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Ingredients
- Gather your starter ingredients:
- Make the overnight starter
- 1 1/4 cups 1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
- 1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/2 cup 1/2 cup cool water
- Filling:
- 2 1/2 cups 2 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese, or the grated/shredded cheese of your choice (sharp cheddar, or a mixture of provolone and mozzarella are tasty)
- 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon garlic oil (optional)
- 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon Pizza Seasoning (optional)
Preparation
Step 1
Overnight Starter: Mix everything until well combined; the starter will be stiff, not soft/liquid. (If you’ve used all-purpose flour, the starter may seem a bit softer.)
Cover with plastic wrap and let rest overnight at room temperature (65°F to 75°F is ideal). Next day, your starter should have expanded and become somewhat puffy/bubbly.
Make the dough
All of the starter (above)
1 cup + 2 tablespoons to 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water*
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Pizza Dough Flavor (optional)
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
*Why the range in water amount? Flour is like a sponge; it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere when the weather is hot and humid, and dries out when it’s cold and dry outside. This time of year (winter), you’ll probably use the greater amount of water; but start with the lesser amount, adding more as needed to make a soft, smooth dough. The dough should be somewhat sticky; but not so sticky that it coats/sticks to your hands and/or work surface.
Combine the risen starter with the water, salt, flavor (if you’re using it), flour, and yeast. By the way, what IS Pizza Dough Flavor? It’s a cheese-y, garlicky flavor that enhances the flavor of pizza crust, or any kind of savory bread — like this one.
Knead the mixture — by hand, mixer, or bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a smooth dough. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl (or large measuring cup, or dough doubler), and cover it. While it is rising, make the filling.
Let the dough rise. Give it enough time to nearly double in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. There should be lots of stretchy gluten - stringy. Gently deflate the dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, or a piece of parchment. If your dough is on the stickier side and seems a bit hard to handle, lightly grease the parchment.
Pat and stretch it into a 3/4″-thick rectangle, about 9″ x 12″. Spritz the dough with water (or brush it with garlic oil). Sprinkle with the grated cheese (and seasoning, if you’re using it). Starting with a long side, roll the dough into a log; use the parchment to help you with this. The cheese will try to fall out; that’s OK, just try to enclose as much as possible, then pack any errant cheese into the ends. Pinch the seam and the ends to seal.
Place the log, seam-side down, on a lightly floured or lightly oiled surface (or leave it on the parchment and place the parchment on a baking sheet, for easiest transport).
Cover the bread and let it rise until it’s puffy though not doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F. If you’re baking two loaves, position a rack in the center of the oven. If you’re baking four loaves, place two racks towards the center of the oven with just enough room in between to accommodate the rising loaves.
Slice the risen dough into loaves. Gently cut the log into four crosswise slices, for mini-breads; or simply cut the dough in half, for two normal-sized loaves. A large sharp knife or serrated knife works well here. If for some reason you fail to cut all the way through the dough at the bottom, simply take a pair of scissors and snip through the dough.
Place the loaves on one (for two loaves) or two (for four mini-loaves) lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, cut side up. Spread them open a bit at the top, if necessary, to more fully expose the cheese.
Spritz the loaves with warm water; this helps keep their top crust moist as they begin to bake, enhancing oven-spring (rise in the oven).
The loaves will have deflated a bit as you handle them; but if you place them in the preheated oven immediately, they’ll pick right up again.
Bake the bread
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes (for the mini-loaves), or 35 to 40 minutes (for the full-sized loaves), or until the cheese is melted and the loaves are a deep golden brown.
If you’re baking four loaves on two pans, rotate the pans halfway through the baking time: top to bottom, bottom to top. This will help keep their bottoms from becoming too brown.
Remove the pans from the oven, and cool the bread (just slightly) right on the pans.
Some loaves become perfect volcanoes of melted cheese; some are more discreet. But make no mistake, melted cheese is a major part of the experience!
Make them ahead
Prepare the loaves up to the point where they’re shaped and on the pan(s). Tent them with greased plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator overnight. Next morning, remove the loaves from the refrigerator (keep them covered). Let rest at room temperature for 90 minutes before baking as directed. You can also freeze the unbaked loaves to bake later; see the recipe’s tip section for details.