A loaf of bread is cut in criss-cross grid pattern, stuffed with cheese, drizzled with melted butter and filled with crispy bacon before it goes into the oven and baked until the cheese melts and the bread is lightly toasted.
Cook’s notes
The fun in eating blooming bread is to let everyone pull a piece to reveal the melted cheese inside. It was a fad around 2012. When I first made blooming bread, I used a crusty loaf baked free form and we had a lot of fun eating it. It was gone so fast I had to make it again and again until my family starting hankering for something else. Right. You can have too much of a good thing.
It’s been a while since I last made blooming bread. I asked my younger daughter, Alex, to make milk bread so I could redo the photos of another recipe. But Alex made more than enough and I figured I might as well use one loaf to make blooming bread and publish a new recipe for it.
A serrated knife is recommended
How do you cut the bread? Use a serrated knife to cut the loaf to avoid squishing the bread. Cut into slices first then turn the bread and cut those slices into squares. Don’t cut all the way through. You want the bottom uncut; otherwise, the bread will not “bloom” during baking. I’d say cut the bread almost all the way through.Sliced or shredded cheese?
Cheese slices are easier to insert. But I wouldn’t recommend those pre-sliced cheese slices meant to go on top of a burger. That’s too soft to handle. I prefer a block of cheese than can be cut into rather thick slices.Butter adds moisture and flavor
To prevent the bread from drying out during baking, there’s melted butter poured carefully between the bread squares. Salted or unsalted butter? That depends on the cheese you’re using. If the cheese is salty, then pair it with unsalted butter. If using a bland cheese like mozzarella, use salted butter.Does it have to be bacon?
As the title of the post says, the bread in this recipe was filled with bacon. If you’re not a fan of bacon (who isn’t?), you may substitute ham or sausage meat. Or even canned luncheon meat, in fact. If using ham, you don’t need to pan fry it. But sausage meat or canned luncheon meat you definitely need to precook until nicely browned.Cover the bread before baking
The bread is covered with foil loosely and baked. What’s the foil for? And why does the bread have to covered loosely. The objective here is to melt the cheese and, at the same time, lightly toast the bread. The foil prevents the top (and the bacon) from turning too brown. This is especially true if you want to use an air fryer rather than a regular oven. The foil covers the bread loosely so that there is no steam buildup which will make the bread soggy.Blooming bread with bacon and cheese
Ingredients
- 150 grams belly bacon (5.2 oz)
- 1 loaf bread (about 200 to 250 grams / to 8.8 oz) preferably with a light crust
- 150 grams cheese (5.2 oz) cut into ¼-inch slices (aged cheddar is used here)
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 tablespoon crumbled Parmesan to garnish
- thinly sliced scallions (or chopped parsley) to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320F.
- Cut the bacon into thin strips and fry in an oil-free pan until browned and crisp. Drain on a stack of paper towels.
- Without going all the way through, cut the bread into thick slices then turn the bread at a 45-degree angle the bread and cut again to form squares.
- Stuff each cut with a slice of cheese.
- Drizzle melted butter into the crevices evenly.
- Fill the crevices with bacon.
- Place the stuffed bread in an oven-safe dish and cover loosely with foil.
- Bake at 320F for 10 minutes then remove the foil, turn up the heat to 350F and bake for another five minutes.
- Sprinkle crumbled Parmesan and scallion over the bread and serve immediately.
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