Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Bread with Roasted Garlic Spread

This is my Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Bread. And this bread doesn’t come alone. No sir, no ma’am. It comes with a delicious Roasted Garlic Spread too!

Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough Bread with roasted garlic spread sliced flatly

I’ve been baking Sourdough for quite some time now. You can read a little bit about my Sourdough Saga here.

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I currently have a mother starter I keep alive, Phoebe.

Phoebe came to life a couple months ago. I feed her, sometimes talk to her. I mean, she IS alive!

Seriously, there’s a great article by Shed that talks about Starters being living things, you can read it here.

I want to make a whole post about how I made my starter and how I care for it. But, for now, my sourdough friends can enjoy this recipe I bring today.

This Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Bread recipe really isn’t for a beginner. It takes 2-3 days to make it. And, you must have a mother starter that you cultivate and care for at your house.

Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough Bread

If you can’t make this Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Bread, you could give my Roasted Garlic Spread a try, even with some other bread you make, or with some bread from the grocery store.

First things first!

Let’s get talking about the bread!!

Hydration

I want to talk a little bit about Baker’s Percentage.

Math was never my favorite subject back when I was in school. I can’t say I was terrible at it, but I sure wasn’t the very best. And the whole Baker’s Percentage thing can be quite confusing.

So let’s keep it light and quick and talk about the hydration on this specific Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Bread.

The hydration of our Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough is 68%. That’s not extremely high, nor extremely low. It’s in between. To calculate the hydration of a bread, we divide the TOTAL WATER WEIGHT by the TOTAL FLOUR WEIGHT, times 100.

So, in this dough, we have to consider I keep my starter at 100% hydration, which means I feed it with equal amounts of water and flour. And I say this, because you have to account all the flour and water in the dough, even the water and flour present on your mother starter.

Therefore, we add 2.25 oz (half of the mother starter’s weight, which I mentioned I keep at 100% hydration), plus 2 oz of water in our starter, plus the 14 oz of water in the final dough. This brings us to 18.25 oz of Total Water Weight.

To calculate the Total Flour Weight, we add 2.25 oz (the other half of the mother starter’s weight), plus 4.5 oz of bread flour in the starter, plus the 20 oz of bread flour in the final dough.

Finally, if we divide the 18.25 oz water by the 26.75 oz of flour and multiply that by 100, we will obtain 68.22%.

Badabing! It’s really not that complicated.

Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough Bread with roasted garlic spread dough

Fillings

I used an old sourdough recipe I had, actually the very first recipe I ever used to make sourdough bread years ago. I figured that if I add about 40% of the Total Flour Weight in fillings, I will end up with a nice ratio of filling/bread. That’s why I added about 10 ounces of jalapeño and cheddar combined.

If you wanted to make this recipe but wanted to leave the jalapeño out, or add something else like garlic, or whatever, you would just adjust the amounts to account for this 40% of the Total Flour Weight.

Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough Bread with roasted garlic spread sliced flatly

And, you could really add anything. Leave the jalapeño and cheddar out, and add nuts and other kinds of cheese, if you will! Whatever you think is delicious and would dream about eating in a beautiful loaf of bread.

Jeez, guys! I know this whole thing can sound kind of confusing if you don’t bake a whole lot of sourdough. If you have any questions or would like to talk about Baker’s Percentage, I’d be so happy to have that conversation! Just comment here or send me a dm on Instagram, because I am really passionate about this kind of stuff, and I am learning a lot as I go, and what better way to learn than to discuss the topic with our beautiful and lovely engaging community of bakers?

Oh, just one more thing I want to say about the fillings! I like to chop my cheese in small pieces instead of shredding it, because this way, it creates these amazing little pockets of melted cheese throughout your bread as it bakes. If you add shredded cheese, I’m sure it will be delicious, but the cheese will be more incorporated in the dough.

Tools

I like to use a plastic scraper to assist in making my sourdough loaves. I use it to help me transfer my dough from place to place. The scraper just makes it easier.


To proof my dough, this is what I use. The bannetons I got on Amazon. Oval BannetonRound Banneton

And this is my exact same Dutch Oven I use, not only to make bread, but to make EVERYTHING! It’s one of my favorite kitchen gadgets of all times!

The Garlic Spread

The Roasted Garlic Spread is one of those things that if you bring to a party or whatever, someone will ask you for a recipe for it! And tell them: it’s so EASY too!

