Onion Cheddar Bread

Life always likes to throw people curve balls.  I think it's to keep us on our toes and to help us not get too complacent.  I realize that there are certain things in my life that I just assume will always be there.  No I'm not talking about relationships, spirituality or anything quite so heavy.  I'm talking about my oven ... and how it died last week. 

 

Yes.  LAST .... WEEK.

 

This Baking Bookworm has been sans an oven for over a week.  When the repair guy came last Tuesday I assumed that he'd work his magic and fix my oven up as good as new.  Sadly (as Brad can attest) I do not have a firm grip on how long things take in the general order of things.

 

Last night I got the call that the Oven Whisperer will come this Thursday to resurrect my beloved oven.  That's nine days without baking, people!  Needless to say it's been a week and a half of stove-top and slow cooker meals.  Even Missy Moo's Valentine's Day treats had to be stove-top (which were a hit -- we made my Mars Bars Krispie Treats -- but I would have preferred to bake some sugar cookies).

 

Another kitchen appliance that came to my rescue was my bread maker.  If I can't bake cookies at least I can still bake some carbs!  This bread was deeelish!  I wouldn't say that the cheddar flavour is obvious though.  Be aware that the cheese blends in with the dough so if you're expecting pockets of cheesy goodness you may be disappointed.  Overall it was a hit at our house.  Even my onion haters (Boy 2 and Missy Moo) gobbled this bread down ... even after I admitted that the topping was onion!  The carb addiction runs deep in this family.

 

Here's hoping that the Oven Whisperer can fix my oven this week and I can get back to baking muffins, cookies, chicken .....  I'll never take it for granted again!

 

Yield: 16 servings (2lb loaf)

1 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp warm water
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp + 2 tsp dry milk powder
2 tbsp + 2 tsp white sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp + 2 tsp butter or margarine
2 3/4 tsp bread maker yeast
2 3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup dry minced onion -- divided
1 1/3 cup old cheddar cheese, cubed

Add water, flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, butter and yeast into the pan of your bread maker in the order suggested by your manufacturer (usually the wet ingredients are on the bottom with the dry ingredients keeping the yeast away from the moisture).  Set your machine for its Basic Cycle with a light crust.

When your bread machine's alert sounds, add garlic powder, 3 tbsp of the dried onion and all of the cubed cheese.  The machine will incorporate this into the dough.

After the last knead, sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp of the dried onion to the top of the dough.  When the entire cycle is finished, remove bread to a wire rack and cool.

Inspired by: Onion Garlic Cheese Bread from Allrecipes.com