Bread machine cheese bread is loaded with cheddar cheese, butter, and delicious. It's a rich, moist, cheesy bread - add it to your must-make list!
I know what you're thinking, bread loaded with cheese, am I trying to kill your arteries? No, I am trying to butter up your tastebuds though!
This bread machine cheese bread is dedicated to buttering up!
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Tips + Tricks
No. 1 --> If you're having trouble with your bread machine results, check out my bread machine troubleshooting guide!
No. 2 --> As much as I'm all for cooking from the soul, some recipes, like bread, require a bit of preciseness. Please follow the recipe as written at least the first time.
No. 3 --> Wondering what you'd do with cheese infused bread? I got some ideas: sandwiches, grilled cheese, garlic bread, croutons. The list is endless, and delicious!
Key Ingredients
Flour: This cannot be understated; flour matters!! Use bread flour or flour with at least 13% protein.
To calculate this, check the nutrition box on the side of the package and follow this equation: (grams of protein)/(grams per serving) = _______, then multiply the answer by 100: _____ x 100= ___%.
My flour is as follows: (4g protein)/(30 g per serving)= .1333. .1333 X 100 = 13.33%
Cheese: This is where you can get creative! Mix and match your cheese, use all one cheese. Mix hard and soft cheese to see the differences in the loaf. Generally a soft cheese like cheddar or mozzarella will melt into the dough and give a consistent orange tinge, a harder cheese like asiago or parmesan don't melt as easily and will leave little pockets of cheese through your dough.
Yeast: Use fresh yeast! If you're unsure of the freshness of your yeast, I recommend proofing a small amount in a bowl to ensure it's still active. To proof the yeast, add 1 teaspoon of yeast to a bowl with 1/3 cup warm water and 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar, give it a quick stir and set aside to see if it will begin to get frothy, rise and smell like beer. Don't use the proofed yeast in the recipe.
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How to make bread machine cheese bread
- In the pan of your bread machine, add the warm water, melted butter, sugar and kosher salt. Dump the shredded cheese on top of the water mixture.
- Add the flour on top of the cheese, trying to spread it along the entire surface of the cheese and water layer.
- Sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour layer, avoiding any water spots.
- Place the baking pan into your bread machine and set machine to BASIC; MEDIUM CRUST; 2LB loaf.
- Walk away and let the bread machine work magic!
- When the bread is done, remove the pan from the bread maker and turn loaf onto a wire mesh cooling rack to cool.
- Allow your cheese bread to cool at least 10 minutes before cutting, or to room temperature before storing.
Variations and substitutions
Yes, I did previously say that this recipe should be followed accurately. At least the first time. After that, all bets are off!
- add 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, garlic powder, or red pepper flakes.
- add a handful of chopped/mashed smoked garlic cloves.
- swap the water for warmed milk for an extra decadent treat.
- add 1 cup of shredded cheese and 1 cup of small diced cheese.
- use your home smoked cheese!!
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Storage information
Storing homemade bread is a bit of a crapchute. Because it's homemade there are no added ingredients to keep it fresher longer, which is a good thing, but makes storage a bit of a drag.
To store at room temperature: let the bread cool completely on the wire rack, then slide it into a plastic bag.
To freeze, whole or sliced; wrap the bread in tinfoil, then place into a ziplock style bag, remove any excess air and freeze. Homemade bread should be eaten within 1-2 months of freezing, but it can last longer.
To thaw: simply remove the bread from the freezer, and take off the ziplock bag, allow to thaw at room temperature wrapped in foil for 2-3 hours, or until completely thawed.
Recommended Equipment
Bread maker: I have and love a Breville Custom Loaf. It takes everything I throw at it, and I throw a LOT at it! It's got a decent footprint and can handle larger batches of bread. I also love that the loaf pan is the perfect size to fit in my kids' Sistema sandwich containers.
Wire mesh rack: Seems silly, but I love my wire mesh racks for everything. They're great for cooling foods, cooking bacon jerky, and improving the texture of baked foods.
📖 Printable Recipe
Bread Machine Cheese Bread
A deliciously rich and cheesy bread! This bread machine cheese bread will become one of your favourites.
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine / rapid rise yeast
Instructions
- In the pan of your bread machine, add the warm water, melted butter, sugar and kosher salt. Dump the shredded cheese on top of the water mixture.
- Add the flour on top of the cheese.
- Sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour layer, avoiding any water spots.
- Place the baking pan into your bread machine and set the machine to BASIC; MEDIUM CRUST; 2LB loaf.
- When the bread is done, remove the pan from the bread maker and turn the loaf onto a wire mesh rack to cool.
