My Homemade Bread/ Cheese Twist Experiment

This experiment started when I had a cheddar twist from Big Apple Bagels.  It was great and I thought, hey I can replicate this...somehow!

It had a crispy cheesy crust.  The dough was seasoned and of a wonderful consistency.

How hard could this be? 

Joke was on me.

I must state no, I did not do this in a week.  It progressed over several months.  In fact I think I started this in May!

I found this recipe for Crusty, Rustic, No Knead Bread.  I made it and it tasted great.  I didn't tweak it because I wanted to know if it was decent to start with.  It had a wonderfully crunchy crust with soft baked goodness inside.

My first real attempt was when I followed the recipe and added 1 1/2 tablespoons of italian seasoning to the dough and sprinkled cheese on top.  Not right.

My second attempt was with Portesi Italian seasoning (at the recommendation of one of my friends).  Closer, but still a little dense.  The seasoning was great since it wasn't as strong as regular italian seasoning but the flavors were richer (if that even makes sense).

Third, I kneaded the dough for a while (even though the directions don't require this) and broke the dough into eight separate pieces.  This way I had rolls.  Then I baked them with cheese on top and on my baking stone for 30 minutes.  Good, but not quite right.

Keep on trucking.

This time I figured I have it all figured out.  Move on to a different recipe.  Use this recipe I've made before for Easy Italian Breadsticks in The Bread Machine to make it easy and bake using the baking stone.  I made the following changes:
Eliminated the sugar, added 1 1/2 tsp Portesi Italian Seasoning, braided the sticks, and baked 17 minutes on the stone.
Not.....It.

After many trials, at this point the closest I've found is this recipe I found on Pinterest.  They take time to twist (more than I care for), but you can create rolls or plain sticks if desired.

 Garlic Cheese Twists

I must also warn those of you making any bread product, be sure to grease your pan!  My very first bread was great, but stuck so well to the bottom.  I worked VERY hard to get the bread out (in pieces) and to clean the pan.  Use a little butter or oil of your choice.  You'll be glad you did!

I'm unable to track down a website for Portesi Pizza, however if you're local to me and can help me out please let me know.  Trigs/ County Market stores carry Portesi Italian Seasoning.  Other than that I'm at a loss.

Do you have a favorite bread/ roll recipe?  I'd love for you to share!