Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough

Jalapeño cheddar sourdough is a fun and flavorful take on classic sourdough. The pickled jalapeños add a kick while the cheese melts into little pockets throughout the bread for an irresistible treat.

Is there a more classic savory combination than jalapeños and cheddar?

I think not!

This jalapeño cheddar sourdough loaf is packed with tangy sourdough, zippy pickled jalapeños, and sharp cheddar.

Try this savory sourdough as a vehicle for the perfect sandwich, or on its own with a healthy smear of butter. You’ll be happy you did!

This jalapeño cheddar sourdough recipe is dedicated to savory combinations!

This jalapeño cheddar sourdough recipe was developed for you in partnership with Brod + Taylor. They are the makers of the awesome folding bread proofer you’ll see in the photos below!

Tips + Tricks

No. 1 –>  If you’re overwhelmed with all things sourdough, I can help you! I have guides on everything from making a 24 HOUR SOURDOUGH STARTER, to PICKING THE BEST STARTER JAR, to FEEDING SOURDOUGH STARTER, to STORING SOURDOUGH STARTER, to PROOFING IN THE FRIDGE, to FREEZING SOURDOUGH BREAD, to USING UP DISCARD, and more.

No. 2 –> Using the Brod + Taylor proofing box has massively improved my sourdough baking, as well as helping it to fit into my busy schedule so much easier. With the proofing box, I can go from feeding my starter to making my dough within 3 hours! See more on the proofing box below.

No. 3 –> This recipe is based on my small loaf sourdough recipe, but it is a higher hydration dough for extra extensibility to pull around and incorporate all the add-in ingredients.

No. 4 –> Wet your hands before pressing the dough flat to add the fillings. After making this bread for the 5th time, because it never made it to the photo stage, I learned that lesson! Ha!

Key Ingredients

Active Sourdough Starter: For this recipe, you want to use a fed and ACTIVE SOURDOUGH STARTER. Your starter should have been fed within the last approximately 6-8 hours and has at least doubled in size. If you’re using your sourdough starter while it’s still expanding, the dough will be sweeter, and if you use it past its peak, the dough will be sourer. This recipe is based on a sourdough starter with 100% hydration (equal amounts of flour and water by weight, not volume.)

Pickled Jalapeños: While you could use fresh jalapeño peppers in this recipe, I much prefer the flavor and intensity of pickled jalapeño. In case you’re wondering, I have a great pickled jalapeno recipe!

Cheddar: This is flexible! Use a sharp cheddar for a bigger cheddar flavor, or a white cheddar for a more subtle appearance. I personally love to sneak in some smoked cheddar whenever I’m baking this bread. It adds a great dimension.

How To Make Jalapeno Cheddar Sourdough Bread

Feed the starter:

1. Before baking, feed your starter. Every starter is slightly different and will take a different amount of time to activate after feeding. Use 50 g starter, 50 g water, and 50 g flour. Stir it all together and set it aside to rise.
2. Once the starter has risen to double its size and is full of bubbles, it’s ready to use.

Build the dough:

1. Combine 60 g fed and active starter with 250 g warm water, then add 330 g bread flour. I usually stir with a whisk until I get to the shaggy stage. Once the dough looks shaggy, I’ll switch to a bowl scraper to help lift and fold the dough into itself to ensure all the flour is absorbed.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel.
3. Set the dough aside to rest for 30 minutes. This rest period improves the extensibility of the dough, leading to a better crumb and crust.
4. Sprinkle in the salt and knead everything together for 2- 3 minutes. Recover the dough and allow to rest for another 30 minutes.

Stretch + Fold:

1. With wet hands, grab the dough and gently pull it until the flap is long enough to fold over itself, then fold the flap, rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat 8-12 times, for 2-3 rotations around the bowl.
2. Recover the bowl, and set it aside for 30 minutes.
3. Repeat the stretch and fold process twice – stretch and fold followed by a 30 minute rest.
4. During this last rest, prepare your jalapeños and cheddar cubes! Slice or dice your pickled jalapenos into your desired size, and cube the cheddar into 1/4″ cubes.

Add ins:

1. Lightly dust your counter top with flour, then turn the dough onto the work surface.
2. Carefully press/stretch the dough into a rectangular shape with wet hands. The dough may fight your pulling, but take care to not tear the dough – if required, stretch a bit, then let the dough rest for a couple of minutes before stretching more.
3. Spread the pickled jalapeños and cubed cheddar over the surface of the sourdough, reserving about 1/4 of each.
4. Fold up the bottom of the rectangle about 1/3 of the way up, like you’d fold a letter. Sprinkle the remaining add ins on the piece you just folded up. Fold The top of the dough over the bottom. Gently fold the sides under to form a boule shape.
5. Return the dough to it’s bowl, cover and set aside to rise for 5-6 hours.

