I have said it before, and I will say it again: homemade bread is the best!
Herb and cheese bread brings me back to my working days at a certain sub shop. I would literally go home smelling like their bread. I hated it. My sister still works there and she hates the smell just as much. I never thought I would make my own homemade herb and cheese bread because I thought the smell would make me sick. Okay, that is an exaggeration but I am sure many of you can relate. This herb and cheese bread is nothing like that of the sub shop, it is 100x better! I could eat it all day, every day! I was so floored with the results that I ate at least half the loaf myself...
Bread making takes little effort, but sometimes the wait time can be iffy. This recipe has the bread rise 3 times and it goes by pretty fast. Some other bread recipes I have tried have taken longer, but the wait is worth it. With each rise, your bread gets better. Trust me. Even if you are a single person and are concerned about wasting a loaf of bread, remember that you can freeze it! I have heard crazy stories where people will make two loaves of bread because that is what the recipe calls for, and then they will throw out one loaf because they could not eat it all... My sister knew one person who only wanted fresh bread each day, so they would waste the other loaf... Don't even get me started there.
Herb and cheese bread is full of dried herbs and Parmesan cheese. I even topped with the loaf with a herb and cheese butter mixture because I am awesome like that. The flavor combinations are endless, and fresh herbs would be just as great here (I swear, spring will be here one day for me to enjoy good herbs again.) I like adding cooked onions to my homemade breads, but I wanted to keep this recipe simple. Once you try this recipe, you will forever want to play around with bread making.
And just to let you know, no bread machine is required!
📖 Recipe
Herb and Cheese Bread
Easy herb and cheese bread made fresh for the day. Each rise helps create a tastier bread!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- 1 tbsp. dry active yeast
- 1½ cups very warm water (between 105-115F)
- ½ tbsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. red chili flakes
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Oil or butter for greasing pan
Instructions
- Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir in the spices.
- Add sugar and yeast to a small bowl. Add a bit of the warm water and give the mixture a stir. Set aside to activate (5 minutes or so.)
- Once activated (you will see the mixture kind of bubble up) add it to your flour mixture. Begin adding the water slowly, only adding enough until all the dough is wet, but not soaking (I had ⅛ cup of water leftover in the end.) Mix in the cheese until combined.
- Cover the bowl and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Punch the mixture or stir, and then allow to rise again for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Grease your bread pan. Transfer dough into the pan and allow to rise again while the oven is heat. You want it to rise to about the top of the pan without going over.
- Bake for about 40 minutes and remove from oven.
- Allow to cool before slicing.
- *Optional. I melted 1-2 tbsp. of butter and mixed in some dried oregano, basil, and garlic powder. I then smeared it on top of the hot bread. I finished it off by topping the bread with more Parmesan cheese!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 157Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 401mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 5g
My sister's birthday is coming up and she always complain I do not make good food when she visits (her visits are rare and I am sorry the only meat you like is chicken!) I figure I will cook her up a ton of recipes, including this herb and cheese bread, and give them to her along with her gift. An excuse to cook is never needed on my part, but I will say sometimes we have way too many leftovers here!
Kelley
I agree.. good bread is worth waiting for! I may need to make this today too. It looks pretty amazing!
Kacey
It smells sooooo good!
Nicole Johnson
WOW!!! That certain bread is actually my favorite bread, ever. I need to make this! My niece works at that certain place now, and also complains about the smell. I can see how it would get overwhelming, for sure!
Kacey
You can never escape it! But this one, I could smell it for days!
Miranda @ Cookie Dough & Oven Mitt
Oh my. This bread looks heavenly! Anytime fresh bread is being made, it's always worth the wait! I will be trying this recipe asap. Pinning!
Kacey
I can wait quite a while, but for it to cool completely is so hard!
Joanie @ ZagLeft
You're so right, there is nothing better than homemade bread - the aroma and the taste is the best. Yours looks lovely and such wonderful flavors too.
Kacey
Thanks, Joanie!
Beth
Woah Kacey! This is amazing! I'm kind of afraid of making bread, so how much can I pay you to make it for me? 🙂
Kacey
I will give you free bread in return for your awesome desserts!
Gayle
You need a bread machine. I am going to try it in mine.
susan @ the wimpy vegetarian
This bread looks amazing. I'm definitely making it - soon. The crumb on it is perfect!!
Kacey
Cheese makes everything better, including the crust on this bread!
Ashlyn @ Belle of the Kitchen
Wow, that is one gorgeously delicious loaf of bread! The breads with herbs are my favorite for sandwiches. I've never made homemade bread before because I'm a little afraid of it, haha! This looks like one I would set aside my fears for, though!
Kacey
I was the same way! Now I regret all those years I could have been making bread 🙂
Jen @ Yummy Healthy Easy
WOW!!! This bread looks beyond amazing! I love homemade bread! And I totally get what you mean about the smell of a restaurant you used to work in. Been there, lol! Can't wait to try this recipe - pinned!
Kacey
Haha, meanwhile my husband asks how I could ever get sick of that smell...
Susan | LunaCafe
Love this bread. What a great combination of flavors. Will definitely try this.
Sherri@ The Well Floured Kitchen
This looks amazing! Love all the flavors going on- I bet your sister will love it!
Rachel Cooks
What a beautiful loaf of bread!
Andi @ The Weary Chef
This is so gorgeous, Kacey. I can't believe it doesn't need any kneading. How easy!!
Kacey
Simple and easy are my two favourite things when it comes to cooking, yet I seem to like to up the ante at times!
Elena@as easy as Apple Pie
I agree, homemade bread is the best! Great recipe 🙂
Alicia Austin
This is definitely worth trying..
Kavita
What's the pan size you put this dough in?
Kacey
Mine is a 1.5 quart pan (about 8 inches by 4.5 inches, and 3 inches deep.)
Javonni
I just made this with my gf flour mix. One rise. Delicious!
Kacey
This is great to know! Thank you!
Lill
Love this bread!! I use whatever cheese I have handy....it's all good:)
Kacey
Haha, I am the same! There is no such thing as "bad" or "wrong" cheese!
Lill
I love this bread and make it often! I add shredded cheddar cheese. I have been trying to make sourdough starter and just hate to discard part of the starter, so......I used it in this bread. Reduced the flour to 2 cups, 1 cup discard starter and just enough water to get the same consistency. Waiting now to bake.....hope it tastes just as good:)
eva
I had never made a sandwich loaf (or added any herbs or anything to a loaf before) but have made many artisan and sourdough loaves so I figured this would be a fun change in pace. I added onion powder to emulate this onion and cheese loaf my campus sandwich shop had and I used quick rise yeast because it's what I had on hand. the bread is wonderful and just what I was going for. 10/10 would recommend
note to self: be liberal when greasing the pan because this baby wants to stick
Ann Marie Ward
Where’s the rest of this recipe?
Kacey
Somehow the ingredients were missing, it's fixed now.
Lill
Thank you so much for fixing it!!! I love this bread but couldn't make it because of the missing ingredients....