Bread Machine Cheese Bread

This bread machine cheese bread recipe is simple to make and is quite delicious. It also looks great. I don’t know much about art… but this cheese bread loaf looks almost like a crazy Jackson Pollock painting! The cheese topping on this “abstract art” cheese bread loaf is certainly a conversation starter.

The keys to this recipe are shredded cheese and butter. You can also improve your cheese bread by adding garlic, jalapenos, chives, bacon, etc. Your family will love this cheese bread because it is a delicious bread for sandwich lunches. It is soft and tender. Moreover, this cheese bread is made entirely in your bread machine. Unlike some other recipes, there is no need to bake this bread in your oven.

Bread Machine Cheese Bread with Cheese Topping

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Recipe Video
4. Helpful Tips

Recipe Rating 4.93 from 115 votes Featured Comment Lisa “Hey Bread Dad. Absolutely LOVING your recipes. I’m new to the bread machine world and your recipes are easy to follow, have “normal” ingredients, and are downright tasty! I really appreciate the instructions for various sizes of loaves within each recipe as well. This cheese bread is amazing (added a couple of green onions as a mix-in). Also love the onion bread, oat bread, and rye. Lots more to try, but your recipes have been the best for me so far”

1 lb Bread Machine Cheese Bread

Since this cheese bread recipe is done in a bread machine, it is simple & easy to make. It only takes me about 5-10 minutes to prepare and then the bread machine does most of the hard work (e.g. mixing & kneading).

FYI – For details on how to make the 1 lb version of this recipe, please visit my 1 lb Bread Machine Cheese Bread page.

Ingredients – Bread Machine – Cheese Bread Recipe – 1.5 lb

• 7/8 Cups – Milk (warm) – 207 milliliters – 7/8 cups of milk is equivalent to 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons of milk (if your measuring cup lacks the 7/8 marker)
• 3 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 43 grams
• 2 1/2 Cups – Bread Flour (not all purpose flour) – 300 grams
• 3/4 Cup – Shredded Cheese – 84 grams – Use a strong tasting cheese (e.g. extra sharp cheddar) or the bread may taste bland
• 3/4 Tablespoon – Light Brown Sugar – 10 grams
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons – Salt – 7.5 grams
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons – Bread Machine Yeast – 4.5 grams – Not active dry yeast
• Optional – 1 diced jalapeno or 2-3 minced & fried garlic cloves (large cloves) or 2-3 tablespoons of thinly sliced chives/scallions (green stalks only) or 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

Ingredients – Bread Machine – Cheese Bread Recipe – 2 lb

• 1 1/8 Cups – Milk (warm) – 259 milliliters – 1 1/8 cups of milk is equivalent to 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of milk (if your measuring cup lacks the 1 1/8 marker)
• 4 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 57 grams
• 3 Cups – Bread Flour (not all purpose flour) – 360 grams
• 1 Cup – Shredded Cheese – 112 grams – Use a strong tasting cheese (e.g. extra sharp cheddar) or the bread may taste bland
• 1 Tablespoon – Light Brown Sugar – 13 grams
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Salt – 9 grams
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Bread Machine Yeast – 5.4 grams – Not active dry yeast
• Optional – 1 diced jalapeno or 2-3 minced & fried garlic cloves (large cloves) or 2-3 tablespoons of thinly sliced chives/scallions (green stalks only) or 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, silicone spatula, oven mitts, cooling rack and a bread machine.

Recipe Video – How to Make Bread Machine Cheese Bread with Garlic

FYI – My bread machine garlic cheese bread uses a little more cheese than my regular cheese bread recipe. It needs a little more so the cheese is not totally overwhelmed by the garlic flavor.

