Jalapeño-Cheddar Bread

Delicious. Spicy. And perfect.Just like me ;)

Ingredients

• 3 cups of All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup of corn meal
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 pkg RapidRise Yeast
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• 1 cup of warm water
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 jalapeño peppers
• 16 oz of cheddar cheese

Process

Mix together your dry ingredients: APF, corn meal, salt, and sugar.

In a separate bowl/cup, warm the water (not too hot!) and add the package of yeast and pinch of sugar and let it sit to the side.

Mix together the wet-ish ingredients in a bowl: 4 tbsp of melted butter, 1 cup of buttermilk, and 1 egg.

Mix both your dry and wet ingredients until it forms a ball of dough.  You may need to add some extra flour if it gets too sticky. Then set it aside for about 30 minutes to let it rise.

While the dough is rising, crumble the cheese.  I read online an easy way to do this: freeze the cheese for a few hours, then defrost it, and it literally just breaks into crumbles.  It's beautiful.

As you can tell from the clarity of the picture, I used sharp cheddar (*internal chuckle*).  I also mixed in a habanero cheddar cheese that they sell at Harris Teeter. Mmm, definitely added to the spiciness.

Chop up 3 jalapenos.

Once the dough rises for about 30 minutes, fold in the cheese and jalapenos.  Put into the bread pan and let it rise another 20 minutes. Go ahead and start preheating your oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together an egg wash and coat the top of the bread to get a light, glossy layer.  Make sure it's not too thick of a layer on top otherwise it will turn out eggy.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 375 degrees

You have to let it sit a bit after it comes out of the oven, but once it was ready, I ate it with chili one day.  Then retoasted it in the toaster oven the next day and made a BLT (bacon-less lettuce and tomato :D) sandwich with it. SO GOOD. Plz try at home. :)

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Jalapeño-Cheddar Bread

Prep Time: 1.5 hrs  |  Cook Time: 35 min  |  Yields: 1 loaf, about 10-15 slices of bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups of All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup of corn meal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 package of RapidRise yeast
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• 1 cup of warm water
• 4 tbsp of unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 jalapeño peppers
• 16 oz of cheddar cheese

Process

1. Mix together all the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, corn meal, salt, and sugar.
2. In a separate bowl/cup, warm a cup of water (not too hot!) and add the package of yeast and a pinch of sugar. Set aside.
3. Mix together the wet ingredients in another bowl: 4 tbsp of melted butter, 1 cup of buttermilk, and 1 egg.
4. Mix the dry and wet ingredients until they form a ball of dough. (You may need to add extra flour to make it less sticky).
5. Set aside for 30 minutes to let it rise.
6. While the dough is rising, crumble the cheese. (Easy way to crumble: freeze the block then defrost it.)
7. Chop up 3 jalapeños.
8. Once the 30 minutes are up, fold in the cheese and jalapeños.
9. Put it in the bread pan and let it rise for another 20 minutes.
10. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
11. Optional: Whisk an egg to make an egg wash and coat the top of the loaf with a light, glossy layer.
12. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
13. Enjoy :)