Herb & Cheese Pull-apart Bread | We Knead to Bake#1

I've done a bit of Yeast baking in the last few months and we are becoming a li'l more comfortable with each other now,I believe.A good recipe,good quality yeast and some time on hands,bread baking is time consuming,is all you need to bake good bread.What if you have a group of friends who all try the same recipe together,what fun,right?

When Aparna put up a message on facebook calling bread baking enthusiasts together for a bread baking group,I was excited.As you may know,Aparna is someone whom I adore for her baking skills.Simple,no-frill recipes and delicious,gorgeous looking breads are her forte.I knew I was in safe hands.

We Knead to Bake is a group of enthusiastic bakers who,under the guidance of Aparna are planning to bake a bread a month.For January,the chosen recipe is Herb & Cheese Pull-apart Loaf.I've seen and got intimidated by similar looking breads before so I was a bit wary before I went through the recipe.But believe me when I say this one's a really easy recipe which looks as good as it tastes.
Herb & Cheese(Paneer) Pull-apart Loaf Bread

Ingredients

For the dough

Warm milk - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 tsp
Active dry yeast - 2 tsp(I used Mauripan Yeast)
All purpose flour - 2 3/4 cups to 3 cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Butter - 25 gms,soft at room temperature
Garlic - 2 cloves,minced(or 1 tsp garlic paste)
Milk - 3/4 cup + a couple of tbsp to brush over the bread

For the filling

Melted butter - 15-20 gms
Mixed Italian herbs - 2 tsp
Chilli flakes - 1 tsp
Paneer - 1/2 cup,grated(or any cheese of your choice)

Method

 

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar and the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm milk. Keep aside for about 5 minutes till the yeast mixture bubbles up.

 

Put 2 3/4 cup of flour, salt, softened butter, and garlic paste in the food processor bowl (or a large bowl) and pulse a couple of times to mix. 

 

Then add the yeast mixture and the 3/4 cup of milk and knead till you have a soft, smooth and elastic/ pliable dough which is not sticky. Add a little extra flour if your dough is sticking, but only just as much as is necessary.

 

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it completely with oil. Cover and let it rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until almost double in volume.

 
Dust your work surface lightly with flour. Deflate the dough, shape it into a square and roll the dough out into a larger square that is about 12’ by 12”. Brush the surface of the square with the melted butter. Evenly sprinkle the herbs, pepper/ chilli flakes and then the grated cheese. 
 
Use a rolling pin to very lightly press the topping into the dough to ensure the topping doesn’t fall off when you are stacking the strips.

Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough from top to bottom into 6 long and even strips – they do not have to be perfect. Lay each strip on top of the next, with the topping facing upwards, until you have a stack of the strips.

 

You can put the 2 strips cut from the sides in the middle of the stack so it looks neater. Using a pastry scraper or a sharp knife, cut straight down through the stack dividing it into 6 equal pieces (6 square stacks).

Grease and lightly flour a 9” by 4” (or 5”) loaf tin.Layer the square slices, cut sides down into the loaf tin.

 

Cover the loaf tin dough with a towel and allow the dough to rise for an hour. Lightly brush some milk over the top of the loaf.

Bake the dough at 180C (350F) for about 30 to 40 minutes until it is done and the top is golden brown. This recipe bakes one 9” by 5” loaf.I used two smaller sized loaf tins.

 
Yeastspotted

Notes

• The filling can be of your choice-pesto,mint or butter-garlic or even sun-dried tomato,olives,caramelized onions-choices are aplenty.
• This versatile bread can be made into a sweet loaf too-just add 1/4 cup of sugar to the dough and proceed with the filling.Think Cinnamon-sugar,Orange marmalade-raisins,Chocolate chips and many more!