Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread

If you're craving a loaf with personality, this Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread recipe brings just that-with a little kick of spicy jalapeños and pockets of melted cheddar in every bite! It's sourdough with a bold, savoury twist that's perfect for anyone who loves flavour-packed bread.

Jump to:

• Spicy Cheesy Sourdough Like No Other
• Ingredient Notes
• How Do Jalapeno Peppers and Cheese Affect Sourdough?
• Step-By-Step Method
• Christmas Sourdough ebook
• Tips For Best Results
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage
• Recipe FAQs
• More Flavoured Sourdough Recipes With Mix-Ins
• Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread

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Spicy Cheesy Sourdough Like No Other

If you're ready to up your sourdough game with a loaf that's bold, savoury, and downright exciting, this spicy cheesy sourdough is calling your name. For those who lean towards savoury over sweet, this particular recipe is a perfect way to switch things up in the kitchen and bring some thrilling flavours to your baking.

Infused with tangy sourdough goodness, bursts of cheesy flavour, and the kick of jalapeno peppers, this loaf takes sourdough loaves to a whole new level.

This bread is great served alongside rich soups, stews, or a big bowl of chilli. Its spicy flavor and complex profile are the ideal match for cold weather comfort foods. So, if you're ready to stray from the traditional, this tangy, cheesy, and fiery loaf is sure to rekindle your sourdough passion!

Fancy a challenge? Make our Smoked Cheddar and Jalapeno Sourdough Croissants. We also use the same flavour combination in our Jalapeno Cheddar Sourdough Focaccia!

Ingredient Notes

Here's everything you will need to make this jalapeño cheddar sourdough recipe:

• strong white bread flour: with at least 12.5% protein content. Whilst you can replace up to 20% of white flour with whole wheat flour or rye flour, we find that they detract from the flavour of japapenos and cheese.  
• water: we typically use lukewarm water. 
• salt.
• active sourdough starter: 100% hydration, very active and bubbly, low acidity. 
• pickled jalapeños: drained and patted dry.  If you cannot handle the heat, try our Pickle Sourdough Bread (you can add cheese too!) or our Three Cheese Sourdough Bread, made with Cheddar, Parmesan and Gruyere.
• sharp Cheddar cheese: we recommend smoked Cheddar. If you want some distinct pops of colour in your loaf of bread, use coloured Cheddar. 

Find the ingredient quantities, detailed instructions and nutritional information in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. 

How Do Jalapeno Peppers and Cheese Affect Sourdough?

Various mix-ins can affect the sourdough in different ways. Specifically, you need to consider how your inclusions affect the hydration and the fermentation of the dough. Cheese and picked jalapenos will not add too much moisture to the dough, so you do not need to adjust the hydration level of the sourdough. However, you should drain the jalapenos very well and then dab them with kitchen towels to remove excess moisture. 

I have not noticed any effects on the speed of bulk fermentation. 

One other thing to note is that due to chunky mix-ins, your dough should be handled with more gentle care in order not to pierce and tear the dough when coil folding after the sourdough lamination. 

Learn more about sourdough mix-ins, in our ebook - Flavoured Sourdough: What, When and How to Add Mix-Ins To Sourdough?

Step-By-Step Method

Just like most sourdough bread recipes, this Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread is made over two days. 

DAY 1

First thing in the morning, feed the sourdough starter and leave it in a warm place (ideally between 21-27°C), loosely covered, for 4 hours. The starter should double in size by then. If it doesn't, it might need a few more good feedings to be ready.

Autolyse

Before your starter reaches its peak, start the autolyse. In a bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour and water into a dry-ish shaggy dough. Simply run the mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment for 1-2 minutes, then cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave the flour to hydrate for 30-60 minutes.

Mixing The Dough

Sprinkle salt over the hydrated flour and add the active sourdough starter to the shaggy dough mixture. Run the stand mixer for 10-15 minutes until your dough is smooth and elastic. It does not need to pass the windowpane test just yet (the gluten will continue developing when we fold the dough during the bulk fermentation period).

Bulk Fermentation and Coil Folds

Scoop the dough into a large bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap (a.k.a. cling film) and leave it in a warm place (21-27°C) for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, with cold wet hands, perform the first set of coil folds. Simply lift the bread dough with both hands from the sides and tuck it under to form a coil. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and coil again. Cover the bowl again, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes again. You can do sets of stretch and folds if that's what you're used to. 

Repeat the coil folds twice more. After the third coil fold, your dough should feel a lot less sticky and feel strengthened and elastic. This is important for the next step - sourdough lamination!

Laminating The Mix-Ins and Extra Coil Folds

Pat the pickled jalapeno slices with a piece of kitchen towel to remove excess moisture. Cut your Cheddar into 1cm cubes (about ¼-1/2 inch). 

Wet the surface of a large area of the kitchen surface (you can spray it or simply use your hands to make the surfaces wet). Scoop the dough out onto a wet surface and stretch it out as much as you can without tearing it by pulling each side of the dough in opposite directions. 

Scatter ⅓ of cubed Cheddar and ⅓ of jalapenos all over the middle section of the dough. Then fold one side over the sourdough mix-ins. Scatter another ⅓ on top of the folded-over area and fold the other side over. This should look like a large dough pamphlet at this stage.

Scatter half of the remaining mix-ins in the centre of the pamphlet, then fold the top over. Finally, scatter the remaining mix-ins over the folded-over bit, and fold the bottom over. Please refer to the photos below for a better explanation. You should now be left with a parcel of laminated sourdough.

Place the dough into the mixing bowl you used before, cover and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.

