A jalapeno cheddar sourdough bread recipe that’s loaded with flavor. A beautiful crust, soft interior, and sharp cheese and spicy peppers combine for a loaf you won’t forget.
This is one of our favorite sourdough recipes of all time and one of the most popular on my blog. You won’t be disappointed ❤️.
Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Sourdough Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour 450 grams/ 15.85 ounces
- 1 ⅓ cups lukewarm water 300 grams/ 10.6 ounces
- ¾ cup mature well fed sourdough starter (165 grams/ 5.85 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- ⅓ cup diced jalapenos fresh or pickled (about 2 whole)
- 1 cup diced sharp cheddar
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Instructions
- Mix ingredients other than salt, peppers, and cheese. Combine the flour, water, sugar, and starter in a large bowl and stir. Use your hands to incorporate any dry bits. This is not a very high-hydration recipe, so it might look a little rough and somewhat dry. Just use your hands to combine everything into one mass.
- Rest. Cover with a clean, damp tea towel and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Add salt, jalapenos, and cheddar. After the rest period, add the salt, cheddar cheese, and jalapenos and knead for a minute or two until everything is thoroughly mixed in.
- Bulk rise. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for three hours, reshaping the dough into a ball once per hour. To reshape, pull from the outside in to reform a ball. You can do this right in the bowl.
- Overnight proof. Heavily dust a banneton with rice flour. When it is time to shape the dough the third time, place the loaf into the banneton and cover it with plastic wrap. Allow to proof overnight in the fridge.
- Prep for baking. In the morning, preheat oven to 450℉ with rack in the center. (You can preheat the Dutch oven in there if you'd like.) Remove dough from fridge and turn it out onto a sheet or parchment paper, trying to have it land in the center. Slash the top with a lame or very sharp knife.
- Place in Dutch oven and bake. Place the parchment paper and dough into a lidded Dutch Oven and put the lid back on top. Bake for a total of 55 minutes: 25 minutes covered, 25 minutes uncovered, and then remove from the Dutch Oven and bake directly on the rack for 5 minutes to brown the crust. Bread should be 200-210 internally when it is done.
- Cool and serve. Remove from Dutch Oven and remove parchment paper. Allow to cool on a wire rack 3 to 4 hours before slicing. Will keep at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for a few days.
Video
Notes
The eternal problem with sourdough bread is that your starter has to be fed and discarded all the time and you are forced to bake bread constantly. And sometimes…. your favorite recipes get a little… boring.
And the antidote to boring bread? Adding cheddar cheese and jalapenos!
The best part of this bread is that its just as easy as to make as regular artisan sourdough bread. The cheese and jalapenos don’t do anything to hurt the rise of the bread or anything like that. If you have a made successful loaf of sourdough bread, this recipe is going to turn out great.
Ingredients and Equipment
A kitchen scale. This is helpful any bread baking, but almost essential for sourdough. It is more accurate, less messy, and totally worth the cost.
Bread flour! Don’t be tempted to substitute all purpose flour. Bread flour will give a chewy, crusty loaf and the hydration of this recipe is calculated using bread flour. If you can’t find it at your grocery store, you can order it online.
A Dutch Oven with a tight fitting lid. This helps create a mini oven and lets the load bake in a steamy environment, which helps it rise. If you don’t have a Dutch Oven, you can simply preheat a rimming baking sheet on a lower rack and pour a cup of water on it to create steam.
Bob’s Red Mill Sweet White Rice Flour, 24 OzCrock-Pot Artisan Round Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 5-Quart, Aqua(10 x 6 x 3.5 inch) Oval Bread Banneton Proofing Basket & Liner SUGUS HOUSE Brotform Dough Rising Rattan Handmade rattan bowl – Perfect For Artisan
A proofing basket with a cloth liner. This will help your loaf keep its shape as it proofs overnight in the fridge. If you have a bowl that’s the right shape, you can line it with a tea towel. But the proofing baskets are pretty!
Rice flour. This makes a HUGE difference if you are having trouble with your loaf sticking to the proofing basket.
Tips for Success
Keep your cheese cold and cut it into small cubes (about 1/4 inch) rather than shredding it. This gives you those gorgeous pockets of melted cheese throughout the loaf. Shredded cheese will disappear!
Don’t rush the final cooling period. Cutting into the loaf too soon will give you a gummy crumb, no matter how tempting that melted cheese looks.
Make It Your Own
- Try this with smoked gouda.
- Poblanos are your friend if you want that pepper flavor without all the heat
- This bread makes the best grilled cheese!
I adore this loaf above almost all others. I hope you love it too ❤️.
By Katie Shaw
Katie lives in Virginia with her husband, three daughters, a chocolate lab, and over thirty chickens. She loves creating simple tutorials for sourdough, bread, and soap. Her recipes, articles, and YouTube videos reach millions of people per year.