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Need a spicy twist to your homemade bread routine?
This loaf with its large chunks of jalapeno and cooling cheese is perfect toasted with some cream cheese or to spice up a sandwich.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup luke-warm water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 4 cups flour
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 jalapeno peppers, diced
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast into 1/4 cup of the warm water, taking only up to 10 minutes to do so. Add 2 cups of the flour, then gradually mix in 3/4 cups more water until sticky dough is formed.
- Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 10 minutes, pushing forward against the dough, folding in half, and rotating a quarter turn**. Dough should be elastic but not sticky. When you push your finger into it the surface should rebound a bit. **If you do not want to knead, you can put the dough in stand mixer with a dough hook until it looks like described above.
- Lightly flour a large bowl. Place dough in bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave to rise in a warm place until dough has doubled in size – about 2-3 hours.
- Place two cups of flour onto a work surface. Place dough in the flour and begin kneading again, gradually adding 3/4 cups of water. Then add olive oil, salt, cheese, and peppers. Knead until ingredients are combined.
- Add back to floured bowl and cover with damp towel, allowing to rise for another 2-3 hours or until dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly coat 2 loaf pans with olive oil.
- Take dough out of bowl and slap it on your work surface several times. Divide dough in two and shape into loaf shapes. Place in pans.
- Place pans in preheated oven. Bake for 12 minutes, then turn the heat down to 375 degrees. Continue baking for an additional 45.
- When baking is finished, remove from pans and place on cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before slicing.