- Allow bread to cool at least 10 minutes before cutting, or to room temperature before storing.
Notes
Flour
Use bread flour or flour with at least 13% protein.
To calculate this, check the nutrition box on the side of the package and follow this equation: (grams of protein)/(grams per serving) = _______, then multiply the answer by 100: _____ x 100= ___%.
variations and substitutions
- add 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, garlic powder, or red pepper flakes.
- add a handful of chopped/mashed SMOKED GARLIC CLOVES.
- swap the water for warmed milk for an extra decadent treat.
- add 1 cup of shredded cheese and 1 cup of small diced cheese
storage information
To store at room temperature: let the bread cool completely on the wire rack, then slide it into a plastic bag.
To freeze, whole or sliced; wrap the bread in tinfoil, then place into a ziplock style bag, remove any excess air and freeze. Homemade bread should be eaten within 1-2 months of freezing, but it can last longer.
To thaw: simply remove the bread from the freezer, and take off the ziplock bag, allow to thaw at room temperature wrapped in foil for 2-3 hours, or until completely thawed.
Recommended Products
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Pin this bread machine cheese bread recipe!
Lynda
Thursday 28th of September 2023
Hi, I made this yesterday in my bread machine. It rose beautifully. then in the cook cycle it just sank. I believe it was just too much liquid. I followed your recipe exactly. My flour is King Arthur and is 13% protein. I even added 2 tbsp of additional flour. It was still a little wet but it did hold its shape when being kneaded. Maybe I am wrong, but I think between the 1 cup water, the melted butter, and the 2 cups of cheese which also eventually melt, it is just too much liquid. I did cut a slice which was wet in the middle and ate around it. The flavor was really good. Will make again and start with a 1/2 C water and cut up the slices of butter and put in. Hopefully, this will cut back enough on the liquid. My yeast is new and good until 2025. Salt was exactly what you recc. Maybe you can add some insight that I am missing. Thanks so much. Today I am going to try your Honey whole wheat bread recipe cutting back on the water. We shall see. Thanks so much.
Lynda
Friday 29th of September 2023
@Ally, thanks!!! I will try less yeast I think it was 1 1/2 tsp. I will try 1 1/4 tsp and see what happens. Plus a little less water.
Ally
Thursday 28th of September 2023
Hi Lynda, it sounds like you're doing everything right! Definitely try with less water, and then just keep an eye on it in the first kneading cycle. The only other thing I can think of is actually that your yeast might be too active? LOL Which is not something I think I've ever said. The only reason I mention that is that if you've ruled out protein content in flour, salt quantity, and hydration level, the last item on the list is yeast. Too much yeast can cause sinking, so I would hazard a guess that super fresh, highly active yeast may burn through all the food too quickly, thus collapsing?
Bread making is such a science! Please let me know how you get on with the lower hydration test.
Stacey
Thursday 20th of July 2023
This was delish even in my Dash bread maker which makes 1- 1.5 loaves. Used multi shredded cheeses. Was delish and will def make again!!!
Ally
Friday 21st of July 2023
Great idea! I will have to try mixed cheeses next time. I think Jack would be really good in this bread.
Carol Lawson
Friday 19th of May 2023
I made the bread and I use regular flour, but I whip the flour and I just use salted butter but I didn’t add salt and it kind of collapsed in the middle but it has a I love the taste of it it’s crusty and I think and I think I need to get a new year, so I’m going to try it again, but the taste is absolutely fabulous
Ally
Thursday 25th of May 2023
How's your yeast? The other thing could be the hydration level - depending on the protein content in your flour, if the hydration is too high, it can cause collapse.
Dale
Monday 13th of March 2023
Would love to see this recipe in a 1.5-size loaf.
Ally
Tuesday 14th of March 2023
I can do a little testing as time allows and get back to you!
Jean Turner
Tuesday 22nd of March 2022
I made this bread as per the recipe and it looked beautiful in the bread maker.But when it was finished it collapsed and part of the bread the top and bottom were not cooked thro. I wonder what happened. I very seldom have a failure.
Ally
Wednesday 23rd of March 2022
Sorry to hear this Jean! In my guide to troubleshooting bread machine problems, I discuss this issue. The most common culprits are 1) bread with a low protein content - it does not form enough gluten and struggles to hold the gas bubbles. 2) too much liquid, this is a dry-er dough, so I don't think that's the case, 3) not enough salt - I'm not sold that this is the cause, but salt is responsible for a lot of the textural changes in the dough. 4) too much, or old yeast - if your yeast is old it may not have the power necessary to raise this loaf and if there's too much, they consume all of the food and run out before the finish line.
Hope those suggestions helped!