John's Best and Final Cheese Bread Recipe
As most of you know, I have been experimenting with cheese bread for quite a few years and after much adjusting and testing, the attached recipe seems to work best of all. At least it does for us. So I thought I would pass it along. The Kitchen Aid is not mandatory, you can also make it by hand, or even in a bread machine if you wish.
I know some of you will never use it but feel free to pass it along to a friend who might be interested. Who knows, they might even give you a loaf!
1 ½ cups of water including 1 egg
1 cup (at least) of 5 year or older shredded cheddar
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano from block
1 tablespoon sugar
2 ¼ teaspoon rapid rise yeast
COMBINE ALL INGREDIENTS USING MIXING PADDLE OF KITCHEN AID THEN USE DOUGH HOOK OF KITCHEN AID MIXER FOR 8 MINUTES. SLIGHTLY STICKY DOUGH IS GOOD SO FLOUR OR WATER MAY BE ADJUSTED.
PLACE THE DOUGH IN BUTTERED CONTAINER AND LET RISE IN WARM PLACE FOR 1 HOUR.
DIVIDE THE DOUGH IN HALF AND ROLL INTO LOAF SHAPE AND PLACE IN TWO BUTTERED BREAD PANS. LET RISE FOR 1 HOUR.
HALF AN HOUR BEFORE FINAL RISING SET OVEN AT 375° AND SET SHELF IN MIDDLE OF OVEN.
BAKE FOR A TOTAL OF 35 MINUTES, COVERING BREAD WITH FOIL AT 15 MINUTES.
NOTES:
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO GET FANCY, CUT UP ¼ CUP OF CHEESE INTO ¼ INCH CUBES AND STIR INTO DOUGH. THIS WILL LEAVE AIR BUBBLES SURROUNDED BY MELTED CHEESE. ALSO, YOU CAN BRUSH TOP OF LOAVES WITH AN EGG WASH AND SPRINKLE SHREDDED CHEDDAR ON TOP BEFORE BAKING.
THE RIGHT CHEESE IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT. DO NOT USE CHEESE NEWER THAN NOTED ABOVE. MAKE SURE THE LABEL SAYS “5 YEARS” OR OLDER. CHEESE JUST MARKED “OLD” IS USUALLY ONLY A YEAR OR TWO OLD AND YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. ALSO FOR THE PARMAGIANO, BUY A BLOCK AT AN ITALIAN DELI AND HAVE THEM SHRED IT FOR YOU. DO NOT USE PRE-SHREDDED CHEESE! IT IS MOSTLY FILLER.
HAVE FUN! THIS BREAD IS WONDERFUL TOASTED AT BREAKFAST!
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