Potato, Sausage, and Cheese Bread

Here's post number two! I had some ingredients (namely the cheese) that I wanted to use up, and thought that this wonderful bread recipe I found at Sweet Road (!!!) would be perfect. And it was! Although I changed the filling and some of the measurements, the bread turned out oh-so-soft on the inside and had just the right amount of crunch to the crust.

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cups warm water (should not feel cold or warm to touch -- basically it is "body temperature")

2. 1 1/2 tbs. dry yeast

3. 2 tbs. sugar (or honey)

4. 4 cups all-purpose flour (divided into 2 portions)

5. 1.5 tsp salt

6. 2 1/2 tbs. butter, softened

7. Filling: Cheese, 4 bulbs of green onion, sausage, pepper and salt (I used lemon-pepper seasoning), 1 potato cut into half-inch cubes.

8. 1 egg yolk

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (stir to get rid of clumps, if any) until foamy or murky. 

2. Stir in sugar.

3. Stir in 2 cups of flour and let sit for 45 minutes.

4. Fold in salt, butter, and the other 2 cups of flour. 

   
*My dough was still pretty sticky and un-kneadable at this point. Add tablespoons of flour as necessary. However, even when I was done adding flour, the dough was not perfectly smooth and not-sticky. As a test to see if you're done, if you have dough stuck on your hands, the dough should form little balls and fall off of your hands when you rub them together.

5. Knead dough for 8-10 minutes on a lightly floured surface.

6. Put dough into mixing bowl or container and cover with a paper towel. Let rise for at least 1 hour.

*If your room/house is chilly, turning on the oven and leaving the door open with the bowl nearby can help the dough rise. Or, letting the dough rise for a longer time might help.

7. Punch down risen dough and roll out into a rectangular shape. The thickness, width, and length will determine what your bread will look like and how large it will be.

8. Preheat oven to 400F.

9. Let rectangle sit for 20 minutes while you cut your sausage, cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar), green onion, and boil your potatoes (I like my potatoes on the soft side so I boiled them for a bit longer).

10. Sprinkle filling down the center of the rectangle.

11. Cut strips in the dough surround the filling. Season with pepper, salt, minced garlic, etc. as desired.

12. Overlap the strips, tucking the ends under each other.

13. Brush top of bread with egg yolk and sprinkle with pepper (I used lemon-pepper seasoning).

14. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for at least 10-15 minutes on baking tray after removing from oven, before transferring to plate, cooling rack, or cutting + serving. 

Enjoy!

Ellie