Spicy, cheese, what's not to love? Pull out the homemade butter for this jalapeño cheese bread made with lots of sourdough starter!
We obviously love bread in any form around here! But adding a special touch to plain bread is key to keeping things from being boring!
Now, most people will tell you this bread needs cheddar but when you make your own cheese...cheddar is not only an annoying process but it has to age so long before you can eat it and know if you did any good! So I lean towards an asiago, but you can use gouda, gruyere, swiss, or anything that melts nice!
This makes a bit of a mess of your loaf pan so keep that in mind when you bake it but MAN it's good!
I sliced Marius a piece and he ate it with cream cheese then I went up to bed. When he came to bed he said he opened the bag, sliced another slice, closed up the bag, slathered with cream cheese...4 more times before he got tired of taking the elastic off and on the bag.
If spice isn't your cup of tea, you can also add dried cranberries to sourdough! Starter also makes a mean banana bread for breakfast or snacks, but if you haven't yet jumped on the sourdough train, you can make perfect crustless sandwich bread!
Key Ingredients
Starter - You'll need a fair amount of healthy starter here, to make sure the loaf proofs up nicely.
Flour - I like bread flour in this recipe, because its high protein content also helps the bread rise.
Water - Here's a great trick for making bread fit your schedule! Use cold water to proof overnight and bake in the morning, or warm water in the morning to bake for dinner.
Cheese - I like anything that melts well and also has a strong flavour profile to really stand out in the bread!
Peppers - Jalapeños are the perfect spiciness here, because you can easily adjust to your liking.
How to Make Jalapeño Cheese Bread
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Mix up the starter with water, sugar, and oil plus most of the flour. Let rest 20 minutes or so before adding more flour to achieve the right consistency.
Step 2: Chop up your additions and stir them in!
Step 3: Let it proof for a solid 6 hours or so before shaping.
Step 4: Shape into loaves (this makes two) and again rest until doubled. Give them a deep slash and bake!
Step 5: I let rest in the pan for maybe 10 minutes or so before removing to a rack to cool enough to enjoy.
Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Tips
- Wear gloves when working with hot peppers! Nothing worse than taking your contacts out with spicy fingers...
- I like to cube my cheese rather than shred, so I get nice cheesy pockets.
- Use hot or cold water depending on how quickly you want your bread to proof.
FAQs
You can easily adjust here! Jalapeños are considered fairly mild, but did you know all the heat is in the membranes and seeds? You can adjust how many you leave in there to make it hotter.
Cheddar would be the "typical" pairing with jalapeño peppers, but honestly we don't make a lot of cheddar at home. I like strong cheeses such as Asiago, gouda, gruyere!
Always use a thermometer, friends! I aim for 180°F in the center of the loaf. You simply can't tell by looks if sourdough is cooked through.
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
More Sourdough Recipes
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Jalapeño Cheese Sourdough Loaf
Ingredients
- 500 grams active sourdough starter
- 350 grams warm water*
- 50 grams sugar
- 50 grams olive oil
- 15 grams salt
- 750 grams bread flour
- 200 grams cubed cheese
- 150 grams diced fresh jalapeños
Instructions
- Mix starter, water, sugar, olive oil, salt, and 500 grams of the flour in a bowl. Add in the cheese and jalapeños.
- Mix well, then add flour until the dough comes together decently but not smooth. If your starter is fed a little different, you may need a little different amount of flour than me.
- Let it rest 20-30 minutes, then knead it gently until a uniform albeit lumpy dough comes together.
- Let rise until doubled, about 6-8 hours in a warm house with happy starter.
- Shape into two large or three smaller loaves. Can do loaf pans, baguettes or French bread.
- Let rise until almost doubled then turn oven on to 375°F.
- Give it a good slash on top.
- Bake single loaf for 25 minutes, turn around and then another 20 minutes. For french bread it needs about 30 minutes total and baguettes 20 minutes. I always check the temperature of my loaves to make sure they are done. Aim for about 180°F in the center of the loaf.
Notes
- *Use warm water if you are mixing in morning to bake by dinner, use cold water if you want to mix before bed to shape and bake in morning.
Denise Moore
I've been making Kate's Soft Sourdough for a year now and tried the Jalapeño Cheese recipe a few days ago. I was nervous about the wetness of this dough and had never tried mix-ins before, but it worked out great and tastes delicious.