Playing with my cheese breads

This past Spring & Summer I've been fairly busy with gardening and home chores and playing around with food combinations, cheese breads in particular. I really enjoy biting into a nice warm piece of bread or slopping up soups and stews or sauces with them. The 3 recipes I'll be posting are winners with my family and friends. 


Lets start with a variation of my pizza dough and make ultra cheesy mozzarella bread with bacon! Eat them as is or dip them in marinara sauce. They're unbelievably cheesy, fluffy bites of naughtiness.

Dough 1 cup of warm water (105 -110 degrees)
1/3 cup warm whole milk - can use evaporated milk
1/4 cup powered milk or powdered creamer
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoons yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar (optional)
*1/2 cup melted butter (do not add this directly into the dough)

Toppings
3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese.
1/2 cup of real bacon bits
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregono
Optional: sprinkle of basil

Directions

1. Heat water and whole milk to 110 degrees. Add yeast, salt, dry milk and sugar in large bowl and let proof for 5 minutes. Slowly add flour 1 cup at a time. Kneed it well by hand (about 5 to 10 minutes). Cover with warm damp cloth.
2. Prepare your 3 quart glass baking pan by pouring 1/4 cup of the melted butter evenly onto the bottom of the pan. Note: If you want a thinner crust, use a larger baking dish. 
3. Roll dough out large enough to cover the bottom of your baking pan and lay dough into the pan. Cover with warm damp cloth and let rise for about 1 hour. When the dough has double it's ready to go or you can wait a little longer if you get busy. 
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
5. Spread the other 1/4 cup of melted butter over raised dough. 
6. Spread the mozzarella cheese, bacon bits, garlic salt, parsley, oregano and basil evenly over buttered dough. 
7. Bake on the middle rack until cheese bubbles and crust turns a nice golden brown. About 20-30 minutes depending on your oven's heat--ovens tend to vary. Slice, top with Parmesan and red pepper flakes if desired and serve with your favorite marinara sauce.