Instructions – Bread Machine – Cheese Bread Recipe

• Bread machine settings – 1.5 lb or 2 lb loaf, light color and “basic” bread setting.
• Unplug the bread machine & remove the bread pan.
• Soften the butter in a microwave. FYI – I like to semi-melt the butter for better “mixability”.
• Pour the milk & butter into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients (including the cup of cheese). Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid or salt (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together).
• Optional (but recommended) – For greater flavor, you can also add diced jalapenos, minced & fried garlic cloves, thinly sliced chives/scallions (green stalks) or Italian seasoning. For best results, just pick one additional “flavor” ingredient (e.g. just jalapenos). Place optional ingredient on the side of the bread pan and not on top of the yeast.
• Place the bread pan (with ingredients) back into the unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in the bread machine. Enter the correct settings (basic, light color & 1.5 or 2 lb) and press the “start” button.
• Optional – After the FINAL kneading cycle and BEFORE the baking cycle commences, sprinkle a little extra shredded cheese on top of the dough. For safety reasons, do not place your hands inside the bread machine. FYI – Do not open the lid DURING the baking cycle because this will negatively impact the bread. In most bread machines, the baking cycle starts during the final 50 to 60 minutes of a total machine time of approximately 2:50 to 3 hours. Nevertheless, machine times can vary by model & manufacturer, so check your instruction manual to see when the baking cycle starts on YOUR specific bread machine.
• When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine and remove the bread pan. Wear oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot.
• Remove the bread from the bread pan and place it on a cooling rack. Use oven mitts when handling the bread pan and bread as they will be very hot.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully and how to avoid common bread machine problems.

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Key Ingredient – Shredded Cheese with a Strong Flavor

Ingredients in Bread Pan for an Italian Herb & Cheese Bread Version

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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help bread machine “novices” and those who haven’t touched their bread machine in years.
• Click on this “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include my tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Bread Machine Recipes such as banana bread, buttery white bread, French bread, multigrain bread, etc.

• Be aware that the 1.5 lb version rises to roughly 4 1/2 inches high (depending on your yeast viability, kitchen temperature, etc.). Therefore, unless you have a small bread machine, I would suggest starting with the original 2 lb loaf recipe first. Cheese breads do not rise as high as “regular” white breads because they have less flour (the part of the recipe that provides the structure for the rise)… and more cheese!!! Of course, the cheese doesn’t add much in terms of the rise.
• I have also added a page with Bread Machine Pan Sizes. This should help you to determine if your machine is capable of handling Bread Dad’s 1 lb, 1.5 lb or 2 lb recipes. I would suggest looking at this page if you are new to bread machine recipes. For example, some bread machines claim that they have a 2 lb loaf capacity but in reality, they can only manage most 1.5 lb online recipes.

• Use a STRONG tasting cheese (e.g. extra sharp cheddar) for the best results. Mild or bland cheeses are much harder to taste in the finished bread. Strong tasting cheeses will stand out more. Just make sure to pick a strong flavored cheese that your family actually likes (e.g. cheddar). Some powerful cheeses (e.g. Limburger) are scary!!!
• If you want to learn about the hundreds of different cheeses that you could use in this recipe, I would suggest that you read this Wikipedia article on various cheese types.
• Optional – For a “cheesier” appearance, you can sprinkle a little cheese on top of the dough after the second & final mixing/kneading cycle has finished (and before the baking cycle commences). However, don’t add too much shredded cheese to the top of the dough after the final kneading… or your bread top might become a sticky mess! Just a little sprinkle of cheese.
• Don’t use a softer cheese (e.g. mozzarella) as your bread crust “topping” cheese. Softer cheeses are more likely to darken significantly or turn black/burnt. Stick to harder cheeses if you add cheese to the top of the dough. The picture at top of the page is made with extra sharp cheddar on the top of the bread.
• If you like to make an oven-baked version of this bread, you might like to try Bread Dad’s recipe for Italian Herb & Cheese Bread.
• You can also use this cheese bread to make even better (cheesier!!) Air Fryer Grilled Cheese, Grilled Cheese Panini and Oven Baked Grilled Cheese sandwiches.