Roasted Garlic Spread

This is a rich and delicious spread! Very flavorsome!

When you roast the garlic, your whole house will smell like garlic heaven! Throw a sprig of thyme or rosemary with your garlic, inside the aluminum foil packet, just to see what happens! You’ll never smell anything like it!

You can use roasted garlic in anything. After it’s roasted it will be like a paste. Add it to pasta sauce, breads, sauces, pizza, literally anything. For real, everything is better with roasted garlic in it!

Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough Bread with roasted garlic spread

And, more importantly, add it to this Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Bread! It was the most perfect match!

Speaking of bread, check out my Challah recipe! I want to make a sourdough variation of it! (and a raisins one too!)

Have a great day! Thanks for reading!

Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough Bread with roasted garlic spread sliced flatly

Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough Bread

This Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Bread recipe makes two delicious loaves or many smaller rolls. Make sandwiches or eat with the Roasted Garlic Spread!
4.97 from 31 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
resting time 2 days 18 hours 40 minutes
Total Time 2 days 19 hours 40 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 2 loaves
Calories 120 kcal

Ingredients
  

Starter
  • 4.5 oz mother starter active (127 grams)
  • 4.5 oz bread flour or high gluten flour (127 grams)
  • 2 oz water room temperature (59 ml)
Dough
  • Starter made the day before
  • 20 oz bread flour or high gluten flour (566 grams)
  • 0.5 ounces table salt (2 teaspoons, 14 grams)
  • 14 oz lukewarm water 414 ml
  • 8 oz cheddar cheese chopped small (226 grams)
  • 2 oz chopped jalapeno pepper (56 grams)
  • Cornmeal for dusting or semolina

Instructions
 

Starter
  • Mix mother starter, bread flour and water in a bowl. Work the dough a bit with your hands or a spatula.
  • Once the ingredients are mixed, keep working the dough with your spatula, or hands, for about 1 minute.
  • Cover bowl with a towel or plastic wrap.
  • Let it rest on your counter for about 4 hours.
  • Place it in the refrigerator overnight.
Dough
  • Remove starter from the fridge one hour before you are going to make your bread dough, so it comes to room temperature.
  • Add flour, salt, and water to the starter.
  • Knead the dough by hand for 5 minutes. Let it rest on top of the counter for about 5 minutes to relax the gluten. Get back to kneading for about 5 more minutes. If you want to use a dough hook in a stand mixer, you may, but I recommend just using your hands, so you can get a good feel of the dough. You can use a plastic scraper like the one I mention on the post above, to help you transfer the dough from one place to another.
  • In the final 2 minutes of kneading, add jalapeño pepper and cheddar cheese to dough.
  • At this point, dough should feel wet, but not very sticky. If it’s extremely sticky, you might want to add one or two tablespoons of flour and knead for another couple minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.
  • Let it rest on top of the counter for about 4 hours, until it’s almost doubled in size.
  • Remove dough from the bowl and divide it into two equal parts (or more if you want to make rolls).
  • Shape each half into whatever shape you are going for.
  • If you are going for a boule (the round loaf) simply grab both of your hands and place them on top of your loaf, then, proceed to apply minimal pressure at the same time as you bring some of the dough to each side and tuck them under the dough, trying to make a ball shape. Do this a couple times, as you rotate the dough.
  • If you are going for a batard, or a baguette shape, simply make a rectangle with your dough, then bring each end from the longest side together in the middle. Tuck ends under to taper the torpedo, or baguette shape you are intending to make.
  • Place both pieces of dough in bannetons, or proofing bowls, that have been dusted with flour. Or you can even let the dough rise free standing in a baking sheet, just make sure to dust the baking sheet with semolina or cornmeal, since you’ll probably just bake the dough in that same baking sheet.
  • Remember to place each dough in one baking sheet, because they will rise and expand.
  • Cover dough with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
  • The next day, when you’re ready to bake, remove dough from refrigerator an hour before you start to bake it.
  • Pre-heat oven to 500F.
  • If I am baking a boule shaped dough, I like to bake it in a cast iron or dutch oven with a lid. Place your bread in there and cover it with a tight lid. Once the bread starts to bake at a high temperature in the closed pan, it will create a lot of steam inside that will help the bread develop a beautiful crust.
  • If you don’t have one of those, fret not. Simply bake your loaf in a baking sheet. You may place a cake pan inside your oven to create a steamer, and pour some hot water in this pan when you place your loaves in the oven.
  • Don’t forget to score your bread before baking it.
  • As soon as you put the loaf in the oven, turn the temperature down to 450F.
  • If you have a steam pan inside the oven to help you create steam, pour some hot water in it as soon as you place the bread in the oven.
  • For free standing baking: Bake it for 10 minutes. Rotate pan. Bake for another 10-20 minutes.
  • For cast iron baking: Bake for 20 minutes with cast iron lid on. Remove lid and bake for another 10-20 minutes.
  • Bread’s internal temperature should read about 200F.
  • They should look golden brown on the outside and sound hollow if you tap their bottoms.
  • Let bread cool before slicing it.
Keyword bread, cheddar, jalapeno, sourdoughbread
Roasted Garlic Spread

