The cheese in this Walnut and Gruyère Loaf is just so delicious. Nuts are a nutritious and delicious addition to any bread dough, along with the cheese that adds flavour and texture to the bread.
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This yeasted bread is very easy to make and ready in around 3 hours. Sounds like a long time but well worth it. It's the proofing that takes up most of the time here!
What are Cheese breads?
Cheese breads are homemade breads packed with various cheeses. Our Walnut and Gruyère is a simple yeasted dough that can be used to accommodate a number of different additions.
Ingredients
- Flour, white strong bread flour is used in this recipe but we've also used strong wholemeal too and sometimes a blend of both.
- Salt, we use sea salt for extra flavour.
- Fast action dried yeast.
- Unsalted butter, use at room temperature.
- Tepid water.
- Olive oil for greasing tin and kneading. Light olive oil will suffice rather than extra virgin.
- Walnuts, chop these roughly but not too large.
- 100g Gruyère cheese, grated.
How to make Walnut and Gruyère Loaf
- Lightly brush olive oil on the inside of a 10" tin.
- Fill a roasting tin with water and pop in the bottom of your oven. This will create steam in the oven when baking the bread, the steam will help produce a really crisp crust. Take a look at the science bit here.
- Put the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl and stir together.
- Make a small well in the centre and add the melted butter and tepid water.
- Make sure the water is only warm not hot or the yeast will die and the dough will not rise.
- Mix until the ingredients together until are all combined and the dough is soft. You may need a little more water, 225 ml seemed fine for this amount of flour.
- Add the chopped walnuts and the grated Gruyère cheese and combine into the dough for another minute or two.
- Tip the dough onto an oiled surface and knead for 5-10 minutes (or use an electric mixer with a dough hook for 2 minutes) until the dough has a nice soft, smooth skin.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove/rise for 1 hour until doubled in size.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and knock back the dough (punch the air out).
- Give the dough a little knead, pull it up and in on itself, then mould the dough into a ball again.
- Pop the dough into a lightly oiled tin (I like a round loaf) and covered with a plastic bag or cling film, then prove for another hour. The dough should be doubled in size again.
- *Dust the top of the loaf with flour and put two cuts in the dough.
- Bake in a very hot oven, 200ºC/gas 7 for 30 minutes.
- Cool the loaf for a few minutes then take out of the tin and cool on a wire rack.
*At this stage you can also grate more cheese over the unbaked dough for a cheesy, crispy top!
**For extra flavour and this is something I love to add to my savoury breads is to brush the top of the unbaked bread with garlic and/or herb butters. The butters will infuse down into the bread and add another flavour level into the bake.
Can you freeze this Loaf?
Like most breads, this Walnut and Gruyère loaf will freeze well for up to 2 months. Wrap tightly in two layers of cling film to freeze. Thaw at room temperature when needed. We do usually slice our loaf to make it easier to just take out single slices.
How long will Walnut and Gruyère Loaf last?
Not long, but that's only because it is so delicious and you won't have it round for long! But it will keep fairly fresh in a bread bin for a couple of days, then can be toasted to prolong its use.
Can I use other cheeses and nuts?
You can use any cheese such as Cheddar, Gouda, even Parmesan is great too! Always grate the cheeses for the best texture in the bread.
Hazelnuts, almonds, pecans and pistachios are all good in bread dough too.
Other Bread recipes you may love:
Recipe originally posted in 2013, updated in 2021.
Walnut and Gruyere Loaf
Ingredients
- 350 g white bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 7 g fast action dried yeast
- 25 g unsalted butter, melted
- 225 ml tepid water
- Olive oil , for greasing pan and kneading
Instructions
- Lightly brush Olive oil on the inside of a 10" loaf pan.
- Fill a roasting tin with water and pop in the bottom of your oven (to create steam in the oven when baking the bread).
- Put the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl and stir together.
- Make a small well in the center and add the melted butter and tepid water.
- Mix until the ingredients together until are all combined and the dough is soft. You may need a little more water, 225 ml seemed fine for this amount of flour.
- Add the chopped walnuts and the grated Gruyère cheese and combine into the dough for another minute or two.
- Tip the dough onto an oiled surface and knead for 5-10 minutes (or use an electric mixer with a dough hook for 2 minutes) until the dough has a nice soft, smooth skin.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove/rise for 1 hour until doubled in size.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and knock back the dough (punch the air out).
- Give the dough a little knead, pull it up and in on itself, then mould the dough into a ball again.
- Pop the dough into a lightly oiled tin (I like a round loaf) and covered with a plastic bag or cling film, then prove for another hour. The dough should be doubled in size again.
- Dust the top of the loaf with flour and put two cuts in the dough.
- Bake in a very hot oven, 200ºC/gas 7 for 30 minutes.
- Cool the loaf for a few minutes then take out of the tin and cool on a wire rack.
Recipe Notes
*Nutritional data is provided as a courtesy and is accurate to the best of my knowledge. You can verify it using the nutrition calculator of your choice. All data is based on net carbs, without sugar alcohol: Swerve, Erythritol, Monk Fruit or Allulose.
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Aimee / Wallflower Girl
Wow, I love the sound of these flavours in a bread. I bet it went lovely with the apple in the jam! And your loaf turned out perfectly too, I think Paul would be impressed...
nutritiousdeliciousness
Thank you Aimee, tasted brilliant with butter and jam, I don't eat much jam these days but there's something about knowing where the ingredients were grown.
Sally - My Custard Pie
I love kneading but also use the dough hook on my Kitchenaid quite often too - it's the difference between having homemade or bought bread when I'm very busy. Lovely flavours in this - can't wait for next week's GBBO 🙂
nutritiousdeliciousness
It's very therapeutic, kneading, isn't it! The KitchenAid is such a great piece of kit, won mine in a competiton 🙂
Alison
This looks an interesting combination of flavours
nutritiousdeliciousness
Thanks Alison, tasted great, went in a flash!
Liz Burton
Looks and sounds amazing.
I never have time to make bread by hand anymore, I wonder if it would work in a breadmaker?
Visiting via Recipe of the Week. x
nutritiousdeliciousness
I think it probably would, I haven't got one so can't try it out though 🙂
Emily (@amummytoo)
This looks so good. I can almost smell it. Glad to read you used your kitchen aid to knead it - I'm about to try that for the first time! Thanks for linking this up with #recipeoftheweek. Pinned and stumbled + there's a new link live now. Please come and join in!
nutritiousdeliciousness
Thanks Emily, Kitchen Aid a great tool, love it!
Michelle @ Bod for tea
Mmm looks delicious. Don't have a kitchen aid but I'll bet my Magimix would do an OK job too. If I wasn't trying to stop eating so much bread (it's my downfall) I'd be making this right away!
nutritiousdeliciousness
I would think any mixer with a dough hook would be just fine. I don't eat much bread these days but when I do like a good one! Thanks for your comment 🙂