Can I just say Jalapeńo Cheddar Bread is delicious! This bread is so soft and flavorful. The jalapeńos are mild and add just a little kick. If you are a pepperjack cheese lover, you have to make grilled cheese sandwiches with this bread!
This is made with grated cheese and cheese cubes. They each add a little personality to this bread. The grated cheese adds a wonderful taste to the bread dough and makes it soft while the cubed cheese melts and makes pools of cheese that crisp up in the oven as they spill out of the bread.
I pickled fresh jalapeńos (recipe included) which is very easy to do. We love these things! We have been eating them on quesadillas, nachos and right out of the jar!
How to Make Jalapeńo Cheddar Bread
1. Pickle the jalapeńos and let them sit on the counter for a couple of hours or overnight. You will notice a color change. It will turn from a bright green to a muted olive. That is how you know they are ready to use.
2. Grate half the cheese and cube the other half. They do different things in the flavor of the bread so you do not want to leave this step out.
3. Mix the cornmeal, sugar, salt, yeast and 2 cups of flour in a stand mixer. Mix the dry ingredients with the beaters as you add the water. Measure the temperature of the water. It needs to be between 105° and 120°. A thick dough will form.
4. Grate the butter and add this and the cut up pickled jalapeńos to the dough. Also add the grated cheese and cubed cheese to the dough.
5. At this point, switch out the beaters to the dough hook. Add the remaining flour or enough flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
If you are one of those people who has to follow the recipe exactly, I want you to remember, you do NOT need to use all the flour. It is more important to watch the dough and see what it looks like. The dough needs to be moving in a large ball and moving around the bowl in a mass. Once it reaches this form, keep kneading the dough for about 5 minutes without adding more flour.
6. Grease a bowl and put the dough inside. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with vegetable spray. This will keep the dough from sticking as it rises.
7. Let the dough rise for 2 hours. Punch it down and then divide the dough. Take more than half the dough and roll into a rectangle. Roll the rectangle and pinch it closed.
For added flair, wet a dish towel and wring it out. Roll the top of the loaf of bread on the wet towel and then roll in some cornmeal that has been placed on a flat cookie sheet.
Now place the loaf in a greased loaf pan. Make five diagonal cuts across the loaf. This will let the air escape as it cooks.
8. Take the rest of the dough and roll out into a rectangle. Slice into 8 pieces. Take each piece and fold into a rosette shape, tucking the ends on the bottom. Touch the top of each roll on the wet towel and then in the cornmeal.
9. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with saran wrap that has been sprayed with vegetable spray. Let bread and rolls rise for 2 hours.
10. Bake in a 425° oven. Rolls need to bake for 20 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. The loaf of bread needs to bake for 45 minutes. If the bread starts to brown too fast, place a sheet of tin foil loosely on top.
11. As soon as the bread is done, remove from the pan and let cool before slicing. Serve with butter! YUM!
Let me know on Instagram or Pinterest if you make this.
Post a picture and tag me @dinasdiner. I want to know how it turns out.
Jalapeńo Cheddar Bread
1/2 C. Cheddar Cheese grated
1/2 C. Cheddar Cheese Cubed
4 1/2 Cups Flour
1/4 Cup Cornmeal
3 Tbsp. Sugar
2 1/2 tsp. Salt
2 1/4 tsp. Yeast
1 3/4 Cup water (105° - 120°)
1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Pickled Jalapeńos (Recipe Below)
1. Grate the cube of butter. These small pieces of butter will mix beautifully into the dough you are about to make.
2. Mix cornmeal, sugar, salt, yeast and 2 cups of flour in a stand mixer with beaters. Add the water (make sure the temperature measures between 105 - 120 degrees).
3. Chop up the pickled jalapeńos and add to the dough with the grated and cubed cheddar cheese.
4. Switch out the beaters for a dough hook and begin to add the other 2 1/2 cups of flour to the dough. Add 1/2 cup of flour at a time. As soon as the dough begins to pull away from the sides and holds together in a mass, stop adding flour. Let the machine do its magic and continue to knead with the dough hook for 5 - 7 minutes.
5. Place the dough in a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with vegetable spray. Let rise for 2 hours. Cover the rolls and the loaf of bread with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with vegetable spray or use the same pieces you used to cover the bowl on the first rise.
6. Punch the dough down and divide into two pieces. Make one piece a little larger than the other. This will be the loaf of bread. Roll this piece of dough into a rectangle and then roll up into a loaf shape. The smaller piece will be rolled out into a rectangle and then cut into 8 long pieces. Fold these into rosettes.
7. Take a dish towel and wet it. Wring it out well. Roll the top of the loaf of bread on the wet towel. Now roll it in some cornmeal laid out on a cookie sheet. Place this loaf in a greased loaf pan and cut 5 slits diagonally across the top of the loaf.
8. Place each rosette on the wet towel and then place in the cornmeal. Lay these on a cookie sheet and let both the rolls and the loaf rise for 2 hours.
9. Bake at 425°. The rolls need to bake for 20 minutes and the loaf needs to bake for 45 minutes.
10. Take the bread loaf out of the oven and remove the loaf immediately from the pan. Let it cool completely before slicing. Serve with butter. Yum!
Pickled Jalapeńos
2/3 Cup Water
2/3 Cup Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Sugar
6 Jalapeńo Peppers
1 tsp. Garlic
1. Heat the water, vinegar, salt and sugar to a boil.
2. Slice the peppers into 1/4" rings. Remove the seeds if you want them to be less spicy.
3. Mince the garlic into small pieces.
4. Add the sliced peppers and chopped garlic into a small jar. Pour the water vinegar mixture over the top. Place a lid on the jar and leave on the counter.
5. Let the mixture sit on the counter for 2 hours or overnight. Refrigerate the next morning.