Cheese Batter Bread

So here was my foray into loaf making for the week. This is a batter bread, which my TOH cookbook instructs me is "beaten with an electric mixer to help give the bread a better texture. Because these breads are not kneaded, it is important to beat them until the batter comes away from the bowl and appears to be stringy." There is your bread-making lesson for today. Oh also it says they are best served the day they are made. So I was already planning to make this for this week, we were going to have it with soup, but then we had people coming over last night for dinner so I made chicken and potatoes and we had this bread to go with it as well. It smelled so so so good while it was baking. I was concerned when it didn't rise in the pan the way bread usually does, but when it was baking it finished up and came out perfect-o. The recipe is from TOH pg 458 (if you are mom or Jess who have this cookbook).

Cheese Batter Bread
1 pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
1 cup warm (110-115 degrees) chicken broth
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 egg, beaten
3 cups flour, divided
1 1/4 cup finely shredded cheddar (I just used regular shredded because that's what I had and it was fine)
onion salt, optional

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm broth. Add the sugar, butter, salt, poultry seasoning, egg, and 1 cup of flour; beat until smooth. Add 1 cup of the cheese and the remaining flour, stir for 1 minute. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Stir the batter about 25 strokes. Spread evenly into greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and onion salt, if desired. Bake @ 375 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

So this was pretty good. Our friend Josh had 2 pieces, so you know it wasn't just to be polite, because if you're just being polite you just eat 1 piece. So that was good. I must say the texture wasn't exactly what I had been hoping for, it seemed a little dense. But it did have a good flavor, and my piece was cold by the time I started eating it so maybe if it was warm it would have been better, I don't know. So I will keep this one to try again, with soup for real, next time.