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The reasons why Panera Grilled Cheese works.
Panera Grilled Cheese Recipe
That is why the Panera grilled cheese has its faithful customers: it is designed to be comfortable. Chunky slices of plush white bread are browned on the outside and remain soft on the inside and the cheese is shamelessly cheesy and liquid. A quick, warm, order on the busy days; the sort of thing you have with tomato soup, and forget the world ten minutes, on cold days. The charm is not complex: butter bread, a cheesy tug-of-war, and something predictable, something familiar, and the same. It is also quite customizable–at some places it can be baconed or an extra slice of cheese can be added, whereas at home you can add white cheddar or gruyere to push it into the gourmet category.
This article will provide you with both the super-faithful classic build and the high-end three-cheese build which you might have found in in the consumer recipes of Panera in the section called At Home. You will have the shopping list, step-by-step instructions and tips to trouble shoot so that your sandwich always has that crisp-gooey contrast every time.
An SEO perspective of the search query, panera grilled cheese recipe, will have high intent indicators: the reader desires an authoritative copycat, an explicit ingredients list, and a stable process that can be applied on a simple skillet. They also desire variations, serving concepts and some lighter twists. This is why you will read extensive parts about the selection of bread, the choice of cheese, pan temperature control, the ability to reheat without being too soft, and a question-answer section, which addresses the most frequently asked challenges (such as the inability of the cheese to melt by the time the crust is very dark). All is in a conversational manner hence it is easy to follow and easy to monetize through display advertisement without overwhelming a reader.
There lastly, a quick guide on the terminology used in this guide: we mean the “classic” Panera grilled cheese when we are talking about a basic assembly of a piece of white bread and American cheese, and have cooked it until the bread is golden and the inside is molten. The adult version is served on a trio of aged cheeses (white cheddar, gruyere, and fontina) on a hearty country white or sourdough and occasionally with bacon and tomato. They are two identities of the same soothing concept- choose one and go with it, or keep both in shift according to your mood and what there is in the refrigerator.
The Build It Yourself You Will Find in-Store vs. The ‘Grown-Up’ Spin at Home
The grilled cheese most commonly known to the people in cafes is the one with thick slices of white bread and American cheese being griddled in butter until they turn golden. It has a soft feel and not a rough one, meant to be taken in large gulps and half-bites. In case you are making that feel again, the ingredients are soft, rich white bread, real butter, and a lot of American cheese (or its meltable equivalent using processed bread). Evenly color the sandwich, not allowing brittle, there must be a thin, smooth crust on both sides and the center melted completely. You already have the equipment to make the traditional at home with just a nonstick skillet and a simple spatula.
Panera consumer content, At Home also features a grown-up version of grilled cheese that spreads cheddar, gruyere, and fontina (with or without tomato and bacon) on country white or sourdough. That one is more of a cafe bistro sandwich: richer flavor, more complicated melt and a bit firmer bite. To replicate it, you will pair it with an equal amount of sharp white cheddar (to bring in the tanginess), gruyere (to add the nutty factor), and fontina (to provide the impeccable stretchy creaminess). Take a loaf of bread which is not likely to collapse at all and butter the outside of it liberally so the crust will fry in its own fat. To make it even more of a toast, replace sourdough or rustic country loaf, and allow it to take one more minute in the pan to add notes of browned-butter.
Which one should you choose? When you have children at home, or you are hungry and feel like you are thinking about your childhood, be classics. Should you be having with soup a grown-up lunch, or entertaining friends in the form of brunch, do the three-cheese. Either, the following procedure maintains the heat level and the cheese entirely melted to prevent the home-cooking nightmare of burnt bread and cold cheese.
How to Shop Smart and Ingredient Playbook (Bread, Cheese, Fat, Seasonings).
Bread: To achieve the traditional copycat, to get a soft, thick-sliced miche-style loaf of white bread or any bakery white enriched with milk or butter. This is to achieve a spongy crumb and just enough structure to enable its shape to remain intact as the cheese melts. With the adult version, the country white or sourdough with moderately-open crumb, can be used because it remains dense, crisps well and provides light-tang. Do not use the ultra-dense artisan loaves with huge holes; there is a chance of creating blank spaces where there is no cheese and dripping butter.
Cheese: The American slices creamed out in a smooth, shinily uniform surface with a spot of childhood-recognisable flavour–that is the typical type. To create a higher flavor profile, create an amalgamation: white cheddar to be sharp, gruyere to be nutty and fontina to be creamy melting. In case you are not able to locate fontina, young provolone or low-moisture mozzarella will be used to play the stretch role. The best cheese to melt is shred block cheese; the pre-shredded bags usually have anti-caking starches that retard melting.
