You must be cheddar, because you’ve got me feeling extra cheesy today

There is nothing that isn’t made better by adding a little bit of cheese. Well, unless you are lactose intolerant, then you have to decide if that’s a risk you’re willing to take. This week, I decided to try making my first inclusion loaf! I started out with my regular dough recipe from Gigi. It’s occurred to me that I’ve never actually written the recipe down in any of my blog posts, so here it is.

• 725g warm filtered water
• 250g active sourdough starter
• 30g salt
• 1000g bread flour

This is enough to make two loaves of bread. I have cut it in half on several occasions to make one loaf, still works out great. I made one regular loaf along with my cheddar loaf. I needed a sourdough fix, and if the cheddar flopped, I wanted an insurance policy.

How much cheese is too much? I firmly believe cheese (like chocolate chips) should be measured with your heart. But I wasn’t sure if too much would affect the bread negatively in some way. After a quick search, I came across this recipe. She used 200 grams in one loaf, so that’s the amount I decided to use.* I wasn’t exactly sure how to incorporate the cheddar cheese, but I found a new creator on Tiktok, and she made it look super easy. I’ve seen some loaves where they shred the cheese, but I liked the idea of using cubed cheese because….more cheese is always a good thing (sorry lactose friends).

*200 grams of cheese is, in fact, not enough, not even close. Or maybe it being shredded would have resulted in a better distribution of the cheese in the bread. Either way, next time I make a cheddar loaf, I will most definitely be adding at least 50% more cheese. This isn’t necessarily a criticism of the blog or recipe, I think the appropriate amount of cheese in a dish is an intensely personal preference.

Now that that’s all figured out, here is how the process went!

The last time I tried to get fancy with my scoring, my loaf was a bit of a flop. So, this time, I stuck to my go-to large expansion score with wheat on the side. How I baked the loaf:

• Preheat Dutch oven in the oven at 450 degrees.
• Bake covered for 30 minutes.
• Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

Normally I only bake for 15 minutes uncovered, but the bread was still pretty light, so I decided to let it go a little longer.

 

First of all, I think I finally have the hang of the bread business!! My loaves have never risen this well!! This cheddar sourdough is like the best cheese bun you’ve ever had. What am I going to do with it, besides toast a slice and eat it with butter like usual? I think it would make a perfect side of tomato soup, OR make a grilled cheese with two slices of this bread and some gruyere cheese in the middle (my lactose friends hate me, I’ve accepted it). I will definitely be doing all of these things and cannot wait to enjoy this loaf!