• Visitors – What cheese did you use to make this bread? Please leave your cheese selections & additional ingredient ideas (e.g. spices) in the comment section below.
• Some cheeses used by my visitors – Asiago cheese, sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, Swiss Gruyere, Mexican hot cheese, pepper jack cheese, vegan cheese, etc.
• In case you are interested, here are some of the cheese bread tips & recipe enhancements posted by my visitors – Miss Renee added “3/4 Tablespoon red chile powder for amazing red chile cheese bread! It was soooo delicious!”, Tina “added more cheese, jalapeno, fennel, rosemary and chopped Sundried tomatoes”, Amy “added red pepper and jalapeño (diced finely), some sliced dried garlic and just a tad more cheese”, Wendy posted “I made this bread and YUM! I added 1 TSP garlic powder and 1 TSP onion powder. It made it Delicious! I also used asiago cheese and buttermilk. Mind blowing taste!”, Jan Posted “Amazing!!! Made this today. Used sharp cheddar. Omg so delicious.”, Elena posted “Yummy!!! I made the dough in my bread maker and finished it in the oven, it was delicious! I used mostly sharp cheddar and some jack cheese. The last 5 minutes in the oven I baste the top with melted garlic butter and sprinkled kosher salt on top.”, Patrick posted “Loved it! We did one slight change though… We added 1/3 C of some finely chopped and softened jalapeno. Cheddar and jalapeno are meant to be together.”, Rebecca posted “I was craving a good savory bread and this is it! I used a blend of cheddar, Monterey Jack, and parmesan. And Italian seasonings along with an added pinch of oregano as well as a teaspoon each of garlic and onion powders.”, Carol posted “I used asiago cheese. Melted the butter with a clove of garlic. Used thyme (generous 1/4 tsp) for the seasoning. Water instead of milk and added 1/4 cup of buttermilk powder to the dry ingredients. Cut the water by 1/8 cup and added an egg to help with structure. A great basic recipe is so versatile!”, Richelle posted “We did Asiago cheese and 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, and it came out beautifully! Thank you for posting this delicious recipe” and Claudette added “galic powder and cherry bomb pepper flakes with the sharp cheese, jalapeños cheese and parmasen cheese”.
• More great visitor tips – Carol stated (on our Jalapeno Cheese Bread page) “I found that… using shredded versus small dice sort of hides any of the cheesy taste. It is important that the cheese cubes are small (about 1/8 inch). Otherwise the melting cheese leaves big holes in the loaf.”

• Optional – If you want to add some fiber to this bread, you can replace 50% of the bread flour in the recipe with whole wheat flour. Don’t replace all of the bread flour or the bread will have trouble rising properly, experience loaf “moisture” issues (as whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid than bread flour), etc.
• Optional – You can create a garlic cheese bread (my favorite!) by mincing & frying 2 or 3 large cloves of garlic. I prefer not to use dehydrated garlic powder because garlic powder has an antimicrobial effect that slows or kills yeast. In my experience, when you fry the minced garlic, it seems to eliminate this antimicrobial problem (whereas just dehydrating the garlic does not).
• If you like garlic, check out my Bread Machine Garlic Cheese Bread Recipe. It uses even more cheese than this recipe in order to avoid being totally overpowered by the garlic. FYI – The recipe video on this page shows you how to make a bread machine cheese bread with garlic.
• Optional – For a spicier cheese bread, you can add 1 jalapeno (diced into small chunks). Of course, always be careful when cutting up hot peppers as the juice & oils can irritate or burn your skin, etc. Many people like to wear gloves when slicing up hot peppers.
• Or if you do not have jalapenos, you can also use dried red pepper flakes.
• Optional – Another way to boost your cheese bread flavor is to add 2 tablespoons of diced green onions (thanks Lisa for this tip!) or diced chives.
• Optional – Add 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning if you want to make a cheesy herb bread.
• Optional – Turn this bread into a bacon & cheese bread by adding 3 tablespoons of bacon bits. Thanks Tony B for this variation!
• Of course, you can also fry up your own bacon and chop it into small bits. Fried bacon has more flavor than packaged bacon bits.
• Optional – Or instead of bacon, you can use already cooked pepperoni. Just chop the pepperoni slices into small bits.
• Visitors – What extra ingredients do you like to add to your cheese bread? Garlic? Italian seasoning? Bacon? Pepperoni? Jalapenos? Other? Please post your ingredient ideas & suggestions in the comment section below.

