40% Whole Wheat Cheese Bread (No Knead)

Part of the beauty of artisan breads is their rustic charm.  It is immediately apparent that artisan breads are not mass produced.  The loaves are never perfectly shaped adding to the eye appeal.  The tops usually have some type of coating whether is be simply plain flour or rolled oats.  Unfortunately if buying an artisan bread in a bakery, you may not get to see the crumb (interior pore formation) prior to bringing it home to cut, but that crumb certainly will not disappoint.  Unlike mass produced breads, the ingredients for artisan breads are simple and unpretentious.  All that is needed for a good loaf of artisan bread is flour, salt, yeast and water.  That's it!

Continuing with my experiments with no knead fermented doughs, I made a loaf of 40% whole wheat cheese bread using the cold ferment 40% whole wheat dough.  I simply cut a strip about 3-inches wide and 10-inches long from the refrigerated dough that was about an inch and a half thick.  I worked in about 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese using the press and fold method then shaped the dough into a boule.  I placed the boule on a sheet of lightly floured parchment paper, covered with plastic wrap and let rest 3 hours.  During the last half hour of the dough resting, I preheated the Dutch oven at 425°F.  When the Dutch oven was ready, I transferred the parchment paper and dough to the Dutch oven, covered and baked for 40 minutes.  Then I removed the lid and baked for an additional 5 minutes.

The 40% whole wheat cheese bread had a tantalizing, mouthwatering aroma!  This was a lovely looking loaf of bread with a good rise and nice pore formation even though I forgot to slash the top.  The crust and interior texture were perfect.  Like the cheesy bread made with cold fermented dough using unbleached flour, the whole wheat version is a keeper!