Parmesan Cheese

2 cups grated Old (sharp ) Cheddar Cheese - reserve ½  cup for tops of loaves

beaten egg and water for glaze

Directions:

   1. Combine milk, sugar, salt, and butter in small measuring cup. Microwave for 1 minute and then stir to dissolve sugar and incorporate; cool to lukewarm. 

   2. If using active dry yeast, dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.  If using Instant Yeast, just add it to the flour and mix it in before adding liquids. 

  3. Add beaten egg and Tabasco Sauce to lukewarm milk mixture. Add milk mixture to water in mixture bowl. Add 4 ½ cup flour. Attach bowl and dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and mix 1 minute. Continuing on speed 2,  add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time (slowly so it doesn’t fly out of  bowl), until dough clings to hook and cleans side of bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.

   4. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about an hour.

   5. Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each half into a loaf : roll out half the dough into a 6 x 14 rectangle and sprinkle with grated cheese. Roll up and pinch to seal. Place in a greased loaf pan. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. 

   6. Brush tops with beaten egg and water. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

Alternatively, you may wish to simply choose your favourite bread recipe and modify it by following these steps:
After the first rise, punch down dough. If you are making two loaves (5-6 cups of flour), divide in half. If not, skip that step. Roll out your dough into a 6x14" rectangle. Sprinkle with 3/4 cups of grated old or extra old (sharp) cheddar cheese. Roll up, jelly roll style,  at short end and pinch edge and ends closed. Set in greased loaf pan. Repeat if making second loaf. Allow to rise until double (about 60mins).

Brush with your favourite wash - I use beaten egg and water. Sprinkle with more grated cheese. Bake  as you do for your other loaves.