Bread and cheese, such a perfect pairing. So, bread with cheese baked inside? Of course. This cheese stuffed bread is soft and rich-tasting thanks to a big dollop of mashed potatoes in the dough – which makes it the perfect baking project for Thanksgiving weekend when you probably have a pile of leftover potatoes on hand. Shape the dough, let it rise and bake during the first half of the game, and it will be ready to tear into by halftime.
In addition to being right at home as part of a football party munchie spread, cheese stuffed bread will turn a bowl of soup or a salad into a comforting meal, and it’s great for breakfast alongside a plate of eggs and bacon.
To form this rustic but beautiful, craggy-topped round loaf, first roll the dough out to a big circle and drape it into a pizza pan. Cut deep slashes from the edge toward the center, all the way around, to make sort of a fringe around the edge of the dough. After piling the center up high with shredded sharp Cheddar cheese and fresh thyme, lift all the dough strips from the edge and overlap them in the center to enclose the filling. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t look neat or even – once the dough has been brushed with egg wash, sprinkled with poppy seeds, and baked to a shiny golden crust, its wow factor will emerge.
Feel free to switch up the cheese and herbs in this bread to suit your tastes or menu. Gruyere would be great with either thyme or rosemary. Or try mozzarella and oregano, or Monterey Jack with scallions.
And what if you don’t happen to have any leftover mashed potatoes? The extra creaminess that milk and butter lend to prepared mashed potatoes does add to the richness of this bread, but in a pinch you could use plain steamed-then-mashed potato. (Peel a couple of waxy-fleshed potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Steam the potatoes on the stove or in the microwave until soft, then mash with a potato masher or process through a ricer or food mill to get rid of all the lumps.)
Making cheese stuffed bread ahead, and what to do with leftovers:
- You’re definitely going to want to cut into this bread as soon as it comes out of the oven, all hot and cheesy and fragrant. But it will stay fresh and soft for 3 days – I keep it at room temperature but if you’re concerned about the cheese you could keep it in the fridge. In that case, bring to room temperature before serving, or better yet reheat it in a 300 degree oven or the microwave.
- Freeze for up to one month.
Cheddar and Herb Stuffed Potato Bread
If you don't have leftover mashed potatoes to use in this recipe, mash a couple of plain, steamed potatoes to equal 1 cup.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for the bowl and pan
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or ½ teaspoon Morton’s)
- 4 to 4½ cups (480 to 540 grams/17 to 19 ounces) all-purpose flour, divided, plus additional for the board
- 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes prepared with butter and milk
- 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Directions
- Step 1 Scald the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, until the surface of the milk develops small wrinkles. Meanwhile, combine the water, yeast and sugar in a measuring cup or small bowl and whisk to dissolve the yeast. Set the yeast mixture aside.
- Step 2 Once the milk is scalded and the yeast mixture is foamy, proceed. Put the ½ cup of butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and pour in the milk. Pulse the mixer slowly at first so the milk doesn’t splatter out of the bowl, using the mixer to gently stir the milk until the butter is melted.
- Step 3 Add the salt, 2 cups of the flour and the mashed potatoes, and beat until the mixture is smooth. Add the yeast mixture and beat until smooth.
- Step 4 Switch to the dough hook. Gradually add flour, a few tablespoons at a time, kneading the flour in with the mixer on medium low speed, until the dough forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for 2 minutes without adding flour. The ball of dough will soften and spread out again. After 2 minutes, start adding a little bit more flour, just until the dough forms a ball again. Turn it out onto a lightly floured pastry board and knead by hand for a minute or two, adding a little bit more flour as needed, until the dough is firm and smooth and no longer sticky.
- Step 5 Butter a large bowl. Put the dough in the bowl and turn it over once so the top surface is coated with butter. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled and puffy, 45 minutes to an hour.
- Step 6 Butter a 14-inch pizza pan or a large baking sheet. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board to a circle approximately 18 inches in diameter. Carefully transfer the dough onto the pan. Use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to make deep cuts all the way around the edge of the dough, from the edge toward the center, to form fringe-like flaps of dough all around the edge, each flap approximately 2 inches wide and 4 inches long, but there’s no need to be exact.
- Step 7 Sprinkle the shredded cheese in the center of the dough, stopping about one inch inside the point where the fringe begins. Sprinkle the thyme evenly over the cheese. Pick up the flaps of dough one by one and fold them toward the center, overlapping them in a casual pattern. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 8 Combine the egg and cream in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Brush the egg wash over the top of the dough, then sprinkle with the poppy seeds. Bake until golden brown and puffy, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
