Sunday is baking day and sometimes when I bake bread I like to mix it up and throw in some things from the fridge that are leftover from last week’s meals or shopping. Sometimes it ends up meh…but this one turned out fantastic. It was fantastic warm, right out of the oven, but also good toasted a few days later. It’s easy to get creative with the filling in breads. I’d love to hear how you’ve adapted this for yourself.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups warm water

8.5 g (1Tbsp) active dry yeast

12 g (1 Tbsp) sugar

780 g (6 1/2 cups) bread flour, sifted

12 g (2 tsp) kosher salt

55 g (1/4 cup) softened unsalted butter

4.5 ounces sliced olives

160 g Swiss Cheese*, cut into 1″ cubes

6 sliced green onions (green parts only)

Directions

Pour warm water into a lage bowl and dissolve sugar. Sprinkle yeast on top, give it a stir, and let sit for about five minutes, until the yeast dissolves and foams.

Sift three cups of flour on top of the water/yeast mixture and use a spoon to blend it together. Sift in the the rest of the flour, the salt and butter and stir until well combined. Knead for 10 minutes in a stand mixer at a low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. Then, pour out onto the counter (don’t add any additional flour) and knead for a few minutes by hand.

Shape it into a ball and return to the bowl. Cover with a moistened tea towel and proof for 1 – 1 1/2 hours, until it’s doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and split into two equal balls. Stretch or roll each into a 9×15 rectangle. Sprinkle the olives, cheese, and green onions on top. Then, starting with the short end, roll/fold it into a loaf.

Place seam side down into two 4″x8″ buttered loaf pans, tucking the ends in.

Preheat the oven to 375°F while the loafs proof for 30 – 45 more minutes (or until risen a bit out of the pan). Bake for 35 minues, until the loaves are browned. Turn the loaves out to cool.

*Use whatever cheese you have in the fridge. When I took the photo for this post, that just happened to be cheddar.