Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread

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A jalapeño cheddar sourdough bread loaf is the perfect twist on traditional sourdough. Cheddar running through the bread gives a sharpness to the mellow sour taste, and the jalapeños give an impeccable flavor with a slight heat. If you want the perfect loaf for an upgraded grilled cheese, avocado toast, or sandwich, you’ll want to try this.

Why You’ll Want This Recipe

• Beginner Friendly – If you have been making simple sourdough and are ready to step up your game, this is the perfect recipe for you. Jalapeño cheddar sourdough bread is still very simple when it comes to sourdough, but it allows you to begin experimenting with different flavors and fillings.
• Texture – Crusty exterior, light and airy interior. What more could you ask for?
• Versatile – This bread is fantastic with soup or chili, sliced for grilled cheese, sandwiches, and avocado toast, or even on its own.

Tools You May Need

Large bowl

Banneton

Scoring razor or sharp knife

Dutch Oven

Parchment Paper

Ingredients

All-Purpose Flour – If using freshly milled flour, go for a hard white wheat.

Water – filtered or spring water

Sourdough Starter – Active and bubbly

Sea Salt

Cheddar – Shredded Mexican cheese blend also works great for this recipe.

Fresh Jalapeños – While you can opt for pickled jalapeños, it will change the flavor quite a bit. Fresh jalapeños are our preference because they give the bread a more vibrant, fresh, and spicy flavor. Pickled jalapeños are going to make it more tangy and mild.

Roasted Garlic – See how to roast fresh garlic in the oven below.

How to Make Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread

Mix, Stretch, & Fold (3 ½ hrs.)

Step 1: Mix your flour and water in a large bowl with a wooden spatula until it forms a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl with a wet kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes to autolyse. This allows the flour to absorb the water, supporting gluten development and making it easier to work with.

Step 2: Add the active sourdough starter and salt to the bowl, then mix it all together by hand for about three minutes making sure everything is well incorporated. Cover and let it rest another 30 minutes.

Step 3: After the 30 minutes is complete, do your first set of stretch and folds: Pull one edge of the dough upwards, allowing it to stretch out of the bowl. Lower the dough back down and into the middle of the dough, pressing it in lightly with your finger tips. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat. Do this on all four sides of the bowl to complete one set of stretch and folds. You will eventually (not now) do a total of six sets.

Step 4: Cover the dough and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, dice the fresh jalapeños and get your cheese and garlic ready.

Step 5: After the dough has rested, add the jalapeños, cheese, and roasted garlic to the middle of the bowl. Just mush the garlic out and right into the middle. Complete your second set of stretch and folds. As you stretch and fold, the jalapeños, cheese, and garlic will naturally begin to mix in. Let it rest another 15-20 minutes.

Step 6: Do four more sets of stretch and folds, letting the dough rest in between each of these sets while covered for 25-30 minutes.

First Bulk Rise (6-12 hrs)

Step 7: After the sixth and final set of stretch and folds, cover the dough and let it rest until doubled at room temperature. It takes my dough 7-10 hours, but the time will vary depending on the temperature and humidity of your kitchen as well as the maturity of your sourdough starter.

Long Fermentation (12-16 hrs)

Step 8: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat it into a roundish shape. Cup your hands around the sides and, using small, circular motions, begin to rotate and pull the dough toward you. The goal is to create surface tension by dragging the dough slightly against the counter as you rotate, tightening it into a smooth ball. Keep going until it feels nicely shaped and holds together.

Step 9: Flip the dough over. Pull the left and right ends of the dough upwards to meet in the middle and pinch together to create a seam. Repeat this for the top and bottom sides of the loaf. This will help the bread have more spring in the oven.

Step 10: Flour a banneton generously with either wheat or rice flour to keep the dough from sticking. Put the dough in the banneton, seam side up. Cover with a floured cloth banneton cover and stick the whole thing in a plastic bag and tie the end loosely. Ferment for 12-16 hours in your fridge. Be sure to not over-ferment or your sourdough may become difficult to work with and overly dense after baked.

Scoring & Baking (1 hr)

Step 11: Place your Dutch oven and lid in the oven to preheat. Set your oven to 485℉ and leave the pan in there for 15-20 minutes to heat up.

Step 12: Meanwhile, take your dough from the fridge and turn it out of the bowl and onto a piece of parchment paper. Flour the top of the bread and use a scoring razor to score the top of the loaf according to your desired design.

Step 13: Remove the Dutch oven and lid from the oven and carefully place the bread dough and parchment paper into the hot Dutch oven. Bake it covered for 20 minutes at 485℉.

Step 14: Next, remove the lid from the Dutch oven and lower the temperature to 475℉. Bake uncovered for another 25 minutes.

Remove your jalapeño cheddar sourdough bread from the oven and carefully take it out of the Dutch oven and parchment paper, placing it on a cooling rack. Once it cools enough to eat, slice and enjoy on its own, with your favorite soup, or as a sandwich!

Tips

• If the dough is sticking to your hands during the stretch and folds, wet your hands in the sink lightly before grabbing the dough. This will help a ton!
• You can really cold-ferment your sourdough much longer. I have done it up to 24 hours, and others I know have gone even longer. If you need to ferment it longer to allow more flexibility in your schedule, go ahead! Just be careful to not over-ferment as it will break down the dough too much to be salvageable.
• The first bulk rise time will greatly depend on your kitchen’s temperature and humidity. If it has been 12 hours and it still isn’t doubled, try taking a little longer, especially if it is a cold season.

How do you roast garlic?

1. Preheat your oven to 375℉.
2. Slice an entire bulb of garlic in half.
3. Place each half in a square of aluminum foil and drizzle lightly with olive oil.
4. Add a dash of salt and pepper, then fold the foil loosely over the garlic so that it is covered but the foil is not touching the exposed cloves, just the garlic skins.
5. Place the garlic in the oven and roast for 40-50 minutes, or until the garlic is soft and squeezable.

How to Serve Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread

• In place of regular bread on a grilled cheese sandwich (or any sandwich for that matter).
• Enjoy it alongside a warm bowl of tortilla soup.
• Make upgraded avocado toast.
• Eat it on its own in it unadulterated glory.

Storage

If your bread isn’t eaten up in the same day (unlikely), you can store it in a linen or cotton bread bag on the counter for 3-5 days. The cloth allows it to not build up moisture and mold as quickly as bread would when stored in plastic wrap or bags. It is also a cleaner (less toxic, less waste) option.

If freezing your bread, make sure it is fully cooled first. Go ahead and wrap it in plastic wrap and then place it in a freezer bag. You can freeze it for 2-4 months before it starts to lessen in quality.

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