Sweet-Potato Cheese Bread

I think I'm getting a little yeast-happy. I've been experimenting with my new-found friend for the past two weeks and working up the courage to utilize yeast in new and exciting ways. Today, I was not to bogged down with work and I would be home for lunch. Also, since it's Spring Break for my sisters, I wanted to treat them to a hearty lunch. They always reach for the cup-o-noodles or kimchi, but today I would make them some real food. I settled on cream of mushroom soup (thank you Campbell's© ) and yes I know that this isn't "home-made" but I balanced it out by testing out a recipe for Sweet-Potatoe Cheese Bread.

Sweet-Potatoe Cheese Bread

Serves 8

Ingredients

- 1 envelope (8g or 2.5tsp) active dry yeast
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup butter, room temperature

- 1 large egg

- 1 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp black pepper

- 3 cups all−purpose flour
- 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes, room temperature
- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (plus extra for topping)

- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

- 1 tsp each dried rosemary and thyme

Method

1. Grease a deep round or oval 2−quart casserole and set aside.
2. Heat milk in a pan until warm, but not hot. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and let dissolve. Add the butter, egg, salt, pepper and 1 cup of flour; beat until smooth

3. Stir in the remaining 2 cups flour, sweet-potatoes and Cheddar until well blended.

4. Scrape the dough in the prepared casserole, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in bulk (about 40 minutes)
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Sprinkle Parmesan, rosemary, thyme and cheddar cheese over top of the proofed dough. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer bread to wire rack; cool and then cut into slices.

My bread seemed to rise a little too much. Some of the dough ended up flumping over the side of the casserole dish (I guess mine isn't 2-quarts :P). But the bread itself was delicious. The cheesey topping was crunchy, biscuit like and flakey because of the ton of butter. The inside was very dense and moist, not much like bread at all. My sisters found this to be a great cheesey treat, although the sweet potato flavor wasn't quite strong (but for my sisters that may be a good thing). I would definitely try this recipe again, but in a bigger and shallower dish. Maybe I'll make them into small dinner rolls; those might be easier to work with, and not cause the over flowing problem of dealing with the wrong sized casserole dish.