• Do NOT use cold milk. The main problem with using regular milk is that people tend to use cold refrigerated milk and this can slow yeast growth. Try to use warm milk (or instant powdered milk mixed into warm water). However, you should also be aware that the milk/water should not be too hot because very hot milk/water can kill the yeast.
• The ideal temperature for liquid ingredients used when making bread machine bread is around 100 F to 110 F. Cold liquids (such as water & milk straight from the refrigerator) will slow yeast growth and liquid ingredients that are 140 F or above can kill the yeast. Some people like to use a digital bread thermometer in order to measure the temperature of their liquid ingredients.
• Optional – Consider using buttermilk instead of regular milk if you want to make an even “richer” tasting cheese bread. My thanks to Margaret for this tip!
• My recipe uses bread flour (not all purpose flour). Bread made with bread flour is airier & fluffier than breads made with all purpose flour.
• This recipe will NOT work with gluten free flour. Gluten free flour differs significantly versus flours with gluten and requires you to use recipes specifically designed for the use of gluten free flour. If you use gluten free flour in this recipe, you are likely to have a baking disaster.

• Use FRESH ingredients (e.g. flour) for the best results. Ingredients that have been sitting in the pantry for months can become stale or pick up weird smells & flavors.
• Try to keep your ingredients (e.g. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life.
• Flour (when stored in an open bag and not in an airtight container) can absorb a lot of moisture from the air. This extra moisture throws off recipes and can lead to bread collapses, etc.
• Although 99% of the time my recipes do not need any extra attention, I still like to check the dough in my bread machine after the first 4 or 5 minutes of mixing. Factors such as flour absorbing moisture from the air, a humid kitchen or minor inaccuracies in measuring ingredients can all affect the dough’s consistency. If the dough is looking too wet (semi-soupy), I add some flour (a little bit at a time) until the dough consistency looks correct. Check your bread machine’s instruction manual on how to do this safely & effectively with your specific machine.

• This recipe uses bread machine yeast (an instant yeast). It does NOT use active dry yeast. Active dry yeast needs to be pre-activated in liquid and it can take 10-15 minutes to activate the yeast. In contrast, bread machine yeast does not need to be pre-activated and is designed for bread machine recipes.
• If you haven’t used your bread machine in a long time, please buy some NEW bread machine yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Bread machine yeast may not be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
• If you are having trouble with bread machine bread collapses or bread that is too dense, you should visit Bread Dad’s sections on Why Did My Bread Collapse and Why Is My Bread So Dense.

• If you have a problem with a bread machine recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the right bread machine settings), using the correct amount of an ingredient (e.g. accidentally adding a teaspoon when a tablespoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (e.g. bread machine yeast versus regular yeast or bread flour versus all purpose flour), etc. Don’t “wing” things or “eyeball” ingredient amounts when making recipes.
• If you start substituting ingredients, you are experimenting and should not expect similar results to the recipe shown above. You can expect some successes but more potential disappointments when you start to experiment with recipes.
• Be aware that some bread recipes may differ slightly between different types of bread machines. Therefore, please read your bread machine manufacturer’s instructions for basic bread recipes (e.g. white bread or whole wheat bread) as these are more likely to work on your individual bread machine.

• You can also use this homemade bread to make one of Bread Dad’s hot & toasty Grilled Cheese & Panini Sandwich Recipes such as air fryer grilled cheese, chicken paninis and ham & cheese paninis.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (e.g. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (e.g. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (e.g. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine. The bread pan and the rest of the bread machine can get very hot during the baking process. This means that the bread pan and bread machine is likely to be very hot when you attempt to remove a baked good from the bread machine and/or bread pan.
• For more easy bread ideas, you might like to explore Bread Dad’s Bread Machine Recipes or Homemade Bread Recipes sections.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Bread
2. Wikipedia, Bread Machine
3. Wikipedia, Cheese

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6. Italian Herb & Cheese Bread – Oven baked

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