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The cheesiest swirled Soft Garlic Herb Cheddar Cheese Bread. Simple to make and even more delicious to eat! This light, doughy, and super soft bread is swirled with sharp cheddar cheese, Italian herbs, and hinted lightly with garlic. It makes for the most delicious companion to your dinner table or game day spread. It’s easy yet impressive. And it’s best served warm, right out of the oven, while it’s still gooey and cheesy. You will LOVE this bread.
It’s so funny how this time of year I always bake bread. In fact, so much bread. It’s the days getting shorter and the nights getting cooler. This always leaves me thinking about the bread my mom would bake up in the fall. She kept her loaves of bread simple. But it’s her love for fresh bread that inspires me to bake my own every single fall.
This year I’m adding cheese and herbs for a savory twist. This makes the bread great to serve with dinner or as an appetizer.
Shockingly, I’ve never shared a homemade cheesy bread with you guys, so I’m especially excited about this recipe! I love how easy it is to make, how impressive it looks, and of course, how delicious it is!
Here are the details.
For the dough, I like to keep it simple with a mix of flour, yeast, and a pinch of salt. My secret is to use a good amount of eggs to make more of a brioche-style dough. The combination creates a dough that stays incredibly soft and fluffy. It’s my favorite dough to use and is always so easy to work with.
I prefer to use active dry yeast, which I personally think rises nicer than instant. And it really is just as quick and easy.
And that’s the dough. Once you have it made, let it rise until it has doubled in size. Nothing too fancy here.
The cheese
While the bread is rising, you can mix up the cheese blend. I’m using a combination of sharp cheddar, melty mozzarella, and parmesan. It’s a pretty simple everyday mix, but one that just about everyone enjoys!
And then for the herbs, I used a mix of fresh sage, oregano, and thyme. It’s everything we still have on hand right now from the summer harvest. I love the sage, it’s really nice and warming for fall and goes great with the cheddar!
Once the dough has risen
Roll it out, just like you might roll out a cinnamon roll, into a flat rectangle. Then sprinkle on the cheese blend and roll the dough into a log.
Next, cut the log in half vertically to expose the cheese. Twist the two pieces of dough over each other to create a loose twist. And finally, coil the dough up into a circle. It’s going to be messy, but don’t stress. Stuff any cheese that falls out back on top of the bread. It does not need to be perfect!
Once you have the bread shaped, let it rise, and then bake. Please, please, please, enjoy this warm, right out of the oven, and while the cheese is still gooey inside!
I love this as a Sunday night football appetizer or side dish to a big family dinner.
A few dinner recommendations to serve alongside this cheesy bread.…autumn soup, hearty lasagna…with a big fall salad, a family casserole, or a creamy pasta.
Looking for fall bread recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Parmesan Popovers with Crispy Sage Garlic Butter
Pull Apart Parmesan Sage Butter Brioche Rolls
Easy Pull Apart Garlic Parmesan Bread
Lastly, if you make this Soft Garlic Herb Cheddar Cheese Bread be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Soft Garlic Herb Cheddar Cheese Bread
Servings: 15
Calories Per Serving: 263 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup warm whole milk
- 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 large eggs
- 3 1/2 – 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups shredded cheddar
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup chopped Italian herbs such as sage, oregano, basil, and thyme
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the milk, yeast, and honey. Let sit 5-10 minutes, until bubbly on top. Add the eggs, 3 1/2 cups flour, and salt. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. If the dough is still sticky, add the additional 1/2 cup flour, adding more as needed until the dough is smooth to touch.2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size.3. In a bowl, combine the cheeses, herbs, and garlic.4. Punch the dough down and roll out onto a lightly floured surface, creating a large rectangle about 12 x 18 inches. Sprinkle the cheese mix evenly over the dough. Starting with the long edge closest to you, roll the dough into a log, keeping it tight as you go. When you reach the edge, pinch along the edge to seal. 5. Using a sharp knife, cut the log of dough in half lengthwise, leaving a small portion at one end intact (see above photo). Turn the halves out to expose the filling. Cross the dough ropes over each other, repeating the twisting until you have a long, twisted dough.6. Coil the dough into a circle (see above photo). Carefully transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let sit 15 minutes.7. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Slice and serve warm.
This bread is amazing, turned out perfectly. It looked so fancy and was so simple to do. My family loved it, I will definitely be making it again!
Thanks for a great recipe. If I make the dough in advance once it has doubled should I move it to the refrigerator until I am ready to use it?
Yes! That should work just fine 🙂 xTieghan
Thanks! I ended up assembling it after the rise and then placed the assembled bread into the refrigerator until ready to cook. It came out great!
So glad it turned out great! Thanks so much for trying out the recipe, I’m sure you nailed it! xTieghan
I want to make the dough ahead of time. How long can the dough be kept in the fridge? Do you think it will still turn out ok if I wait up to 24 hrs prior to baking?
