It’s official! My husband says this is the best bread ever!!! And you have to trust him, because he is the pickiest eater out there! He grumbled and mumbled when he heard I was making an olive and cheddar bread, but when he took his first bite he was in love. That’s right, love at first bite!
You have to admit you don’t come across an olive cheddar bread recipe every day. But you know what, it is an amazing and savory bread that I love to have for breakfast toasted with some butter. I also think it’s somewhat healthy for you because it’s not all white flour, it has a cup of whole wheat flour and not a lot of oil, only a tablespoon. This bread is super easy to make, and it’s made with ingredients one is likely to have at home. Actually that’s why I even wanted to make this bread, I had some gorgeous Kalamata olives and some great cheddar cheese and this was the perfect idea.
We start off same as making any other bread. In a cup or a small bowl, measure out 1/4 cup of lukewarm water, a tsp of honey and a package of active dry yeast. Stir it all together.
Let the yeast mixture sit until it gets all foamy.
In the bowl of your mixer, add about 1 1/2 cups of the white flour, the whole wheat flour, salt and pepper, milk, olive oil and the foamy yeast mixture.
Mix everything together using the paddle attachment over medium speed. Remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook. Add the olives and cheddar cheese to the bowl.
Mix everything well, until the olives and cheese are well incorporated in the dough.
We’re almost done with the dough, we just need to add about another cup of the flour to the dough, or as much as needed, until the dough is firm enough. Mix the dough for another couple minutes over medium speed. Shape the dough in a ball, and place it in an oiled bowl.
Now you just need to let it rise until it doubles in size, probably about an hour, but for me it took more like 40 minutes, because it’s really warm in the house. In Calgary we only have 2 seasons, winter and July and because of that we don’t need an air conditioner. There are only a few days a year when you might need one, and today is one of those days. But this heat in the house is an excellent condition for your dough. It will rise fairly quickly. After an hour, your dough will look something like this:
I have an island that is all made out of wood, so I didn’t really need to flour the surface, especially because the dough is oiled, but if you find that your dough is sticking to the table, sprinkle a little bit of flour. Punch down the dough then just knead it a couple times lightly. Roll it out into a long triangle.
Mine looks more like a long oval, but you get the picture. Now roll it up, jelly roll style. Place the roll in a greased loaf pan with the seam side down. I just greased mine with some olive oil.
Now you need to let it double in size again, for about another hour or so. Luckily for me, it only took about 20 minutes for it to double, that’s how hot it’s in the kitchen.
Doesn’t it look gorgeous already? It sure does! All that’s left to do is bake it in a preheated oven at 375 F degrees. Making bread is very simple, and like I’ve said before, for me, it’s very therapeutic.
Look at that!!! It’s huge, have you ever seen anything better looking than that bread?
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup water lukewarm
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1/4 cup black olives chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, or the bowl of your mixer, mix together the water, yeast and honey. Let sit until it's foamy.
- In your mixer bowl, add 1 1/4 cup of the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, yeast mixture, milk, olive oil and salt and pepper. Using the paddle attachment, mix well.
- Add the olives and cheddar cheese to the mixer and continue mixing. Switch to the hook attachment.
- Add the remaining all purpose flour and mix for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the dough is nice and firm.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise until doubled in size, for about an hour.
- Punch down the dough and place it on a floured surface. Knead it slightly a couple times, then roll it out into a long rectangle.
- Roll up the dough, jelly roll style.
- Place the roll in a greased loaf pan and let rise for another 45 minutes to an hour until it doubles in size.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.
- Bake the bread for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown. When you tap it, it should sound hollow.
- Cool on a rack.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes Servings: 10
