Garlic bread stuffed with cheese

Every time I think about junk food in general , I normally recall or crave for a KFC Burger or Dominos pizza with garlic bread plus cheese dip. After making pizzas from the scratch at home, courtesy my mom - I started disliking commercial pizzas. Mainly for their dry, chewy crust. Then when you end up ordering a non veg pizza, there is barely any toppings on it - I mean you can literally count them. The mozzarella cheese which is also at times substituted with solidified mayonnaise (at least that's what the rumours read) makes it blah!!

But when you make something at home, especially pizzas - you realise that for a mere 500 bucks, you can end up having a minimum of 4 regular size pizzas loaded with sauce, toppings and cheese dolloped to your hearts content. But then the ever so elusive garlic bread, was something that I had never got down to baking at home. So it was high time I conquered this challenge and turned it into reality.

Tadahhh!!!

You know what - it's a super easy recipe. Just get the measurements right along with dough consistency, which needs to be soft and pliable, well risen and proofed twice.

Unlike the original recipe which you might notice in most blog posts on the web - I have added milk powder to make this softer & not chewy like Dominos. Brushed it with milk and not egg wash to give it a nice golden hue for the crust, which also makes it a 100% vegetarian recipe. Now instead of filling it up with cheese you may also add in shredded & grilled chicken or bell peppers along with sliced onions. To turn this dish into a loaded non vegetarian garlic bread of your choice :)

Here's what you need :

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups - All purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)

1 tsp - Instant dry yeast

1tbsp - Sugar

1/2 tsp - Salt

4 tbsp - Oil

1 tbsp - Milk powder

1 cube - Grated cheese

1 tsp - Oregano

1 tsp - Chili flakes

1/4 cup - melted butter

2 tbsp - Coarsely ground garlic

1 cup - Luke warm water for kneading

Milk for brushing

PROCEDURE :

1. Melt 2 tbsp of unsalted butter in a microwave safe bowl and stir in 1tsp of coarsely ground garlic paste. Set aside.

2. In a deep bowl, add flour - make a well and add yeast, sugar, salt, milk powder, 1tbsp garlic paste + butter, 2tbsp Oil.

3. Add lukewarm water and knead the dough until its soft & sticky for 10mins.

4. Grease the bowl with some oil all over its circumference and let it rest for 2 hrs in a warm place, until it doubles in size.

5. Remove the dough after 2hrs and knead again to punch out the air, roll out on a parchment paper into a circular shape.

6. Brush with butter garlic mixture, add grated cheese, jalapeños, chilli flakes and oregano.

7. Fold the rolled out dough into half (semi circle). Brush with milk and drizzle some more oregano, make incisions by using a knife. Let it rest for 30mins. Pre - heat your oven at 180C for 10mins.

8. Bake the dough for 20-30mins until a golden crust starts to form on its top. Remove from the oven and brush immediately with garlic butter mixture. This will prevent the crust from hardening.

Your homemade garlic bread is ready !!

Serve when its warm with a nice cheese dip or simply enjoy it with some ketchup.

The trick to any good bread made at home is patience, using a good quality yeast, letting it rise and bake to perfection. If the dough doesn't rise - your bread is going to end up being rock hard, so might as well discard it and try again :)