Autumn came to Virginia as September ended and October crept in. But our visitor didn’t stay long, leaving us once again with high summer-like temperatures. However, during those few cool days we had, I decided cozy foods were in order – even if I was going to wake up to a 70-degree six-o-clock the next morning.

My first thought was to make potato soup, but then I decided on Broccoli and Cheddar Soup, a la Panera Bread. It didn’t take long to find TONS of recipes online, so I skimmed over several and then tossed some ingredients in a pot to make this:

Michael even stopped at Panera Bread on his way home from work and picked up a bread bowl for each of us! The soup was delicious. Not quite like Panera’s but still tasty in its own right. I think it was even better reheated the next day. Next time we’re at Panera I’ll have to get the soup and pay close attention to the flavors and textures so that I can try to mimic it a little better at home, but I was pleased with the results anyway.

Now, I have terrible tendency to not follow recipes and not measure ingredients and not write things down. So I will attempt to share my recipe with you but, if you prefer exact measurements and instructions, you may want to do a search online for one that’s a bit more precise – there are a bunch!

{Broccoli Cheddar Soup a la Rebekah}

• 1/4 C butter
• 1/4 C flour
• 2 C cream, half-and-half or whole milk (I used raw milk that hadn’t been skimmed yet. Just poured it in without shaking first.)
• 2 C chicken broth
• broccoli (And here I admit that I have no idea how much. I used a quart-sized Ziploc bag of broccoli that I froze a few weeks ago.)
• 1/4 C onion, diced or minced (I minced my onion and forgot to include it. The soup was still good, but I think the onion would have made it better.)
• 2 large carrots, julienned, diced, or very thinly sliced
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. mustard (I used plain, but Dijon would probably give it a better flavor.)
• smidgen of chili powder
• 2-3 C cheddar cheese

Melt butter in pan. Whisk in the flour and continue stirring for several minutes. Slowly add the cream or milk. Continue whisking and add in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Add the vegetables and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the veggies are soft. Add salt, mustard, and chili powder. Mash the broccoli and carrots with a potato masher. Stir in cheese.

Serve with bread.

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