Pepperoni Cheese Bread
One of my favorite bread machine recipes. Excellent as is, dipped in marinara sauce or made into pizzas. For Mini-pizzas- Toast the bread and top with pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. Melt cheese in toaster oven (best way) or microwave. Now I like to layer the toasted bread with pepperoni then the sauce and cheese to keep the bread from getting a bit soggy from the sauce. Recipe is for 2 pound loaf and amounts on right are for 1 1/2 pound loaf.
One of my favorite bread machine recipes. Excellent as is, dipped in marinara sauce or made into pizzas. For Mini-pizzas- Toast the bread and top with pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. Melt cheese in toaster oven (best way) or microwave. Now I like to layer the toasted bread with pepperoni then the sauce and cheese to keep the bread from getting a bit soggy from the sauce. Recipe is for 2 pound loaf and amounts on right are for 1 1/2 pound loaf.
- 2 pound loaf 1 1/2 pound loaf
- 1 1/2 cups water 1 1/4 cups
- 4 cups gold medalâ® better for breadâ„¢ flour 3 1/4 cups
- 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/3 cup
- 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tbls
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt 1 1/2 tsp
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves 1 1/2 tsp
- 1 3/4 teaspoons regular active dry yeast 1 1/2 tsp
- or
- 1 3/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast or quick-acting active dry yea 1 1/2 tsp
- mix-in:
- 1 cup sliced pepperoni 2/3 cup
- Carbohydrate 6.45191111283871 g
- Cholesterol 135.417777817693 mg
- Fat 49.2692888988179 g
- Fiber 2.57099998474121 g
- Protein 40.2975222373527 g
- Saturated Fat 20.046076117419 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (1452g)
- Sodium 10002.98779233 mg
- Sugar 3.8809111280975 g
- Trans Fat 7.92227722273613 g
- Calories 633 calories
Step-by-step
- Remove bread pan; attach kneading blade.
- Place all ingredients in bread pan in the order listed.
- Insert bread pan, close lid and plug in.
- Select bread type: Press SELECT until the desired bread setting number is displayed. Press START. (For white breads, the bread setting selections are numbers 1-3. Select “1” for 1 pound loaf recipes. Select either “2” or “3” for 1 1/2 and 2 pound loaf recipes. Select “2” for a desired medium crust color and “3” for a desired dark crust color.)
- Press START. Bread will be done baking in the number of hours indicated.
- Add Mix-ins when bread maker beeps, about 32 minutes after starting.
- A fruit and nut beep is indicated at 32 minutes into the cycle.
Standard ratios on paper often obscure how fats alter gluten development during kneading. When high-fat mix-ins like cured meats and aged cheeses encounter flour proteins, the lipid content coats the gluten strands, physically shortening them and yielding a softer crumb than a lean white loaf would produce. This structural modification means adding the sliced pepperoni too early in the cycle can result in dense spots where the blades fail to knead the dough evenly. Waiting for the specific fruit and nut beep at roughly 32 minutes allows the gluten network to form its foundational elasticity before mechanical shearing introduces heavy fat pockets. As the loaf bakes, rendered oils from the meat migrate outward, frying the surrounding crumb against the pan walls while moisture from the dissolving cheese creates pockets of steam that expand the interior cells. Garlic salt supplies both sodium and aromatics, though reducing the overall quantity is necessary if substituting standard table salt, since coarse salts weigh differently by volume. Dried herbs contribute essential volatile compounds that cut through the richness of the melted dairy solids, balancing the heavy lipid profile without adding excess moisture that might disrupt the hydration ratios established by the initial liquid measurements. Storing the baked bread at room temperature for longer than 48 hours encourages staling due to retrogradation of the starch molecules, making freezing sliced portions the most reliable method for long-term preservation.
