Hey everyone, for this month’s blog post, I’ll be writing about my super-popular cheese bread recipe. I actually made this recipe twice this month alone, if you can believe it!

The original recipe can be found here, but I’ve still transcribed it below, with minor notes from me. I definitely recommend checking out the original page as it’s full of useful tips and tricks!

This recipe does call for a bread machine. I have the Cuisinart Bread Maker Machine, available to purchase here. This was a Christmas present from a few years ago. Needless to say, it was an excellent gift idea!

I would say this is such a popular recipe that it’s in my top three most popular things that I bake. The other two would be my coffee banana bread (recipe can be found here) and chocolate chip cookies (from the tenth season of America’s Test Kitchen).

There are two lists of ingredients. The one you will follow will depend on the size of loaf that you will want, which will either be 1.5 lb or 2 lb. I usually do the 2 lb loaf, partially because I don’t have a quarter tablespoon in my kitchen, and partially because of how good the cheese bread is…

Ingredients – Bread Machine – Cheese Bread Recipe – 1.5 lb

• 7/8 Cups – Milk (warm) – 207 millilitres – 7/8 cups of milk is equivalent to 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons of milk (if your measuring cup lacks the 7/8 marker)
• 3 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 43 grams
• 2 1/2 Cups – Bread Flour (not all-purpose flour) – 300 grams
• 3/4 Cup – Shredded Cheese – 84 grams – Use a strong tasting cheese (e.g. extra sharp cheddar) or the bread may taste bland
• 3/4 Tablespoon – Light Brown Sugar – 10 grams
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons – Salt – 7.5 grams
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons – Bread Machine Yeast – 4.5 grams – Not active dry yeast
• Optional – 1 diced jalapeno or 2-3 minced & fried garlic cloves (large cloves) or 2-3 tablespoons of thinly sliced chives/scallions (green stalks only) or 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

Ingredients – Bread Machine – Cheese Bread Recipe – 2 lb

• 1 1/8 Cups – Milk (warm) – 259 millilitres – 1 1/8 cups of milk is equivalent to 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of milk (if your measuring cup lacks the 1 1/8 marker)
• 4 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 57 grams
• 3 Cups – Bread Flour (not all-purpose flour) – 360 grams
• 1 Cup – Shredded Cheese – 112 grams – Use a strong tasting cheese (e.g. extra sharp cheddar) or the bread may taste bland
• 1 Tablespoon – Light Brown Sugar – 13 grams
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Salt – 9 grams
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Bread Machine Yeast – 5.4 grams – Not active dry yeast
• Optional – 1 diced jalapeno or 2-3 minced & fried garlic cloves (large cloves) or 2-3 tablespoons of thinly sliced chives/scallions (green stalks only) or 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

These are the ingredients I used for the second-last cheese bread I made a few weeks ago. I like my Caputo bread flour for this recipe (though any bread flour will do), and I like the whole milk and Savör butter for extra richness and creaminess. Needless to say, this bread was for someone special! Though I have been told that my salt could be upgraded…

I usually just use orange old cheddar cheese, either Black Diamond or Kirkland, though for this particularly loaf, I decided to go all out and use St-Albert cheese. I used 2/3 cup of the orange one to still have that overall orange colour and 1/3 cup of the white one to have that slightly more mature and pronounced taste. I actually used to buy grated cheese for this recipe, but I found that freshly grated cheese is the way to go! Also, I like to have finely grated cheese for this part of the recipe, and I’ll use a coarser grating for the top of the loaf.

Instructions – Bread Machine – Cheese Bread Recipe

• Bread machine settings – 1.5 lb or 2 lb loaf, light colour and “basic/white bread” setting.
• Unplug the bread machine & remove the bread pan.
• Soften the butter in a microwave. FYI – I like to semi-melt the butter for better “mixability”.
• Pour the milk (should be between 100 and 110 °F; I usually aim for 105 °F) and butter into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients (including the cup of cheese). Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid or salt (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together).

• Place the bread pan (with ingredients) back into the unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in the bread machine. Enter the correct settings (basic, light colour & 1.5 or 2 lb) and press the “start” button.
• Optional – After the FINAL kneading cycle and BEFORE the baking cycle commences (when doing the 2-lb loaf with my bread machine, the bread will start baking when there is 1 h 40 min left, so I’ll do this step when there is 1 h 50 min left), sprinkle a little extra shredded cheese on top of the dough. For safety reasons, do not place your hands inside the bread machine. FYI – Do not open the lid DURING the baking cycle because this will negatively impact the bread. In most bread machines, the baking cycle starts during the final 50 to 60 minutes of a total machine time of approximately 2:50 to 3 hours. Nevertheless, machine times can vary by model & manufacturer, so check your instruction manual to see when the baking cycle starts on YOUR specific bread machine.

The loaf I had made for that special someone was for their birthday, so instead of the usual abstract art I usually do with the grated cheese on top of the loaf, I wrote out a little message. It turned out pretty well!

• When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine and remove the bread pan. Wear oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot.
• Remove the bread from the bread pan and place it on a cooling rack. Use oven mitts when handling the bread pan and bread as they will be very hot.

This is what my special loaf looked like! Needless to say, it was very well-received.

I actually made another cheese bread last weekend, and for this one, I just made the usual abstract art. Everything else stayed the same. See below for what that looked like.

The bread can be left out at room temperature for at least a few days, though I’ll try to put it in the fridge after three or four days. Also, the bread can be frozen.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe! This is always a popular recipe and is especially great to eat for breakfast (especially toasted on each side to make it nice and crispy). Let me know if you’ve tried this recipe in the comments below!