Simple Italian Cheese Bread – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

This straightforward Italian cheese bread is unimaginable! The easy dough is blended by hand, and the baked bread is tacky and stuffed with aptitude and taste!

Okay, you guys, cease what you’re doing proper this minute, and make this bread! Severely. It will likely be the very best choice you’ve made all week.

It’s by far a number of the most scrumptious bread I’ve ever eaten!

Bread Dough Blended by Hand

The dough for this award-winning Italian cheese bread is blended collectively by hand. No stand mixer wanted!

As you combine, the dough will come collectively in a shaggy mess. That is once I ditch the blending utensil, frivolously grease my fingers, and dive in to combine and frivolously knead the dough for a couple of minutes till it types a tough ball form.

Attempt to not add extra flour until completely needed. The mushy dough is what ensures the bread will bake up completely fluffy (you might even get a few of these cute little artisanal air pockets if you happen to’re fortunate!).

Assembling the Cheese Bread:

As soon as the dough has risen, it’s time to make the deliciousness occur.

1. press the dough onto a frivolously greased half sheet pan about 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick (it gained’t cowl the complete backside of the pan – simply get it right into a tough oval form)
2. brush the highest with Italian salad dressing (plenty of notes within the recipe about retailer purchased vs home made; spoiler alert: both will work!)
3. sprinkle with a easy combination of pantry-ready dried herbs
4. cowl with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese

You already understand how mentally allergic I’m to something associated to soggy bread dough – I promise the salad dressing doesn’t make the dough soggy! As a substitute it provides essentially the most unimaginable layer of taste and helps the cheese adhere to the highest of the dough.

Wonderful Italian Cheese Bread

Bake the bread till the crust is golden and that cheese is a’sizzlin.

The aroma emanating out of your oven is probably going nothing you’ve ever skilled. All of my youngsters talked about how superb it smelled after they walked in the home the primary time I made this bread. (And that’s saying rather a lot, as a result of my household is used to the home smelling like meals, for higher or for worse. 😉)

I’ve made this bread again and again since then. It’s actually a number of the most gorgeous home made bread ever. And it’s so straightforward!

I’m so grateful that Sarah M (a loyal MKC reader for nearly 20 years!) despatched me this recipe. She’s been making this bread for over a decade and even gained Grand Champion for it at her native truthful!

I can by no means go away nicely sufficient alone, so I tailored the recipe to work a bit higher for dwelling cooks who might not personal a pizza pan, and adjusted the portions of the bread and toppings to raised swimsuit my carb-loving coronary heart.

Final week, I packed up slices of this bread and took it to my son’s highschool tennis match pondering it will make a easy dinner for me and Brian whereas we watched (sure, the entire loaf 👀😜). We by no means even received a single slice after my son, adopted by a hoard of his ravenous teammates, spied it, devoured it, and begged me to carry it once more.

I can’t wait so that you can make this bread! It will be excellent for therefore many alternative events and meals. Or, simply since you want Italian cheese bread in your life.

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Simple Italian Cheese Bread

Yield: 16 servings (1 loaf)

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Prepare dinner Time: 15 minutes minutes

Rising Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes minutes

Dough:

• 3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon prompt yeast
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 ¼ cups heat water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for the pan

Toppings:

• ⅓ cup bottled Italian salad dressing (see notice)
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Pinch dried thyme
• 1 cup (113 g) shredded mozzarella cheese (see notice)
• ¼ cup (28 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (see notice)

Prepare dinner ModeForestall your display from going darkish

• In a big bowl, stir collectively the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add the water and the two tablespoons olive oil and blend till the dough begins to return collectively in a shaggy ball.

• Evenly grease your fingers and proceed mixing the dough, folding it over on itself and kneading it frivolously (urgent it with the heel of your hand) 5 to six instances, till the dough has shaped a tough ball form.

• Cowl the bowl and let the dough rise till noticeably puffy, 30 to 60 minutes.

• Preheat the oven to 450 levels F. Brush two tablespoons oil evenly throughout a half sheet pan.

• Evenly punch down the dough and switch it out onto the ready pan. Press the dough frivolously right into a tough oval form, about 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick. It will not cowl the complete backside of the pan. It is okay to flip the dough a couple of times whereas shaping; add extra oil to the pan, if wanted.

• Brush the highest of the dough evenly with the Italian salad dressing. In a small bowl, mix the basil, oregano, garlic, salt and thyme. Evenly sprinkle this combination over the dressing.

• Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses throughout the highest of the dough.

• When you’ve got the time or desire a barely fluffier bread, let the bread relaxation for 10-20 minutes earlier than baking. In any other case, you possibly can bake instantly.

• Bake for quarter-hour till the crust is golden brown and the cheese is scorching. Let relaxation for about 5 minutes earlier than reducing into squares and serving. The bread is scrumptious heat or at room temperature.

Salad dressing: use a model of retailer purchased Italian salad dressing you benefit from the style of, and it’ll work high-quality on this recipe. Shake the dressing very well earlier than utilizing. The dressing in this salad recipe would make an important home made possibility (omit the Parmesan cheese within the dressing, if utilizing for this recipe). 
Cheese: when you’ve got the time, freshly grated mozzarella cheese from a block is greatest (it melts a lot better than pre-shredded cheese from the shop). It isn’t a deal breaker if you want to use pre-shredded mozzarella cheese; nevertheless, I extremely advocate utilizing freshly grated Parmesan cheese for the proper tacky crust (pre-shredded Parmesan is usually dried out and gained’t soften in addition to freshly grated Parm). 

Writer: Mel

Course: Bread

Delicacies: American, Italian

Methodology: Bake

Serving: 1 serving, Energy: 144kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 5g, Fats: 5g, Saturated Fats: 2g, Ldl cholesterol: 7mg, Sodium: 374mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g

Recipe Supply: tailored from this recipe by the use of a reader, Sarah M., who has been making this bread for 20 years (and gained Grand Champion at a neighborhood truthful for it!) – I elevated and tailored portions so the bread is ideal for a half sheet pan