Bread Machine Cheese Bread

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!

Sliced bread machine cheese bread showing the dark crust and orange tinged crumb.

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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.

The ingredients for bread machine cheese bread premeasured and displayed on a counter.

How to make bread machine cheese bread

  1. 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.
  2. Add the flour on top of the cheese, trying to spread it along the entire surface of the cheese and water layer.
  3. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour layer, avoiding any water spots.
  4. Place the baking pan into your bread machine and set machine to BASIC; MEDIUM CRUST; 2LB loaf.
  5. Walk away and let the bread machine work magic!
  6. When the bread is done, remove the pan from the bread maker and turn loaf onto a wire mesh cooling rack to cool.
  7. 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!!
Close up of the orange crust of this bread machine recipe.

More bread machine recipes to love

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.

Cross section of cheese bread against a black background.

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.

If you love this recipe, please give it a star rating or leave a comment below! This helps me to create more content you enjoy!

📖 Printable Recipe

Sliced bread machine cheese bread showing the dark crust and orange tinged crumb.

Bread Machine Cheese Bread

Allyson Letal
A deliciously rich and cheesy bread! This bread machine cheese bread will become one of your favourites.
4.24 from 43 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 12 slices
Calories 244 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup warm water
  • ½ cup unsalted butter melted
  • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons coarse kosher salt
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons bread machine / rapid rise yeast

Instructions
 

  • In the pan of your bread machine, add t1 cup warm water, ½ cup unsalted butter, 2 teaspoons granulated sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons coarse kosher salt. Dump 2 cups shredded cheese on top of the water mixture.
  • Add 3 cups bread flour on top of the cheese.
  • Sprinkle 1 ½ teaspoons bread machine / rapid rise 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.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1gCalories: 244kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 9gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 410mgPotassium: 62mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 363IUVitamin C: 0.004mgCalcium: 102mgIron: 0.4mg
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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    19 Comments

    1. 5 stars
      Instead of water, I used milk, a smidge to moist, so next time will reduce the milk a smidge. I added some cheese on top, after the rising and melted beautifully on top. Making again!

    2. 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.

      1. 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!

    3. 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

      1. 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.

    4. 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!!!

    5. 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.

      1. 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.

      2. @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.

    6. I made this recipe twice and it was delicious. On the third time, it didn’t rise and it didn’t cook all the way through. Any ideas on what went wrong?

      1. @Ally, Actually I did. I had cheddar the first two times, but the third time all I had on hand was a cheese blend.