Is there anything better than the smell of freshly baked bread in your house on a cold autumn day? Yes. There is. It’s the smell of freshly baked bread with fresh ground black peppercorns and melty Gouda cheese.
With all the garlic basil butter I’ve been churning at home, I’ve needed something to spread it on. And this Black Pepper & Gouda Bread fits the bill. It actually might be the best thing I’ve ever tasted (sorry calzones). And making bread at home is so much fun. It’s cathartic, therapeutic, simple, yet a science. If I had a religion, bread bakers would be the priests, right up alongside beer brewers, who would be like, bishops I guess.
Anyway, the kick of the freshly ground pepper pairs perfectly with the nutty, creamy flavor of melted Gouda inside this well-seasoned loaf. After making this, I can honestly say 99% of my diet now consists of bread, butter, and beer.
Time You’ll Need
- Prep: ~45 minutes to 2 hours
- Cooking: ~25 minutes
What You’ll Need
- 3 ½ cups of flour (bread or all-purpose flour)
- 1 cup of warm water
- 1 package of rapid rise yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp diced garlic
- 8 oz of shredded gouda
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp butter (room temperature and diced into small tiny cubes)
- 1 tsp onion Powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
What You’ll Do
- In a large mixing bowl, mix sugar and the cup of warm water, then add the yeast. Cover with a towel and let it sit for ten minutes.
- After ten minutes the yeast should look frothy, like the head of a nice beer. Add flour, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, butter and a tablespoon of olive oil to the mixing bowl.
- Whether by hand or by machine, mix the dough four about 5-7 minutes. I set it at its standard one-speed setting (cause it’s the only setting that works on my stand mixer).
- Here’re some good instructions if you don’t have a mixer.
- Place the dough into a well-greased bowl (using either olive oil or nonstick spray) and cover with either a lid or seal with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit at room temp for 45 minutes at the minimum, ideally, you’ll want it to sit out for about 2 hours.
- In the meantime, preheat the oven to 435. Once the time is up for the bread, gently knead it a bit. And add another splash of black pepper and salt. Then work in the 2 tbsp of minced garlic and the shredded cheese into the dough.
- Once it is well-mixed, shape the dough to desired form. It’s easiest to use a bread pan, but you can free-loaf it on a baking sheet.
- If you opt for the bread pan, then shape the dough into a well-greased bread pan, brush with olive oil, sprinkle on any remaining cheese and bake for about 20-25 minutes until it starts to turn nice and brown.
- Remove from oven and bread pan and let it cool for another 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
