Cheddar Chive Bread

This cheddar chive bread is loaded, coated, and oozing with cheese. It's pretty much a pre-made grilled cheese sandwich in a slice of bread.

This recipe makes three 1 1/2 pound loaves of bread, but is easily scalable. If you decide to make all three loaves, just wrap the extra loaves in foil and then plastic wrap, and freeze them for up to 30 days.

This dough also makes amazing dinner rolls.

This bread is leavened with a sourdough starter as well as instant yeast. If you haven't tried making your own sourdough, you definitely need to try it. Don't be intimidated. If I can do it, you can too. If you don't have a starter, you can create a poolish with half flour, half water, and a tiny amount of yeast. Let that sit overnight as you would the starter.

This bread also includes corn flour, which adds a color and crunch, especially when the bread is toasted.

The chives actually came from a neglected pot hanging on our back fence. They seem to be fairly indestructible. I walk out there, cut off a handful, and they regenerate in a few days. Granted, I live in a temperate climate....

And then there's the cheese. There is a ton of cheese in this bread.

I used a combination of English style sharp white cheddar cheese, and extra sharp cheddar cheese. Just try to get all of this cheese to stay in the dough.

This bread is made completely by hand, no mixer required. It's very tasty.

This month, the #TwelveLoaves bread baking group is making breads with cheese. After the recipe, check out all of the links for my #TwelveLoaves pals' breads made with cheese.

Cheddar Chive Bread Recipe 

Makes three loaves. Recipe is adapted from Baking by Hand, an amazing book that teaches you how to make bread and pastries completely by hand... no mixer or food processor required. 

Ingredients

Starter

8 oz (240 ml) 75 degree F water

10 oz (280 g) bread flour

2 oz (40 ml) sourdough starter

Final Dough

2 pounds 1/2 ounce (1 kg) bread flour

4 oz (110 g) corn flour

8 oz (230 g) of the starter (there will be some left over to grow more for later)

21 1/2 oz (610 ml) 90 degree F water

2 oz (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil

3 1/4 tsp (25 g) salt

1 1/4 tsp (5 g) instant yeast

10.5 oz (300 g) sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small squares

1 handful of chives, finely sliced

Instructions

1. The night before baking the bread, mix the final starter ingredients, cover, and let sit for about 12 hours. 
2. On baking day, mix the bread and corn flour in a large bowl. 
3. In another large bowl, mix the starter, water, and olive oil.
4. Pour the flour mixture over the liquid mixture, and stir and mix with your hands for about a minute, making sure to get all of the flour wet. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot (about 80 degrees F) for 30 minutes. I placed mine in the microwave with to cups of boiled water sitting in the corners to create a warm spot. 
5. Sprinkle the salt and yeast over the dough and begin mixing with your hands by folding the dough and pinching it with your fingers to incorporate the salt and yeast. As you work with the dough for about a minute, you should feel the dough coming together. 
6. Add in the cheese and chives by stretching the dough out and folding in over itself, turning the bowl, and repeating several times. Cover with plastic wrap and return it to the warm spot for 30 minutes. 
7. After 30 minutes, do a "stretch and fold" from all four sides of the bowl. The dough should begin to feel stronger as you do this. Repeat two more times, every 30 minutes. Let the dough rise for 30 minutes more, until puffy. 
8. Divide your dough into three equal pieces of about 1 pound 10 ounces each. Shape them into loose balls, place them seam side down on the counter, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 20 minutes. 
9. Dust three bannetons or towel lined 9 inch bowls with corn flour. 
10. Gently shape the dough one more time and place them seam side up in the prepared bannetons. 
11. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot to proof for about an hour.
12. Preheat the oven (with a baking stone if you have one) to 450 degrees F. Place a pan on the lowest rack. Boil one cup of water. 
13. Turn the loaves out onto a parchment lined peel or baking sheet. Place them in the oven, add the boiling water to the steam pan on the lowest rack. Cover your oven's window while you do this. Close the door.  Note: if your oven is too small for all three loaves, you can bake the loaves in shifts. 
14. After 5 minutes, open the oven door and spray the walls of the oven with water. Quickly close the door. 
15. Bake the loaves for another 25 minutes, until the interior of the bread reaches about 200 degrees F. 
16. Cool on a wire rack. 

More breads with cheese: 

• Buttermilk Goat Cheese Biscuits from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cheddar Chive Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheddar Dill Twists from blackberry eating in late september
• Cheese Babka from Hostess At Heart
• Cheese Soda bread from Ma che ti sei mangiato
• Cream Cheese and Cherry Buns from girlichef
• Feta & Olive Swirls from The Bread She Bakes
• Pimento Cheese Straws from Kudos Kitchen By Renee