How to Make Cheese Bread with a Cozy

Serve this bread with a hearty, thick soup, such as cream of broccoli.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cozy:
• 1 27x20" dish towel
• 1 10x7" piece of felt
• 1/2" wide piece of elastic
• needle
• thread
• Bread:
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups non-alcoholic beer
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. To make the cozy, cut length of elastic to encircle bread pan. Sew ends together; set aside. Fold edges of towel in half. Insert felt between layers. Center empty loaf pan on folded towel.

2. Bring towel up against pan; place elastic around towel and pan. Pin long edges of towel over elastic to encase it. Remove pan. Sew folded edge down, but do not catch elastic in stitching.

3. To make the bread, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5" loaf pan.

4. Mix together flour, cheese, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, oregano, parsley, thyme, and salt.

5. In a small bowl, combine beer and oil. Make a well in center of flour mixture. Add beer all at once, tossing with fork until dry ingredients are just moistened. Spread batter in prepared pan; smooth top.

6. Bake bread until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool for 15 minutes.

7. To place baked bread in cozy, simply stretch cozy around the bread, covering the pan.

8. If you're feeling handy, use a needle and embroidery thread to embroider the initials of a friend on the cozy. Sketch it in chalk first.

9. Bake mini loaves for 20-25 minutes in 8 mini loaf pans. Then use the cozy as a bread basket to hold them.

10. Slice the bread and serve it with a small pat of butter cut with a cookie cutter.

Tips & Warnings

• Add a zesty punch to this cheese bread by adding a tsp of crushed red pepper flakes to the cheese and herb mixture.
• The recipe calls for non-alcoholic beer, but you can also use beer with alcohol. Keep in mind that dark beers, like ales and stouts, are more flavorful than light.
• To freeze this bread, allow it to cool completely, then wrap tightly with foil.
• You can save money by purchasing blocks of cheese and grating it yourself as you need it. It will also stay fresh longer.