Shaping:

1. Once the dough has nearly doubled, gently move it to a lightly floured work surface, then, fold the dough into a square-ish shape.
2. Flip the dough, so the floured side is up, and tuck the dough underneath itself in gentle circular motion until a round boule forms.
3. Transfer the dough to your proofing basket, banneton, or bowl. If using a proofing basket or banneton, flour well before transferring dough. If using a bowl, line it with parchment paper.
4. Cover the dough and rest for another two or so hours, until the dough puffs up and becomes slightly jiggly. It won’t double at this stage and that’s ok. If you’re not going to bake right away, cover the dough and place it in the fridge to proof for 12-16 hours. If performing a cold ferment, bake sourdough cold, straight from the fridge, but add an extra 5 minutes of bake time.

Bake:

1. Preheat oven with dutch oven inside to 475f. I use a 3 quart.
2. Once the oven is preheated, turn the loaf onto a sheet of parchment paper. Score the top using a bread lame or sharp razor blade.
3. Lift the dough using the parchment paper as a sling and place it into the hot dutch oven.
4. Bake at 475f for 35 minutes covered and then another 15-20 minutes uncovered until the crust is golden brown.
5. Remove from the dutch oven immediately and place on a wire mesh rack to cool before slicing.

Baker’s Schedule

• Day 1 –>
  • 8 am: Feed the starter warm water. Set aside to activate.
  • 1 pm: Mix up the dough.
  • 2:30 pm: The stretching and folding process is complete, add in the jalapeños and cheddar cheese. Set aside to proof.
  • 7:30 pm: pre-shape and shape the sourdough loaf.
  • 8:30 pm: Bake or place in fridge to cold ferment overnight.
• Day 2 –>
  • 8:30 am: Set a small dutch oven into the cold oven and preheat both together at 475f.
  • 9 am: Flip the jalapeño cheddar sourdough loaf onto a parchment paper square, score. Then using the parchment paper sling, lower the loaf into the preheated dutch oven and bake.

Batch + Storage

Batch:

This jalapeño cheddar sourdough recipe makes 1 good-sized boule. I find that one boule lasts 2 days (or less) with my family of 4.

Storage:

There are a few ways to store sourdough bread to extend its freshness. Your boule can be kept cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. I recommend transferring it to a bread bag after 16-18 hours.

Jalapeño cheddar sourdough loaf can also be frozen. To freeze sourdough bread, cool the loaf to room temperature, then tightly wrap in plastic wrap, slide it into a bread bag, seal it up and stick it in the freezer for 1-2 months. To use after freezing, remove the loaf from the freezer, unwrap and allow it to come to room temperature (1 -2 hours) before slicing and enjoying.

More Sourdough Recipes To Love:

Why Use A Proofing Box?

I absolutely adore this Brod + Taylor proofing box! It has simplified and improved my sourdough baking in a couple of ways!

1. Speed! One of the major factors in fermentation is temperature, and keeping my sourdough starter at a warmer temperature has helped me to learn my starter better and know how long it will take to activate after feeding or finish bulk fermenting.
2. Consistency! Due to the consistent temperature in the proofing box, my loaves have been coming out better and better with each bake.
3. Scheduling! This one ties into speed, but deserves its own section. Increasing the speed of fermentation means that I can much more easily fit sourdough baking into my busy schedule, and you will too!
4. Better rise! The photos below show a fed starter split into two containers. One was placed at room temperature and one was placed in the proofing box. It is evident that the starter in the proofing box rose/activated much more quickly than the room temperature starter. The starter from the proofing box also rose taller than the room temperature starter overall.
5. Humidity! The Brod + Taylor box has a small water tray in the base that allows water to evaporate creating a humid environment to help keep the bread from becoming too dry on top and creating a skin.

Recommended Equipment

Brod + Taylor folding proofing box: As mentioned above, this little unit has revolutionized my sourdough baking, and really reinvigorated my love of the dough. As an added bonus, it folds up in a nice compact little package when it’s not in use.

3 qt cast iron dutch oven: Much of the success of this bread depends on having a heavy ass cast iron dutch oven, as it traps in steam and boost the oven spring of your sourdough.

The little red one in these photos was my first piece of cast iron and something that started somewhat of a cooking revolution for us a decade ago. A 3-quart CAST IRON DUTCH OVEN is a workhorse in the kitchen, and you’ll find yourself reaching for it often.

Scale: It’s really hard to make sourdough without a scale. Sorry, but them’s the facts! bread baking and bread dough are a bit of a science. A GOOD KITCHEN SCALE will treat you well over a huge range of recipes, not just sourdough. Think of  HOMEMADE BACON!

If you love this recipe, please give it a star rating or leave a comment below! This helps me to create more content you enjoy!

📖 Printable Recipe

Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough

Allyson Letal

This jalapeño cheddar sourdough bread will make your taste buds sing! It’s packed with tangy sourdough, zippy pickled jalapeños, and sharp cheddar. The pickled jalapeños add a kick while the cheese melts into little pockets throughout the bread, for an irresistible treat.