At 30-minute intervals, perform 2 more coil folds with wet hands, being very gentle not to pierce the dough. This will help distribute the mix-ins evenly in the dough.

After two more coil folds, cover the dough well, and leave it to bulk rise undisturbed for 2-3 hours. Note, that the bulk fermentation time will depend on a variety of factors, like kitchen temperature, strength of your sourdough starter and the individual brand of flour used.

Shaping and Cold Retardation

At the end of bulk fermentation, using a bowl scraper scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Try and make sure that the smooth top of the dough (the side that is not intact with the bowl) is placed on the floured work surface. Then swiftly fold the four corners of the dough into the centre and flip the dough over.

With your bench scraper held at a shallow angle to the work surface, push the dough while using your hand to tuck it under itself, creating tension. This fluid circular motion involves pushing and gently rounding with the bench knife, while your free hand continues the rounding motion, tucking the dough slightly under itself to create surface tension. It takes some practice, but you should aim for a tight round ball of dough that holds its shape and doesn't spread much.

Place the shaped dough ball into a well-floured banneton basket (or any proofing basket alternatives). We recommend using rice flour for dusting your proofing baskets. The smooth side of the sourdough ball should be at the bottom, with the seam side up.

Pinch the seam together with your fingers, if the dough starts spreading in the bowl to make sure the dough is tight. Sprinkle with some flour, and cover the dough with a clean fabric napkin or small lightweight tea towel.

Place the proofing basket in a large plastic bag - it will protect the dough from drying out. Then place the whole thing in the fridge for its final rise (a.k.a. second rise) in the fridge for 12-36 hours.

DAY 2

Scoring The Sourdough

The next day, place the Dutch Oven in the oven, and preheat it to 240°C (typically, it is the highest temperature home ovens will go to) with the Dutch oven in it. It needs to be piping hot!

Once the oven is hot, take the dough out of the fridge and out of the bag.

Invert the dough gently onto a large sheet of parchment paper. If your dough was properly bulk fermented and shaped correctly, it should not spread once inverted.

Dust the surface of the dough with flour. Using a bread lame or a razor blade, score the dough deeply (approximately 1cm deep) at a 30- 45º angle. One single deep slash is all that's needed for that sought-after sourdough "ear".

Baking and Cooling

Take the hot Dutch Oven out of the oven, take the lid off, and lift the sourdough into it, holding the edges of the parchment paper. Be mindful of how you lift the paper. Sometimes, the scored slash can begin to close up during this process. To prevent this, lift the parchment from the sides that won't push the two edges of the scored dough back together.

Place the lid back on the Dutch Oven and place the bread into the hot oven for 25 minutes. Cooking sourdough in a covered Dutch Oven will aid the oven spring and also increase your chances of a prominent sourdough "ear". 

After 25 minutes, take the lid off, and return the sourdough to the oven for another 25 minutes to turn golden brown and form a beautiful crust. 

Once baked, take the Dutch Oven out of the oven. Lift the bread out by holding the corners of the parchment paper. Place the bread onto the wire rack, and slide the piece of parchment paper from underneath the loaf.

Leave this crusty artisan loaf to cool down to room temperature before slicing.

Tips For Best Results

For the perfect cheddar jalapeño sourdough bread recipe, follow these essential tips:

• Use a very active sourdough starter - Make sure your starter is at peak activity, meaning it has doubled in size and is nice and bubbly. Avoid using a starter that's past its peak to ensure the best rise and flavour.
• Rely on a digital scale - Measuring ingredients by weight ensures precision, which is especially important for sourdough recipes. This way, your dough hydration will be consistent, giving you a well-balanced loaf.
• Choose cheese that melts well - Opt for a good, sharp Cheddar. Smoked Cheddar works wonderfully in this recipe, adding depth to the cheesy flavour that balances the heat from the jalapeños.
• Cube, don't grate, the cheese - Small cheese cubes work best here. Grated cheese tends to disappear into the dough during baking, but with cubes, you'll get delightful pockets of melted cheese in every bite. If you want to grate cheese, choose hard, strong-tasting type (like our Parmesan Sourdough Bread).
• Handle the dough gently - When laminating to add the cheese and jalapeños, stretch the dough out carefully, aiming not to tear it. During coil folds, use a gentle touch to avoid piercing the dough and to maintain structure.

These steps will bring out the best texture, flavour, and structure in your cheddar jalapeño sourdough bread.

Serving Suggestions

This great recipe for cheddar jalapeño sourdough is versatile, offering endless ways to enjoy its spicy kick of jalapeños and tangy flavour! Here are a few favourite ways to serve it:

• Spicy grilled cheese sandwich: Take your grilled cheese to the next level by layering more Cheddar or a melting cheese of choice between two slices of this flavoursome sourdough. The heat from the jalapeños adds a delicious twist to the classic comfort food.
• Pair with soups and stews: This bread is a perfect sidekick for hearty soups and stews, adding a spicy, cheesy touch that balances rich broths or thick chowders.
• Toast with toppings: Simply toast and top with avocado, a fried egg, or your favourite spread for a quick, savoury breakfast or snack.

Storage

To keep your loaf of bread fresh, store it in an airtight container or bread bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, slice the loaf into individual slices and freeze them. This way, you can simply take out a slice or two whenever you want-just pop it in the toaster or oven to enjoy fresh, warm bread any time!

Recipe FAQs

More Flavoured Sourdough Recipes With Mix-Ins

Looking to switch up your homemade sourdough bread recipes? Try Caramelised Onion Sourdough With Cheddar or maybe Sourdough Beer Bread? Or try adding some fun mix-ins next time (Dill Pickle Sourdough, anyone?) for delicious new flavours and textures of sourdough with inclusions!