This is one of those recipes that I had read about on another blog, and just couldn’t get out of my head for weeks. I knew I had to make it! I love cheese, and I love jalapeños…what more could I ask for? I even got to break in the dough hook that I received with my Kitchenaid mixer.
Now granted, this isn’t a good bread for making sandwiches. It’s a good bread to eat for a snack, or along with a hot bowl of soup or chili – which we did this evening since it feels like October outside (back to perfect weather tomorrow, though!). I also recommend this bread with just a smear of butter/margarine. But, no matter what the weather or way you eat it, it’s pretty darn good.
Cheddar Jalapeño Bread
adapted from Wit & Vinegar
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 t baking soda
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 5 oz sharp cheddar, cut into cubes
- 1 medium jalapeño, deseeded & chopped fine – make sure to wear gloves if you can!
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
- Preheat the oven to 400*. Grease two 5×9 bread pans (or just the one, like I have)
- In a large bowl, mix together your flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Add the butter and mix well (either with your hands or with your dough hook in your mixer) until the butter is broken up and well-distributed in the flour – kind of like ‘grains of sand’. Add the cheese and jalapeño.
- Add the buttermilk and mix until it combines – try not to overmix it.
- Divide the dough half and place each half in a loaf pan – or just leave the other half of the dough in the bowl. Smooth out the top and etch a few slits into the top.
- Bake for 25-30 minute until a nice golden brown.
Don’t judge a bread by it’s shape. I’ll admit, my loaf is ugly.
Since I only had one loaf pan, I simply let it cool, removed the loaf of bread, sprayed the pan again, and prepared the 2nd loaf; half of which went to our neighbor.
The jalapeños in the bread give it some heat every other bite, while the cheddar cheese is also quite pronounced. My bread didn’t turn out very ‘pretty’, as I veered from the recipe a bit. I also used whole wheat flour, as that’s what I had on hand.
I’ll be making this again once soup season is in full swing. Until then, though, I’ll simply enjoy the rest of summer weather and some of this bread to snack on 🙂
The Spicy Simmer 