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Bacon-Cheddar French Bread Recipe

This tasty loaf features a soft, tender texture with lots of flavor from cheese and Italian herbs. It's great alongside a fresh green salad and pasta.—Loraine E. Meyer, Bend, Oregon

This recipe is:

Diabetic Friendly

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Bacon-Cheddar French Bread Recipe

Prep: 25 min. + rising Bake: 15 min. + cooling

Yield: 32 Servings

25 15 40

Ingredients

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
6 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the cheese, bacon, sour cream, butter, salt, Italian seasoning and 4 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into 15-in.-long loaves. Place on two greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
With a sharp knife, make five shallow slashes across the top of each loaf. Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 loaves (16 slices each).

Nutritional Facts 1 slice equals 125 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 11 mg cholesterol, 221 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 5 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fat.

Originally published as Bacon-Cheddar French Bread in Country Woman Christmas Annual 2010, p47

Cheese Tip

Select sharp cheddar when using packaged shredded cheese for recipes that you'd like to have a bolder flavor. If you will be shredding cheese at home from bulk cheddar, you can choose from mild, medium, sharp and extra sharp.

When buying bulk cheese, 4 ounces equals 1 cup shredded.

Store cheese in an airtight containers, plastic bags or plastic wrap in the refrigerator (about 4 months for soft cheeses and 6 months or hard cheeses).

Cheese can be frozen for longer storage time. Because the freezing process changes the cheese's texture slightly, it is best to use it in cooking or baking.

When cooking with natural unprocessed cheese, melt at low temperatures to keep the cheese from turning tough and stringy.

When adding cheese to a soup or sauce, stir in the cheese at the end of cooking to avoid over-heating. Shredding the cheese allows it to melt faster with a minimum of heating.