Cheese bread (or cheese biscuits) always sounds like such a good idea, but is so often disappointing. Somehow, no matter how much cheese you add, it never tastes cheesy, and you’re left with mediocre bread at best. Thanks to the methodical recipe testing of the folks at America’s Test Kitchen, we’ve finally found a great cheese bread recipe!
We slightly modified their quick cheese bread recipe (to use what we had on hand) in The New Best Recipe cookbook to make a delicious muenster-parmesan bread. They say that the key is using cubes of cheese instead of shredded cheese, resulting in pockets of melted gooey cheesy goodness throughout the loaf. The quick bread batter also makes for a moist, delicious bread and saves you the trouble of kneading or waiting for dough to rise. If you too have been baffled by disappointing cheese breads, look no farther!
Supplies
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (or grated, in a pinch)
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 oz muenster cheese (the recipe recommended asiago or extra-sharp cheddar)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 egg
3/4 cup sour cream
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with nonstick spray.
3. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of parmesan over the bottom of the loaf pan. Shake the pan back and forth to even out the cheese.
4. Whisk the flour, baking powder, cayenne peper, salt and black pepper together in a large bowl.
5. Cut the muenster into 1/2″ cubes.
6. Using a rubber spatula, mix the muenster into the flour mixture.
7. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, melted butter, egg and sour cream.
8. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are just combined using a rubber spatula. Be careful not to overmix; the batter will be very thick.
9. Spoon/scrape the batter into the loaf pan, leveling the top using a spatula.
10. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of parmesan over the top. Shake the pan back and forth to even it out.
11. Bake 50-70 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
12. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes on a wire rack.
13. Remove the loaf from the pan, being careful not to knock off all the parmesan. (You may need to insert a knife around the edges and invert.)
14. Cool the loaf for another 45 minutes until it is warm.
15. Slice and enjoy!