Asiago Bread

Step by Step: How to Make Asiago Bread

Mix the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the 1 ½ cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat the milk and butter. Put the milk and in a microwave safe bowl. Heat the milk to 120-130ºF so that the butter starts melting. Make sure the temperature is just right so that it is warm enough to activate the yeast, but not kill it. 

Combine the two. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture and mix on low speed using the paddle attachment until smooth. Add in 1 ¼ cups shredded cheese and mix just until combined. 

Knead the dough. Gradually add in the remaining 1 ¾ cups flour to make a soft dough. Knead in the stand mixer with the dough hook for 5 minutes. Don’t add too much flour. It should still be a sticky dough, slightly sticking to the bottom of the bowl as it kneads.

First rise. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Add the bread dough to the bowl, then turn the dough over so the cooking spray coats both sides of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until it is nearly double (30-45 minutes).

Shape and second rise. After the dough is doubled, punch it down and use a serrated knife or dough cutter to divide the dough in two. Shape each piece of dough into a loaf. Place the loaves on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Cover the loaves with plastic wrap or a clean towel and allow them to rise again for 20-30 minutes. The loaves may not rise much, but that’s ok. They’ll spring up in the oven.

Bake. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Whisk together the egg and water in a small bowl. Brush the tops of the loaves with the egg wash, then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly golden brown. The internal temperature of the asiago loaf should be 190ºF.

One Dough, Three Shapes

As if bread with cheese inside isn’t a beautiful enough, there are three options for shaping this asiago bread dough:

• Asiago Bread Loaves. That’s the method we describe in the recipe card below. It makes two small loaves of asiago bread.
• Asiago Rolls. Divide the dough into 12 dough balls of equal size. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray, place the dough balls in the prepared pan in 4 rows of 3 dough balls. Cover the pan and allow the rolls to rise until they are almost double. Brush the top of the rolls with the egg wash, the sprinkle asiago cheese on the rolls. Bake the rolls for 22-24 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown on top. 
• Asiago Bread Bowls. Divide the dough into 4 large dough balls. Allow the dough to rise about 20 more minutes. Brush the top of the large dough balls with the egg wash and sprinkle with asiago. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the top of the bread bowls are golden brown. Allow the bread bowls to cool on a wire rack. Slice off the top of the bread bowl, then use your fingers to pull out the fluffy interior, leaving at least ¾ inch bread on the bowl walls. Fill up the asiago bread bowls with soup. Broccoli Cheddar Soup or beef stew is especially delicious in asiago bread bowls.