Hi Jessica,
Yes, I think that would work well for you. I hope you enjoy the recipe and happy holidays! xT
Just out of the oven. So good!! Tempted to keep it for myself instead of taking it to our early Thanksgiving dinner.??? I’ll be making this often
Thanks so much! xTieghan
Thank you for the recipe. I made this yesterday and it is quite delicious. For my husband and me, the loaf is very large. Next time, I will divide and make two smaller loaves and freeze one. But for entertaining a group, the large loaf makes for a show stopping presentation!
Hi there! So glad to hear this bread was enjoyed, I hope you loved it! Thanks again. xTieghan
Dear Tieghan,
This was beyond good. I followed your recipe to a t. I was quite on the lookout for spillages but mine l0oked much neater than yours, a perfect beautiful snail with layers of cheese and herbs peeping out. I wish I would be able to upload a photo.
This is not meant as an one-upmanship to you – yours looked so yummy and I was very afraid of the mess I would produce. This is to encourage other readers to go and try this recipe, it is a stunner.
We had it as a side to a barbecue, but it is very filling and so spectacular – have it as an appetizer to some drinks (for up to eight) when you are unsure about your entree. Everyone will love you.
I grated the mozzarella as well as the cheddar and parmesan and used parsley, oregano, sage, rosemary and basil.
Love you, Tieghan, take care!
Silke
I just made this and it turned out perfect! Didn’t have all the fresh herbs, so I used some of them in a dried version.
Since I dont have cups, just a scale: I used 460g of flour plus a little bit more for dusting, and the amount of liquid was perfect.
Great recipie, its almost all gone already and I was asked if I would mind making it again this weekend
Hey Sinia,
Awesome!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! Have a great weekend:) xTieghan
Everything looks delicious
Thanks so much!!
Hey! I am going to male this bread for dinner today, I cant wait, since it looks super delicious! I just have one question, I am used the the metric system, I didnt noticed I could change to metric in your recipe, so I looked it up myself. For flour it says 500gram equals 4 cups but the recipe says 900 gram. Which one should I use?
Hi Rena,
I would use 500 grams of flour, sometimes the metric conversion calculator doesn’t convert the best. Please let me know if you give the bread a try! xTieghan
Thank you! I tried it, and it was really tasty! I will for sure make that one again soon. 🙂
I wish mine turned out as good as yours. Something happened to mine. I think it’s because I don’t have a mixer…. I did it by hand and had to add more flour and mine got to thick. Maybe I’ll try again next week. Ha.
Hey Brianna,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, if you are mixing by hand just be sure to knead for a little while, it’s a great arm workout:) xTieghan
The perfect accompaniment to our chili dinner. Was a beautiful loaf to display on the island before our meal, also. I used a thermometer and baked until the internal temp was 200f after reading another reviewer say her loaf did not bake through. It was perfect! The leftovers make excellent toast.
Hi Heather,
Fantastic!! So great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and thanks a lot for making it. Have a great week!? xTieghan
This was SO delicious!!! it was perfectly paired with homemade tomato basil soup!! Thank you!!!
Hi Karlee,
Happy Sunday! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner. Thanks a lot for giving it a try! xTieghan
So awesome. I’m a sucker for cheesy garlic breads and this hit the spot. My kitchen is a mess right now but I have some delicious food in my belly.
Hi Gabriela,
Fantastic!! So great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and thanks a lot for making it. Have a great week!? xTieghan
Love this recipe!! I just made it and had my first bite. Wow! I was wondering how I should store this bread. Is it okay to store it on the counter or should I store it in the fridge?
Hi Ray,
Fantastic!! So great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and thanks a lot for making it. You can store on the counter in an airtight container. Have a great week!? xTieghan
its looks good
Thanks so much Christine!!
I’m going to try this at our next big family spaghetti weekend get together ( we play croquet, pitch horseshoes ) then the big meal, which is different at each get together ( which is twice a summer ), It’s 26 people ( big ones and small ones ). We sometimes have a very large pot of chili with cheese on the side and franks, then it might be a pot of taco soup, or a large pot of brown beans ( cause i have a grown up Grandson who has always ask for his Grandpas brown beans and crackling cornbread ) with about 10 lbs of fried potatoes, along with a few other dishes. And then there is my favorite that my wife makes for me quite often Taco salad, ( and on the weekend its picked for the family meal, she works her magic and there is enough to feed everyone and have seconds for who want them.). so i think the next time we have spaghetti I’m going to try making the Soft Garlic Herb Cheddar Cheese Bread because it sounds delicious over our standard texas garlic toast.
I hope you love the recipe Sonnie, sounds like such fun evening! Please let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan,
This looks like a lovely recipe. I would like to make with a bunch of appetisers for a party, is there maybe a dip you would recommend rather than a bigger dish such as casserole or soup?
Also can you make the dough the night before and then bake the following day?
Many thanks
Hey Kate,
Yes, you can make the dough and finish the recipe the following day, just allow it to return to room temp. Here are some dip recipes you might enjoy:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/roasted-lemon-spinach-and-artichoke-dip/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/cheesy-fontina-chorizo-caramelized-onion-artichoke-dip/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/margherita-pizza-dip-burrata/
I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
Any tips for making the dough a day before my dinner party?
Hey Melissa,
You could assemble the entire bread, keep covered in the fridge, and then remove and allow to return to room temp before baking. I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan