Cheese and Bacon Pull Apart Loaf

When I was younger I lived within walking distance of a ‘Baker’s Delight’, my favourite thing to buy was their cheese and bacon pull apart loaf. Last weekend I decided to try and whip one up myself, I used the same method as my Cinnamon Pull Apart Loaf but tried a more savoury dough recipe.  I love the cheese and bacon combo but you could change it up with other savoury fillings or add something like chives if you have them on hand.

Ingredients:
Dough:
1½ teaspoons dry active yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
¼ cup warm milk
1 large egg, whisked
½ teaspoon salt
50g butter, soft cut into cubes
1½ -1¾ cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
250 grams crispy bacon, crumpled into small pieces
25 grams garlic butter, melted

Method:
In the bowl of your mixer stir together the water, yeast and sugar. Leave it for a few minutes until the yeast dissolves and starts to bubble. Then stir in the milk, egg and salt.
Then add the flour and softened butter and combine using your dough hook, this could be done by hand with a wooden spoon as this is quite a soft dough. Let the dough hook knead the dough or knead it vigorously with your hand for a few minutes in the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, knead in a bit more flour by the tablespoon. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside somewhere warm to rise for about 90 minutes, it will double in size.
Grease your loaf tin with butter and set aside. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out your dough, it should be roughly 20cmx40cm. Use a pastry brush to spread melted garlic butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle with the cheese and bacon.
Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. You’ll have six stacks of six squares. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book – you can check out pictures here.
At this stage you can cover your loaf with glad wrap and place it the fridge overnight, you can then remove it the next morning and set it aside for 30-45 minutes for a second rise while you pre-heat your oven to 180°C, or if you want to bake it the same day you can give it it’s second rise straight away and then place it in your preheated oven to bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden and it is cooked through.
After cooking set it aside for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges and removing it to serve warm.