Fat & seasoning: Softened butter will bring you the sizzle and even browning of the diner. Micro-grate your butter on the bread, in case it is cold so as to spread evenly. To add the additional flavor, mash coarse garlic-herb butter (soft butter, pinch of garlic powder, parsley flakes, black pepper). Salt is hardly ever required–cheese and butter already contain it–but it can make flavours have a jump once a few flakes of finishing salt are sprinkled on the sliced halves. Optional inside spread: This is the benefit of a whisfer of mayo beneath the cheese, to guarantee a moist crumb, and it melts into the crumb without making noise.
Deep-Dive (Classic American vs. Cheddar/Gruyere/Fontina) Cheese.
American cheese melts on its own. Its emulsifiers ensure that it remains shiny and sticky even in the hot condition hence the reason why the traditional sandwich is sliced and pulled long enough to achieve that tastiness. It is bland and creamy in flavor; the bread with butter and toasted milk nuts do much of the work. American is your quickest way to success in case you do not want to betray the tradition of cafe experience.
The adult trio conducts themselves in a different way. White cheddar adds tangy and somewhat crumbly character which comes to a melting point after being shredded. Gruyere is roasted with aromas of nuts, and it is slightly sweet, which intensifies during roasting. Fontina is the adhesive, a sticky, fat, and elastic one, and as a result, the sandwich does not crunch like a bowl of flakes. Balance is important: an equal portion weight wise prevents the domination of one cheese over the other. You want it sharper, bump the cheddar by a quarter and reduce fontina by a quarter and you want smoother pulls, add more fontina and decrease the amount of cheddar.
In the case you are stocking a small pantry, you can choose one behavioral cheese and one flavor cheese. As an example, mozzarella (behavior), aged cheddar (flavor) or fontina (behavior), gruyere (flavor). This two-cheese technique will keep grocery lists very short and yet still taste high. Anyway, you are going to buy good blocks and shred them, and you will see your pan will like you.
Grilled Cheese (Panera Bread): Classic Version (Step-by-Step).
Serves 2 sandwiches Active time: 10 minutes Total time: 12-15 minutes.
Ingredients
4 slices of thick-sliced soft white bread.
6-8 slices American cheese (how many it has, 3-4 per sandwich, depending on the size)
2-3 tbs softened unsalted butter.
Method
1) Butter the bread: Wipe soft butter that has been melted on the outside of each slice. Go round round the corners to make a-browning.
2) Assemble: In each sandwich, there are to be placed 3-4 slices of American cheese between two sides that are not buttered (buttered sides are to be facing out). Press gently to adhere.
3) Warm up the pan: Place a skillet with no oils or those that have been used in a non sticky or well-used pan on medium-low heat. Allow it some time to heat a drop of water must sizzle, but not be immediately evaporated.
4) Grill side one: Sandwiches. Bake 3-4 minutes without pressing until the bottom is golden in color. When the end product is browning too rapidly, turn down heat.
5) Finish and turn: Turn. Continue to cook another 3-4 minutes with the second side golden, and center is fluid when pressed with a spatula.
6) Cut and set on a board: rest 60-90 seconds (the heat left in the cook finishes the melt and then slice on a diagonal.
Notes
When your bread is very soft toast each inside side not less than 20-30 seconds in a dry pan first; that way no more moisture can creep in.
Love a glossy finish? Toss the outside of the brush with loosely melted butter immediately after cooking to give it the cafe look.
Sensory indications: The temperature on right side is medium-low to low. You have time in which the cheese is going to melt and the bread is going to brown gradually. You are probably too hot to be continued, so lower the flame a notch. In case your bread is pale within 3 minutes, increase it by one level. A low, uniform sizzle indicates a thin, golden crust and a center which is distended when the halves are parted. In case cheese spills out, then your pan is too hot or you have not aligned your slices straight; slightly tuck in cheese in the next batch 5 mm inwards.
Skillet approached Science and Pro Technique (Golden Crust, Melty Middle, No Scorching.
The entire game is the heat management. Butter burns at a temperature of about 300-350 deg F; the average domestic range of a medium-low burner is in that range. That temperature range allows lactose and milk proteins to toast without burning and this is why traditional grilled cheese reminds of browned butter. When you turn the flame to medium-high, the bread will turn color before the cheese can even begin to melt and give off moisture and then your bread ends up having a hole in the center that is not fully melted. Maintain the same level of temperature in the pan and avoid the temptation to fiddle.
It is not the pressing, but the premature pressing. The sandwich should only be gently pressed down after the first minute when the under side has already started to harden with the help of a spatula. Light press is better than heavy press because it makes contact with the bread more effective and ensures that the cheese fuses. Cases of heavy pressing particularly during the initial 60-90 seconds may force the fat out of the cheese and leave the surface greasy. When using a small pan cook each sandwich separately because you can control the amount of heat.