Roasted garlic Spread

This Roasted Garlic Spread will go great with any bread, toast, or cracker. It's rich, garlicky and creamy!
4.97 from 31 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 1 cup
Calories 70 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 garlic head
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions
 

  • Roasted garlic Spread
  • Pre-heat oven to 350F.
  • Grab a whole garlic head. Slice the top of the garlic head with a sharp knife.
  • Place garlic head on top of a aluminum foil rectangle.
  • Drizzle about 2 teaspoons of olive oil over garlic head and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
  • Now, wrap the foil around the garlic head.
  • Place it in the oven for around 45 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and let it cool before opening it.
  • Open foil and squeeze garlic out of the head into a bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Add cream cheese. Cream for about 2 minutes on medium speed.
  • Add salt, pepper, thyme and lemon juice. Cream for a few seconds to combine.
  • Serve with bread. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Keyword garlic, garlicspread, roastedgarlic, spread

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69 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Ugh, math!! Jalapeno bread IS my favorite so even though it seems kind of tricky and time-consuming, I am adding this to my must-make list.

      1. Hey girl! Do you use the entire starter from the prep? It seems like so much! I prepped the starter and am going to prep everything else tomorrow to bake Tuesday but my starter prep that i just popped into the fridge after 4 hours seems like sooo much!

  2. Omg 😲 such a brilliant post and such yumm flavors! I am a huge sourdough bread fan and adding jalapeño and cheddar to it is like a cherry on the top.

  3. 5 stars
    I am glad to have people like you figure this stuff out, LOL I love making bread but I haven’t tried sourdough. All the percentages and ratios would personally take the fun out of it for me. There was a reason I was an English major 🙂 But the bread and spread both look delicious and you figured out all the hard stuff for us!

    1. haha trust me im not the greatest at math either… but after baking sourdough for like 4 years it’s about time I start to understand the formula haha

    1. I’d bake them at 425F, for anywhere from 15-25 min, depends on how big the rolls are! bake until they are golden brown, and if you grab a roll and tap on the bottom it will have a hollow sound.

  4. I noticed there aren’t any stretch and folds or lamination in your process. I bake a fair amount of sourdough and I’m just wondering if you’ve found this particular recipe just doesn’t need it.

    1. Stretch and folding techniques are usually to strengthen the gluten formations in the dough. Since I knead this dough for about 10 minutes, stretch and fold isn’t needed.
      I have actually been making a lot of sourdough with very minimal kneading and just one stretch and fold lately, and the bread comes out very crusty and delicious. I am using Artisan Sourdough made simple bu Emilie Raffa, and in many of her recipes, she simply mix the ingredients together, does one folding about 1 hour after mixing the ingredients, and then let it bulk proof for a number of hours before shaping and baking.
      If you want to experiment with this particular bread, maybe you can try doing a stretch and fold and that would make the crust a bit crustier, perhaps, but fermentation time needs to be increased.

      1. Thank you so much! This is good to know and I’m excited to start the process this evening! Not to mention trying your chocolate macarons this weekend!

  5. Hey!
    Great recipe! Just got started on the making the “starter”. I was wondering if it was supposed to be dry or wet? I just mixed mine together and it was sticky, but not very wet.

      1. Great!
        I made it around 6:45 this morning, can I let it sit 4 hrs and then just put in the refrigerator until tomorrow?
        I know your recipe says to refrigerate overnight but not sure when you made your starter.

