Introduction: Cheesy Jalapeno Bread
Hello everyone!
In this Instructable, I am sharing my cheesy jalapeno bread recipe along with some tips and tricks that I've learned to improve my bread making skills. The cheesy jalapeno bread is one of the first breads I ever made and is what sparked an interest in bread making.
This is also a no-knead bread. The key factor I’ve found in most
no-knead breads is that they’re very sticky due to the high water content. I’ve found a 2:1 ratio of flour to water (cups) to be optimal. This bread has around 90-95% hydration.
Let's get started!
Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour (all-purpose will result in a softer bread while bread flour will have a chewier texture)
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (one packet)
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 jar jalapeno, drained (can also use 4-5 fresh jalapenos)
8 oz cheddar cheese (or mix and match your favorites: Parmesan, Asiago)
Step 1: The Dough
Let's prepare the dough.
In a large bowl, mix yeast, sugar, warm water. You can rest the yeast, sugar, and water mixture until the yeast activates and produces bubbles, but I've noticed that this step is optional, even with active dry yeast. I did rest mine to ensure the yeast was still active.
Add oil and salt. Now add flour one cup at a time and mixing until the dough just comes together. You can see the consistence of the dough after adding each cup of flour. After the third cup, I noticed that the bread was quite wet, so I added a few tablespoons of flour until the dough kept its shape. The extra flour totaled about 1/4 cup.
Now all you have to do is oil the bowl and the dough ball, cover, and set it to rise in a warm place for a couple hours. You can make this dough a day before and let it rise in the fridge in a bowl or ziplock bag.
Step 2: The Cheese and Jalapeno
Now time for the main part: the cheese and the jalapeno.
Drain the jalapenos and prepare the cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. After all, this IS called CHEESY jalapeno bread, not jalapeno cheese bread. I like to cut into small cubes to essentially get pockets of cheese, but you can also shred it if you like which results in a appealing looking bread after baking. Also, orange cheddar looks better than white cheddar.
Lightly oil the pan/tray in which you will bake the bread in.
After the dough is risen, it should be more than doubled in size and quite bubbly. I just put all the jalapeno and cheese and mixed it really well. You can see the consistency of the dough. Place the dough in pan, cover, and let it rise about an hour in a warm place.
Step 3: The Baking
After the second rise, you can shave some fresh Parmesan cheese on top to add to the appeal factor after baking. Bake the bread at 375 F for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned. As soon as you take the bread out, an optional step is to brush some melted butter on top which gives the bread a shiny and enticing look. If you're wondering how it tasted, it was the softest bread I've ever made and so incredibly cheesy.
If you make it, let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!

Runner Up in the
Cheese Challenge 2016

Runner Up in the
Baking Contest 2016

Participated in the
Epilog Contest 8
8 Comments
6 years ago
WHAT SIZE BREAD PAN DO I BAKE THIS IN
Reply 6 years ago
I used a I think 12" pie pan. You can use whatever dish you like as long as it's big enough to hold the bread after the second rise. Otherwise, what I have had happen is that the cheese melts and drips out of the pan and onto the oven base.
6 years ago
Wow! Looks good!
6 years ago
Yum! Do you fix it with anything in particular, like chili?
Reply 6 years ago
I usually eat it by itself, nice and hot right out of the oven.
6 years ago
Wow!! my wife made it and it was so delicious. My only regret is that she took most of it to her work :(
6 years ago
OMG this looks so good! i cant wait to try this out. i am going to try to add the jalapenos and cheese to my sourdough loaf and see what happens.
Reply 6 years ago
That sounds like a great idea! Let me know how it turns out.