Cheese placement matters. The overhangs melts, drips, scalds. Store cheese 5-7mm within the crust line. In case you prefer a frico type of crispy edge, allow a few strands of shredded cheese to just show up intentionally in the last 60 seconds–manageable melt has made lacy and caramelized edges without disorder. Lastly, but most important, allow cooked sandwiches time to cool down then cut them; the molten fats will redistribute themselves, the starches will relax, and the halves will slice but not tear.
Panera Grilled Cheese – Adult Version Three-Cheese.
Serving two hearty sandwiches Active time: 12 minutes, total time: 15-18 minutes.
Ingredients
4 pieces of country white/sourdough bread.
1 cup well packed shredded white cheddar.
1 cup loosely stuffed shredded gruyere.
1 cup shredded loosely packed fontina (or low-moisture mozzarella)
Softened butter 2-3 Tablespoons.
Optional: 1 small tomato, which has been sliced thin and dried off; 4 pieces of cooked bacon; a pinch of dried Italian herbs.
Method
1) Butter the outsides Rub butter over the outside of every piece as in the classic.
2) Prepare the mixture: Combine the three cheeses in the mixture in such a way that all bites are melted.
3) Assemble: Place a lot of the mixture on the inside surface of two slices, place tomato slices and bacon on top (when desired) then the rest of the bread (butter up).
4) Bake Low and slow: Skillet medium-low. Grill 3-4 minutes a side, regulating the amount of heat so that the bottom crusts, the cheese melts.
5) Crisp and rest: In case of bacon application, allow the last side an additional 30 seconds in achieving a lightly crisp outside. Rest 90 seconds, then slice.
Flavor additives: A small pinch of garlic powder or onion powder in the cheese mixture provides a savory flavor and a dusting of dried oregano would add a hint of a pizzeria that is fond of tomato. To finish it with honey-butter, mix 1 teaspoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of melted butter and brush the crust immediately before serving- it is a smooth, slightly sweet contrast to the salty cheese. In case you feel like heating it, pour in some red pepper flakes over the cheese prior to the cooking or put it over the halves with hot honey.
Bread is even more crucial in this case since you are bringing in additional moisture brought about by various cheeses and add-on tomato. When your loaf is very fresh and tender, you will first of all lightly toast the inside faces of the loaf in a dry pan. Slices of tomato should be blotted and excess juice will steam the crumb. And do not omit the brief pause between cuts -the heat remaining in the work completes the melting, and solidifies the structure in such a way that the halves will not fall.
Flavor Builders and Add ins (Bacon, Tomato, Herbs, Garlic Butter).
Traditional ingredients: The most popular combinations are tomato and bacon. The acid of tomato re-balances between bites of cheese, and the smoke and crunch of bacon. Adding the two will leave fillings thin so that the cheese can fuse. Substitutes other concepts caramelized onions, roasted jalapenos, sliced pickles.
Garlic-herb butter: Blend 2 tab. softened butter with the pinch of garlic powder, parsley and black pepper. Spread on the outside before cooking without bitter bite of garlic. To make it in the bistro atmosphere, sprinkle a touch of Dijon under the cheese (1/4 teaspoon per sandwich). The mustard sharpens the cheddar making the entire sandwich light.
Cheese replacements: In case of market shortfall, use Monterey jack instead of fontina to have a profile of easy-melting, mild and/or use smoked gouda to get the more intense flavor (shred it–it is dense). Do not use ultra-aged cheeses alone (they will have an oily texture). Incorporate them with a melter in order to maintain the texture soft.
Free parings and serving Ideas (Soups, Sides and Plating to Social).
Tomato soup is the most iconic one–it is an ideal contrast to the bread with butter and cheese since its acidity and its warmness are its key features. A chilled salad (plain lemon vinaigrette, sliced Parmesan) will also be green, and will serve to break up the richness. To make it a heartier plate, a handful of kettle chips or a small portion of slaw will be added. On brunch, layer half the stack on a salad of light arugula with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and end up with a cafe styled plate which takes good photographs.
In the case of plates of kids, prepare mini ones on slider buns or cut crusts and cut shapes after resting. To serve mixed tastes, construct one childish and one adult, cut both in diagonals and in cross-plate, so that each may have a square of each. To lean more towards the cozy, pop the dishes under a low oven- the sandwich will be hot longer and the first bite will be extra good.
Dipping sauces: A spoon full of Pesto mayo, a ramekinful of marinara heater or a smokey chipotle ketchup can easily turn things round. When you are a host, place two dips and mark them, “classic tomato” and “basil pesto” and your grilled cheese will be a topic of discussion, rather than a sandwich.
Meal Prep, Holding, Re-heating and Packed-Lunch Strategy.
