Homemade Jalapeño Cheddar Bread

 

Olé!  Spice it Up!

 

 

A slice of this bread will awaken your senses and please your palate!  

 

This Jalapeño Cheddar Bread is soft, easy to slice and has an amazing flavor; cheesy, not too spicy, with a crunchy crust, thanks to semolina flour.

 

 

 

This is an adapted recipe from the Chicago Tribune.  It involves two rises that take about 3 hours; a bit of a wait, bet the end result is well worth it.  I used a stand mixer to speed up the process, instead of kneading by hand, it’s easier and faster.  

 

 

 

 

You can make it however spicy you like.  For a bread with more heat, do not remove the ribs and seeds when you slice them.  And freshly grated cheese is so worth it.  Substitute pepper jack cheese if you prefer it for a little more zing.  

 

It’s perfect for sandwiches, with a bowl of soup, or just at the dinner table by the slice with a little bit of butter...

 

Just don’t expect it to last very long!

 

 

Jalapeño Cheddar Bread

Servings: 1 loaf

Author: Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner

Prep time: 3 H & 20 MCooking time: 1 HourTotal time: 4 H & 20 M

This is a delicious moist, cheesy, slightly spicy bread with a great crunchy crust thanks to semolina flour. The bread does take a while to make, but it's worth every minute!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup chopped green jalapeño pepper, seeded, ribs removed, about 6 medium-sized jalapeños (see Notes below)
• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water (
• 110
• degrees)
• 1 cup milk, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten, at room temperature
• 2½ cups unbleached bread flour, or all-purpose flour
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon semolina flour, divided
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
• or
• Monterey Jack cheese
• Extra grated cheese for sprinkling on top, optional

Notes:

• If you like more heat in the bread, do not remove the ribs and seeds from the jalapeños, or use another pepper, such as serrano, anaheim or hatch chiles, or a mixture of 2 or 3 varieties of peppers.
• Canned or pickled peppers, drained can be used: 2 (4-ounces) cans whole or sliced jalapeño peppers, chopped, canned hatch chiles, or other similar canned chile peppers.

Method

1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over low heat. Add peppers and sauté until softened, 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
2. In a small bowl, stir yeast into water and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add milk, the 3 tablespoons of melted butter and egg. Mix well.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together peppers, bread flour, 1 cup semolina flour, sugar and salt. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients. Stir mixture with a wooden spoon until dough starts to come together.
4. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to low and mix about 1 minute. Add cheese, increase speed to medium and continue mixing for 2-3 minutes more, or until dough comes together and cheese is evenly mixed in. Form dough into a ball.
5. Generously grease a large bowl with butter. Add dough and roll it around to coat with butter. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until dough has doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
6. While dough is rising, prepare the baking pan. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch baking pan. Dust pan with remaining semolina flour. When dough has finished rising, turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and, using floured hands, gently form dough into a rough loaf. Put dough in prepared pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
7. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until dough completely fills pan and rises above it slightly, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Sprinkle extra cheese on top of dough, if desired.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Remove plastic wrap and bake bread in center of oven until it is golden on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, 50 minutes to 1 hour.
10. The internal temperature of the bread should also be at least 190 degrees. Cover bread with a sheet of aluminum foil if crust starts to get too brown.
11.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan to loosen loaf, then remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

Enjoy!