4.64 from 11 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved!

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Fermenting Time 8 hours hrs

Total Time 9 hours hrs

Course Sourdough

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Calories 154 kcal

Ingredients

 

• 60 g sourdough starter active
• 250 g water warm
• 330 g bread flour
• 6 g kosher salt coarse
• 70 g cheddar cubed
• 35 g pickled jalapeños

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

Build the dough:

• Combine 60g fed and active starter with 250g warm water, then add 330g bread flour.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel.
• Set the dough aside to rest for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle in the salt and knead everything together for 2- 3 minutes. Recover the dough and allow to rest for another 30 minutes.

Stretch + Fold:

• With wet hands, grab the dough and gently pull it until the flap is long enough to fold over itself, then fold the flap, rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat 8-12 times, for 2-3 rotations around the bowl.
• Recover the bowl, and set it aside for 30 minutes.
• Repeat the stretch and fold process twice – stretch and fold followed by a 30 minute rest.
• During this last rest, prepare your jalapeños and cheddar cubes! Slice or dice your pickled jalapeños into your desired size, and cube the cheddar into ¼" cubes.

Add ins:

• Lightly dust your counter top with flour, then turn the dough onto the work surface.
• Carefully press/stretch the dough into a rectangular shape with wet hands. The dough may fight your pulling, but take care to not tear the dough – if required, stretch a bit, then let the dough rest for a couple of minutes before stretching more.
• Spread the pickled jalapeños and cubed cheddar over the surface of the sourdough, reserving about ¼ of each.
• Fold up the bottom of the rectangle about ⅓ of the way up, like you'd fold a letter. Sprinkle the remaining add ins on the piece you just folded up. Fold the top of the dough over the bottom. Gently fold the sides under to form a boule shape.
• Return the dough to it's bowl, cover and set aside to rise for 5-6 hours.

Shaping:

• Once the dough has nearly doubled, gently move it to a lightly floured work surface, then, fold the dough into a square-ish shape.
• Flip the dough, so the floured side is up, and tuck the dough underneath itself in gentle circular motion until a round boule forms.
• Transfer the dough to your proofing basket, banneton, or bowl. If using a proofing basket or banneton, flour well before transferring dough. If using a bowl, line it with parchment paper.
• Cover the dough and rest for another two or so hours, until the dough puffs up and becomes slightly jiggly. It won't double at this stage and that's ok. If you're not going to bake right away, cover the dough and place it in the fridge for 12-16 hours. If performing a cold ferment, bake sourdough cold, straight from the fridge, but add an extra 5 minutes of bake time.

Bake:

• Preheat oven with dutch oven inside to 475f.
• Once oven is preheated, turn the dough out onto a parchment sheet.
• Score the top of the dough with a bread lame or sharp razor blade.
• Lift the dough using the parchment paper as a sling and place it into the hot dutch oven.
• Bake at 475f for 35 minutes covered and then another 15-20 minutes uncovered, until the crust is golden brown.
• Remove from dutch oven immediately and place on a wire mesh rack to cool before slicing.

Notes

baker's schedule

• Day 1 –>
  8 am: Feed the starter warm water. Set aside to activate.
  1 pm: Mix up the the dough.
  2:30 pm: The stretching and folding process is complete, add in the jalapeños and cheddar cheese. Set aside to proof.
  7:30 pm: pre-shape and shape the sourdough loaf.
  8:30 pm: Bake or place in fridge to cold ferment overnight.
• Day 2 –>
  8:30 am: Set a small dutch oven into the cold oven and preheat both together at 475f.
  9 am: Flip the jalapeño cheddar sourdough loaf onto a parchment paper square, score. Then using the parchment paper sling, lower the loaf into the preheated dutch oven and bake.

Batch:

This jalapeño cheddar sourdough recipe makes 1 good sized boule. I find that one boule lasts 2 days (or less) with my family of 4.

Storage:

Your boule can be kept cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. I recommend transferring it to a bread bag once cooled.

Jalapeño cheddar sourdough loaf can also be frozen. To freeze, cool the loaf to room temperature, then tightly wrap in plastic wrap, slide it into a bread bag, seal it up and stick it in the freezer for 1-2 months. To use after freezing, remove the loaf from the freezer, unwrap and allow to come to room temperature (1 -2 hours) before slicing and enjoying.

Recommended Equipment + Ingredients

• Tillamook, Medium Cheddar Cheese, 8 oz
• Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
• King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• Kirkland Signature Non Stick Parchment Paper
• Cuisinart Enameled Cast Iron 3-Quart Dutch Oven
• Brod & Taylor Folding Proofer

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 154kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 6gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 339mgPotassium: 45mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.2gVitamin A: 130IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 0.4mg

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