Jalapeno Cheddar Bread
Homemade jalapeno cheddar bread is crusty on the outside, super soft on the inside, and just as spicy as you want to make it! A simple and versatile bread recipe that uses only easy-to-find ingredients.
- Prep Time: 2.5 hours with rise time
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 3.5 Hours
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water *(see notes)*
- 1 Tbsp honey or granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 4 cups bread flour*
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup shredded cheese*
- ¼ cup diced jalapenos
- ½ tsp olive oil
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl, combine water, honey/sugar, and yeast. Stir and let the yeast bloom for about 5 minutes. When it looks foamy, it’s ready.
- Add flour and salt and using the dough attachment, knead the dough on medium speed until it almost pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 4-5 minutes. Alternatively, knead the dough by hand until it’s almost no longer sticky.
- Add cheese and jalapenos and continue to knead until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, or is no longer sticky if kneading by hand.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and tilt the bowl on its side. Add ½ tsp of olive oil to the bottom of the bowl and turn the dough to coat the dough in oil. Cover with a towel and let it rest in a warm area for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450F.
- Measure a piece of parchment paper large enough to fit your Dutch oven with some overhang.
- After the first rise, dust the counter lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the counter. Knead the dough by hand (pull the edges out and in towards the middle, then rotate ¼ turn, repeat) until it’s a firm ball of dough. Turn the ball over so the edges are on the bottom and lay it on top of the parchment paper.
- Cover with a towel and let it rise for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the Dutch oven (without the lid) in the oven to preheat.
- When the dough is done rising, use oven mitts to carefully remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven. Pick up the edges of the parchment paper with the dough on top and place it inside the hot Dutch oven. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and using oven mitts, place the Dutch oven back into the oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- With oven mitts, carefully remove the hot lid from the Dutch oven and let the bread continue to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- When the bread is done baking, use oven mitts to carefully remove the Dutch oven pot from the oven. With the Dutch oven on a flat surface, lift up one handle to tile the pot and use the other hand to grab the parchment paper to slide the bread out of the pot.
- Discard the parchment paper, and place your bread on a wire rack to cool. Let the bread cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Notes
Water. Water temperature should be between 105-110F. Reduce to 1 cup if using einkorn flour.
Bread Flour. Make bread flour by adding 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten for every 1 cup of flour. No other adjustments need to be made to the recipe.
Cheese. I prefer sharp cheddar cheese, but any type of cheddar and any type of shred (fine, regular, farmhouse, etc.) will work.
Optional Toppings. To make this jalapeno cheddar bread extra yummy lightly brush dough with a little olive oil (or cooking spray), then sprinkle with optional ½ cup cheese for topping and sliced jalapeno rounds before baking.
Find it online: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/jalapeno-cheddar-bread/
