Cheddar cheese spread recipe for the best cheesy bread you’ve ever had! Spread on sourdough and broil until bubbly!

Cheddar Cheese Spread Recipe

This is a simple and unassuming recipe, but one that has been in my memory since before I can remember. It comes to me from my great-aunt, Auntie Dee.

This was one of her signature recipes, which she made during her annual summer visits. Our 4^th of July celebrations were not complete without her barbecued rib spice rub, calico beans and this cheese bread.

As I began to type up this post, I struggled with what to title it. To us, it has always been known as just “cheese bread.” But type that into Google search and nothing even close to this recipe pops up.

I then conducted a few other searches related to “cheese spread recipe”, curious as to the origins of this toast . The closest I found was a cheese bread (and spread) made by Clearman’s North Woods Inn restaurants in California.

It makes sense that this is the inspiration for her bread since she lived in San Jose for several decades. I will have to write her and find out the backstory, but for now I share my own experience with this amazing bread.

There are several components which distinguish this cheese bread:

Firstly, the type of bread. You can use any bread you like, of course, and it will taste amazing. But my aunt bought sourdough loaves from Boudin bakery in San Francisco expressly for this recipe.

As a child I detested sourdough, so she would make a special loaf of French bread for us children. The fermented tang of sourdough was repulsive in the same way dry red wine is to first time tasters.

As my taste buds developed, however, I’ve grown to love it. The sharpness of the cheese combines beautifully with the wild yeast so definitely try it!

Secondly, the type of cheese. Growing up, we used Kraft powdered cheese that came in a can. I believe this product has been discontinued or it is extremely difficult to find.

Instead, I turned to Amazon to purchase my cheese. Powdered cheese is notoriously processed and full of dyes (think box mac and cheese or cheese popcorn). However, I was pleasantly surprised by the choices available these days, such as organic white cheddar cheese powder by Frontier.

In the end, I opted for a bright orange variety for nostalgia sake. You can also grate your own cheddar for this recipe using the tiny holes of a box grater or a quick blitz in the food processor.

Lastly, the type of oil. The original recipe calls for margarine. It was one of the few times my mother would ever purchase the stuff.

When photographing this recipe, I decided I would try using real butter instead. The flavor was slightly different, but the biggest difference was its tendency to burn too quickly under the broiler (although some in the family prefer it charred).

I solved this problem by baking the bread at 400°F. Voila! Melted, bubbly perfection. While the calorie count for this spread doesn’t go down, I feel better knowing I can make this with clean ingredients.

In addition to huge trays of this bread, other dishes at our barbecues included Puerto Rican Rice and Spaghetti salad with Italian dressing.