Grilled cheese is best when it comes out of the skillet, although there are ingenious methods of preparation. It is possible to pre-butter bread and pre-shred cheeses as much as 3 days in advance ( refrigerated, airtight). When you have to prepare a number of sandwiches, place a wire rack that is stacked on top of a baking dish in a 200degF (95degC) oven. After every sandwich is made, place it on the rack to keep the bottom crisp (when you place the sandwich directly on a pan, the steam will trap the crust and make it soft).
Reheating: Next-day leftovers do not require the use of the microwave. Re-crisp in a dry skillet under low heat 3-4 minutes each side or on a wire rack at 350 deg F (175 deg C) 8-10 minutes. Unless the sandwich was quite stuffed with cheese, I would make it lightly covered with foil during the initial 5 minutes to ensure that the middle warms before the crust can get dark. Packed lunches: Sandwich should be allowed to cool completely, then it should be wrapped in parchment (not plastic). Lay Napkin in between halves to capture the steam and add a small container of tomato soup or marinara to have the same experience back at school or office.
Freezing: Prepare un-cooked sandwiches with buttered exteriors, tightly wrap them up and freeze until they last up to 2 months. Heat on low in frozen form with a lid during the first 3-4 minutes to initiate the melting and then remove the lid and increase the heat a notch to brown. It is not like fresh but a lifesaving weekday ingredient.
Foodies What U want with Lighter tweaks and gluten-free ideas (Nutrition and allergens).
The traditional cafe-style grilled cheese using both thick-white bread and American cheese is a comfort food that is high in energy, so make the rest of the meal. To be light, replace one slice of bread with a slice of part-skim provolone, substitute one bread slice with a teaspoon of American with a teaspoon of part-skim provolone, and use a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of neutral oil to brush the pan in place of slathering the bread. To achieve macro balance, eat it with a green salad or a soup with a heavy amount of vegetables so that the whole plate would be filling without excess calories.
Allergens: The standard grilled cheese includes the elements of wheat (bread) and milk (cheese and butter). In case you require a gluten-free version, you can use a hearty gluten-free loaf of sandwiches and handle the heat carefully since many gluten-free breads brown easily. In the case of lactose, opt in low-lactose cheeses such as aged cheddar and apply ghee to the outside; the melt is not going to be as good as American, but the sandwich will still scratch the itch. By preparing the meals of mixed-need groups, wash the pan between sandwiches and cook gluten-free orders with different utensils.
Sodium and portioning: Bread and cheese contain salt, and half-sandwich portions of cheese and bread contain equal amounts of salt, compare to half-soup portions that will be used on an everyday lunch leaving the full sandwiches to treat days. In case you love the adult version, you can reduce sodium by 40% cheddar, 40% fontina, 20% gruyere (gruyere is salted) and you can use an unsalted butter in the crust.
Cost, Yield, Scaling a Crowd and Kitchen Equipment.
Price: Homemade grilled cheese is a bargain even with the expensive cheeses. One loaf of country bread and 12 ounces of cheese will easily yield 6 large sandwiches at less than cafe rates. Purchase blocks when they are on sale, cut and pack in freezer bags to be built whenever required. When you need to feed a crowd put up a grilled-cheese bar with a ready-made bowl of cheese, bowls of thinly sliced tomatoes and bacon and softened butter with pastry brushes to assemble quickly.
Yields & scaling: 8-10 people 1 loaf of bread that is hearty and 2-2.5 pounds of cheese (depending on the appetite and sides). Cook three or four at a time in two skillets or an electric griddle, so finished sandwiches do not steam and put on a rack in a low oven. To even the browning of sandwiches, turn them halfway in a griddle with hot spots.
Equipment: A non stick skillet is the most amenable. Cast iron produces a rich and even crust although it requires more careful heat treatment. One more pan placed on top of the press provides you with excellent contact within the first minute. A very delicate crust is cut beneath with a thin metal spatula; a serrated knife is the best slicer of diagonal cuts.
FAQ (Soggy Bread, Unmelted Centers, Oily Sandwiches) Trouble-shooting.
Bread is getting brown, before the cheese is melting.
Reduce the heat and allow the pan additional flipping time. Use slightly cool bread (fresh out of the package) and room temperature cheese to ensure the melting starts sooner. When in a hurry, cover the pan in 30-45 seconds towards the end to entrap the heat and complete the center.
My sandwich tastes greasy.
You probably used butter too much or you pressed it too hard too soon. The next time, apply butter in a thin and even layer, medium-low heat, and press lightly after a minute. In case cheese appears to be oiling, your heat is excessive or your cheese was extremely old; add more moist of a melter such as fontina or Jack.
The outer is brittle yet the interior is thick.
Either you are over-stuffing or too soon. Put cheese in a liberal but single layer extending to the sides, and leave the sandwich, before cutting, allowing a minute to redistribute the steam. In the case of ultra-soft loaves, it is necessary to pre-toast the inner sides, 20-30 seconds to form a thin layer.
