No-Knead Cheesy Bread
Full of wonderful cheesy flavor, this no-knead yeast bread is as easy to make as it is delicious to eat. The finished bread is soft and tender. Use it for sandwiches, breakfast toast or as a snack. It tastes great all by itself.
Servings: 12 slices, more or less depending on how thick the slices are cut
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water, about 105-110 degrees F
- 2 tablespoons active, dry yeast
- 3 whole eggs
- 1/2 cup white, granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 6-7 cups white, all-purpose flour
- 5 ounces (weight) sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- Olive oil
Instructions
- To an extra-large mixing bowl, add the warm water, yeast and a pinch of sugar. Whisk to dissolve the yeast. Set aside for 2-5 minutes to allow the yeast to activate. It will become bubbly and foamy when it has activated.
- Add the eggs to the yeast mixture. Whisk to break up the eggs.
- Add the sugar, salt, coconut oil and three cups of flour. With a sturdy mixing spoon, stir to combine well. The mixture does not have to be completely smooth.
- Add an additional 3 cups of flour. Stir until combined. The dough will probably be very sticky.
- Continue to add a little flour, maybe 1/4 cup, at a time to the mixture, stirring after each addition. The dough will become heavier and more difficult to stir. Stop adding flour when the dough loses its shiny "wet" appearance. The dough will be slack, rough looking and very gooey, but stronger than it was with only 6 cups of flour. It may be difficult to stir and you may have to use your hands to incorporate the flour.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise until double in bulk, about 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. Alternately, the covered bowl can be placed in an oven with only the oven light turned on. (NO HEAT!). The light bulb warms the air in the oven.
- Punch dough down and let it rest in the bowl for 5-10 minutes. Break off slightly less than half of the dough (about 1.5 lbs.). Place on a lightly floured countertop. Gather the dough into a ball. Again, the dough will be slack, but will loosely hold the ball shape.
- Turn the dough over so that the bottom of the dough will pick up some of the flour. With your hands, flatten the dough and push it into a rough rectangular shape, about 7- x 5-inches. This does NOT have to be exact.
- Sprinkle about 3 ounces of the grated cheese over the dough. With your finger tips, press the cheese into the dough. Fold the dough several times and massage the dough and cheese together to distribute the cheese.
- Grease a n 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with olive oil. Form dough into a loaf shape and place it in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the dough. Cover pan loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise, until dough has risen about 1-inch above the pan, about 45 minutes.
- Heat oven to 375-degree F. Line a baking sheet or other pan with foil. This will catch any melted cheese that may spill over the sides of the loaf pan. Place the pan of bread on the foil-lined pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped lightly.
- Place the pan of bread on a wire rack and cool until just barely warm to the touch. This is important because the hot bread will collapse under its own weight if it is turned out of the pan. Slide a knife gently around the edges of the pan to release the bread. Turn out onto the wire rack and allow to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight plastic bag.