In my family of five, two vote that this Jalapeño Cheddar sourdough is the best of all the breads I’ve ever made. (I admit I’m one of those two.)
There are several recipes for this online that involve adding ingredients at different stages, but this all-at-once method has worked great for me, so I’m sharing it with you.
slice lengthwise in half and de-seed 1 large jalapeño pepper. Then cut the halves into 1/4 thick pieces. Saute in light olive oil. Maybe a Tbsp. Don’t cook for so long that the pepper loses the bright green. Just soften the pieces and flavor the oil. Set aside to cool. If you put it into another container, don’t discard the oil.
chop 6 ounces of medium cheddar cheese. i like to make blocks ranging in size, about 1/4 and 1/2 a domino.
combine in a large bowl:
jalapeño and oil
cheddar pieces
400g all-purpose flour
100g einkorn flour
360g water (approx 1.5 c)
4g salt (1 tsp)
80g starter (approx 1/3 c)
(Before I had a scale, I made this with 3.5 c flour total - whatever combination of white and wheat I was in the mood for.)
Mix the ingredients and follow the no-knead sourdough technique (approx 12 hr bulk; fold,rest,shape; 1 hr proof, into 500’ preheated cloche or dutch oven, 30 min lid on, 10 min lid off at 450).
Thank you. I don’t think it is spicy at all. Just flavored with jalapeno.
Disclaimer though – I love and am accustomed to spicy food. My mom was one of four sisters, and the only one to have an obsession with spicy food, but it has blazed down the family tree from her. My idea of too spicy is the Thai green curry I had last night that made me sweat, and I will order it again!
I have scoured the internet for a recipe for Jalapeno Cheese Bread, there are several but this is the only one that worked for me! Thank you Melissa! Not too spicy, I add more peppers!
Kathi
Yum - I will make this for sure at some point when I get through the bread I already have in the freezer!
When you same half and quarter domino sized pieces of cheese I assume you mean literally “dominos” as in the game… Anyway I like the novel unit of measure - gave me a smile
Re: the 12 hour bulk is that because of the low amount of starter or is it cool where you are? Normally I only give it about 4 hours which is about the amount of time it would take my starter to rise to a good level after feeding it. I normally use about twice as much starter in my recipes.
I don’t think you need more starter. I live in So Calif so it is warm here most of the year but I need the 12 hours for my bread to rise.
If you want it more sour, put it in the frig over night.
Wow I’m surprised it takes so long. Mine rises in 4-5 hours @ about 25 - 26C in the house (Summer in Sydney Aust…) so what’s that?.. 77-80F in the house. I use about 300g starter and the total flour is about 1000g (incl 150g from the starter). My final proof takes about 1.5 - 2 hours at which point in time I put it in the fridge overnight.
Hi. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It’s currently cooling on a rack and I’m looking forward to tasting it — I’m sure it will be delicious. One quick question: I’ve only been making sourdough breads for a few months so I’m a bit of a neophyte. Up until this bread I haven’t have problems with breads sticking to my cloche/clay baker (I typically dust with a bit of semolina flour and bran). I managed to pry it loose after it was done but it took some significant effort — it turns out it was the cheese that was causing the sticking. Is there a secret to avoiding the cheese acting like glue? Thanks!
I’ll echo @Leah1 's recommendation for a layer of parchment paper. Other than that, perhaps a large amount of bran and dried thyme along with the semolina. So sorry for the sticking!
Edited: I just realized you made the cheddar jalapeno and not the cheddar thyme from the cookbook. My thyme recommendation must’ve been a bit perplexing
This looks so delicious! Two of my absolute favorite things in one bread, I have to try this recipe!
Would you say the jalapeño-taste is present in each slice?
Again, looks amazing, thanks for sharing this recipe!
You’re welcome
If you lightly saute the jalapeños and keep the oil for the dough, and also add the jalapeños (and oil) in with the initial mixing rather than laminating them in later, you’ll get the jalapeño flavor throughout.
Enjoy!
