School Cheese Bread

If you grew up in American public schools, the smell of warm cheese bread from the cafeteria is burned into your memory. Soft yeast dough rolled out flat, layered with overlapping slices of American cheese three rows thick, then rolled up like a jelly roll and baked until the outside is golden and the cheese inside is melted and gooey.

This recipe has been scaled down from its original institutional size (the full version calls for 40 pounds of flour and makes 44 loaves), but the technique is exactly the same. Warm water, sugar, powdered milk, and yeast create the base. Flour and butter get mixed in until you have a soft, elastic dough that’s easy to roll out.

Rolling the dough into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick gives you enough surface area for those generous layers of cheese. The three overlapping rows of American cheese is what makes this different from a basic cheese roll. When the bread bakes, the cheese melts into ribbons throughout the spiral, and the fold at each end keeps it from oozing out.

Let the formed loaves rise until doubled before baking. That rise gives the bread its soft, pillowy texture that makes the cheese bread so irresistible warm from the oven.

Chef Tips

• The dough should be elastic and smooth after kneading. If it tears when you stretch it, keep kneading. Under-kneaded dough won’t hold the cheese roll together.
• Use regular American cheese slices, not the fancy deli stuff. The processed cheese melts more smoothly and has that nostalgic flavor.
• Slice and serve warm. The cheese firms up as it cools and loses that gooey pull.

Variations

• Add a sprinkle of garlic powder and Italian herbs to the dough for a garlic cheese bread version.
• Use sharp cheddar instead of American for a more grown-up flavor.
• Brush the tops with melted butter right out of the oven for extra richness and shine.