No-Knead Jalapeño Cheddar Artisan Bread
Published: February 20, 2024. | Updated: April 18, 2024.
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NOTE: This recipe has been updated to include an additional step in which the dough is cold proofed in the refrigerator prior to baking.
Beginner friendly, this bakery style Jalapeño Cheddar Artisan Bread has amazing flavour. It’s a little spicy with pockets of melted cheese and a crackly, golden crust!
Using my Everyday Artisan Bread as a starting point, the cubed cheddar and pickled jalapeños are folded into the dough just before the cold proof to create the most deliciously melty, cheesy pockets.
While most cheese bread recipes call for shredded cheese, I’ve found that cubing the cheese helps to prevent it from reaching the surface of the dough too early, which can result in burning. If you don’t have cheddar, Gouda and Havarti are both delicious alternatives.
Pickling both enhances the flavour and softens the texture of the jalapeños, making them ideally suited for baking. You can use any kind you like for this recipe – some are a little spicier than others – or simply adjust the quantity according to taste.
I’ve made several versions of this recipe and discovered that you can double both the cubed cheddar and the jalapeños if you bake with bread flour. Alternative flours, however, lack the structure to hold up to additional add-ins so be sure to follow the quantities recommended below if using all-purpose flour or a gluten free blend.
How to Make Jalapeño Cheddar Artisan Bread in 5 steps
Mix the dough.
Cover and let it rise until it has doubled in size.
Add cheese, shape your dough and dust with flour.
Cover and proof the dough in the fridge for 1 hour or as long as 24 hours.
Turn dough out onto parchment, score and bake.
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Baking Schedule
Making this jalapeño cheddar artisan bread is a two-day process where the bread is mixed and prepared on day one, cold proofed in the fridge overnight, then baked on day two.
This is what it looks like:
Saturday morning: Mix dough, cover and let rise.
Saturday afternoon or evening: Shape dough, cover and put it in the fridge.
Sunday morning, afternoon or evening: Remove dough from the fridge, turn it out, score it and bake!
This jalapeño cheddar loaf is delicious served with soups, stews or roast chicken (my favourite!) and it makes the most amazing breakfast sandwiches. That bubbling cheddar cheese is EVERYTHING and your kitchen will smell amazing as it bakes!
No-Knead Jalapeño Cheddar Artisan Bread
Makes 1 loaf; prep time 18 hours.
You can find additional notes on steps, baking tools and tips for beginners here.
Ingredients:
1½ cups water (360 grams), room temperature (at or near 70°F/21°C)
1 teaspoon (3 grams) active dry yeast
3½ cups (455 grams) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher or fine sea salt
50 grams (a little under ½ cup) cheddar cheese, cut into ¼ x ½-inch cubes
1/3 cup (30 grams) sliced pickled jalapeños, drained and patted dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture
Instructions:
In a large bowl, add yeast and water and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
Add flour and salt and mix with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough is formed, just enough so the flour is not visible. Cover and let rise somewhere warm (see note below) until it has doubled in size, about 8-10 hours.
Once the dough has doubled in volume, use your hands (or a dough scraper if you have one) to pull the dough out onto a floured surface. With floured hands, gently fold the dough into itself several times just until it holds together. Next, carefully stretch and smooth out dough into a rectangular shape and distribute Parmesan cubes and sliced jalapeños across the dough, pressing them into the surface just enough so that they won’t move. Roll up dough into a log shape, adding bits of flour as needed to prevent sticking, and fold the ends underneath. Sprinkle with a little more flour and continue to gently shape the dough just until a flour-covered loaf is formed. Lift and place the dough into a flour dusted proofing bowl like this one.
Dust with flour, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or as long as 24 hours. You can even leave it for as long as 48 hours at this point if you’re not able to bake it right away.
When you're ready to bake your bread, preheat oven to 450ºF (232ºC) with a Dutch oven or covered baking vessel inside the oven.
Uncover then turn the dough out onto parchment paper seam side down. If needed, gently turn it with your hands and nudge it into the shape of a loaf. Score the top with a razor blade or the tip of a sharp knife with a design of your choosing. This will allow steam to escape while it’s baking.
Once the oven is preheated, remove the Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the dough, still on the parchment, into the Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for 15-20 minutes more. Your bread will be done once the top is browned, and it sounds hollow when you tap the top.
Using parchment edges, lift bread from Dutch oven and transfer it to a wire cooling rack to let cool for up to an hour before slicing.
Notes:
Rise time and temperature: An ambient rise temperature somewhere between ~70º-75º/20º-23ºC is ideal but even high 60's/18º-19ºC should work if the dough is kept away from drafts. Note that rise times can vary based on temperature, environment and ingredients used. You will know your loaf is ready to bake when it has doubled in size, and this can take a minimum of 2-3 hours or as long as a full day. With a little experimentation, you will find the time frame that works best for you.
Storage: This bread is best enjoyed the day it’s baked. Leftovers can be toasted, re-heated on a baking sheet at 350ºF (177ºC) for 5 minutes until warmed through or served at room temperature. This loaf will store well covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or sliced then frozen in a well-sealed plastic bag for up to 1 month.
