I am a sucker for Cheese Bread!

So if you know me in real life, you know I looooooooooooooooove cheese.  Mac-n-cheese. Grilled cheese. Cheese in my grits.  Cheese on my pasta (forget the marinara, just put cheese on mine). Cheese.

Cheddar. Bleu. Parmesean. Havarti with dill. Pepper Jack. Port Wine cheese spread. Cream cheese. Mascarpone. *dreamy sigh*  You get the picture, yes?

I'll try any cheese at least once. :)

So I'm working on perfecting a gooey, soft, fluffy, cheese-y cheddar yeast bread.  I've been studying various recipes to find things that I like and have created the below recipe.  Yep.  This one is MINE.  (Although, I'm sure there are similar ones elsewhere... there are only so many adjustments you can make to a bread recipe.)

You'll notice I've added a lot of text in italics.  This is how my brain works...I'm talking to myself (and now you) as we go through the steps.

Jenn's Cheese Lover's Bread

Ingredients
1 packet Dry Active Yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3+ Cups All-purpose (AP) flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Cup water
1/3 Cup milk
3 Cups grated cheddar cheese

Note about the cheese: I always use sharp or extra sharp cheddar.  This is a cheese bread and I want to TASTE the sharpness.  Larger grates is best.  Again, you want to SEE and FEEL and TASTE the bits of cheese.  This is not a time to use finely grated.  In my not-so-humble opinion.

Instructions
Don't be daunted.  There are lots of steps, but they aren't hard... it's just how things go with yeast breads, usually.

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer (it's easier if you have one, but if you don't, a big mixing bowl will do), combine 1 Cup of flour (the rest gets added later), yeast, sugar, and salt.
   You'll notice that the salt is in with the yeast here.  This is generally a no-no when you're blooming yeast, but since we are mixing with flour, too, it's ok.  It won't kill it.  But for other yeast recipes, if it calls for blooming the yeast in water first - it should be water (or milk) and yeast and sugar only.  The sugar feeds the yeast as it wakes up.  Salt stops that from happening correctly when blooming.  Which we're not doing... so we don't have to worry.
2. Heat the water and milk to approximately 120° F and add to the dry mix.
   This is super important.  Get a thermometer and USE it when working with yeast.  I've spent too much time being disappointed because I either killed the yeast with water that was too hot, or didn't wake it up with water that was too cold.  Trust me.  Measure the temperature!
   
3. Beat for 3 minutes.
   It will be sticky and not look like a bread dough at all.  That's because we're not done adding flour!
4. Combine 2 cups cheese with 1/2 cup of flour and add it to the mixer bowl.  Beat for another 2 minutes.
   Whenever you're adding something "wet-ish" to a bread or muffin batter, coat it in flour first.  It helps keep the 'something' suspended in the batter or dough and should prevent it from sinking to the bottom.  Like blueberries in a muffin, or chocolate chips in a cake, or cheese in a bread.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Slowly add in the remaining flour (1.5-2 cups) in small amounts, letting it be incorporated completely before adding more.
   This is where you have to really pay attention.  I cannot tell you if you're going to use 2 3/4 Cups or 4 Cups.  It depends on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen or in your city.  It depends on your flour or the method you used to measure it out.  Just go slowly here and stop adding when it looks like a good dough.  It's always better to stop too soon, because you can ALWAYS knead in more flour, but once the dough is dry, it is a complicated process to rescue it.

   

   +1/2 cup flour (2 cups total so far)

   
   

   

   +1/2 cup flour (2.5 cups total so far)

   
   

   

   +1/2 cup flour (3 cups total so far)

   
   

   

   +a smidge more flour... looks good to me!

6. Using the dough hook on your stand mixer (or using elbow grease if you don't), knead the dough for 5 minutes.  It should be smooth and elastic-y.
7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead in the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
8. Form your dough into a nice, smooth ball and put it in a clean, greased bowl.  Cover with a tea towel and place somewhere warm (but not hot) to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
   If it's cold where you are, turn your oven on the lowest setting and set the bowl on top of the stove. Just don't go crazy with the heat - you don't want to start cooking the dough yet!
   
9. Once risen to double the original size, punch it down and divide the dough.  This recipe should make one 9x5 loaf or 1 large braided loaf or 2 smaller braided loaves.  Once in the pan or formed into braids, cover again and let rise for another 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Again, it should double in size.
   This is where you get to decide what you want it to look like!  If you want to try the braiding, divide the dough into 3 or 6 equal portions, roll into similar size ropes (12" or 18" long), and then braid 3 strands together.  If you're using loaf pans, plop the dough neatly into a greased 9x5 pan.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Optional: Brush the top of the bread with an egg wash (1 egg white beaten with 1 Tbsp water).
    This will add a transparent, shine to the top of your bread.
11. Bake.  For braids, 350° for 20-25 minutes.  For loaf in a pan, 375° for 25-30 minutes (cover with foil after about 15 minutes to prevent over-browning).
12. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
    
    
    
    

We cut into the one I topped with cheese (the other loaf is going to work tomorrow)...

It's light and soft and cheesy!  I'm in heaven.  And I'm betting it'll be even better toasted!