        1. After I let it proof for 4 hours, I shape it and then put in the refrigerator. And yes the timeline will work, you can put it in the fridge and let it rest until tomorrow. Or you can just place it in the fridge without shaping it, and then shape it tomorrow once you remove it from the fridge, but then let it rise for 2 to 4 hours or until doubled in size before baking.

          1. Hi! I just finished baking the bread! Let me just say, this is the best recipe ever!!! My entire family loved it! I usually do not comment on recipes, but the crust was so nice while the inside is light and soft. Thank you for such a detailed recipe and providing feedback!

  6. 5 stars
    So good! Just started my sourdough journey and took this on as my second try. How delicious!! Smelled amazing too!

    1. you need 127 grams of starter, with the sourdough starter you make the “starter” for the recipe, which consists of active sourdough starter, flour, and water, and that’s used to make the dough

  7. 5 stars
    I just made this bread and it is insanely delicious. I cubed the cheese and I love the pockets it created. My only issue is the bottom didn’t crisp. I think this happened because I had the shaped dough sit overnight on a cookie sheet on parchment paper and then baked it on that same parchment paper. I think the parchment absorbed a bunch of the doughs moisture overnight. Next time I will try baking it on new parchment paper. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!

  8. 5 stars
    I just made this bread – it’s incredibly delicious!!!! Thank you so much for such a great recipe, will be making this many times in the future 🙂

  9. Can I just mix the starter and let sit for 4 hours, then mix in dough to rest overnight? What is the significance of resting the starter overnight?

    Thank you

    1. This step is done for flavor, and for the color of the bread, since the yeast development is slowed down, it gives a chance for the enzymes in the flour to convert starch into sugar, providing a better flavor. the secondary fermentation also provides a better texture and porosity to the bread, those bubbles in the middle.
      Also have in mind that if you don’t rest the starter overnight, the second proof might have to be longer, so it will affect the rise of the bread.
      The longer rise will improve the bread’s gluten formation and it will strengthen the dough.
      So I do highly recommend it. However, with bread, it’s great to always experiment, take notes of what works, and make recipes your own by doing so, because maybe you’ll stumble upon an experiment that will be fantastic!
      Best of luck

  10. Omg it sounds so good. I made it today and the bread didn’t rise much. I haven’t cut into it yet. Wondering if I needed to leave it out of the fridge to proof longer before putting it in the oven.

  11. 5 stars
    Okay, I have to update my comment. The bread is perfect inside. Maybe my Dutch Oven was too big that it spreaded wider. But it’s delicious and taste delicious. My husband who doesn’t like cheese much said this was delicious. I still want to know how to make it rise higher lol. Thank you!

    1. Thank you so much Sabrina!!! Maybe a longer proof could help, or maybe like you said baking on a smaller dutch oven. I will make this recipe again soon, I will see about the rising time.

      1. You’re right I left the second loaf to final proof for 3hrs and it rose nicely! I also bakes it in a loaf pan without a Dutch oven this time with the water bath below.

  12. Looking forward to making this recipe! Is it necessary to do the second proof in the fridge? Can I do the second rise for 2-3 hours at room temp instead? I understand that the overnight cold proof will develop a more complex flavor, but that method would work better timing wise.

    Thank you!

    1. I believe some people have tried this and it worked out fine. I haven’t attempted yet, I am about to make this bread again, and I will attempt to make a loaf and let it rise at room temp instead of a slow proof in the fridge to see the results.

      1. 5 stars
        Hi,

        I ended up doing the final proof at room temp for 1.5 hours and it turned out beautifully! I used vegan cheddar and it tasted great. Thanks for the awesome recipe!

  13. 5 stars
    The results of this recipe were phenomenal. My small group of friends said the two loafs were “heavenly”and snapped up all the bread by the second day after baking.

    I thought the dough was a bit sticky before baking but everything turned out wonderful and I’m pretty new to baking so I’ll just follow the leader and take the win!

    Will be making this one again! Keep em coming Camila! 😉

    1. It could be that it’s too wet and then it will eventually rise but needs more time. Or the starter wasn’t too active maybe? How did it turn out?

  14. Yumm! The bread is amazing- great crumb and the cheddar and jalapeño really come through. Followed the recipe as written and it was wonderful! Will be trying more recipes!

  15. I will be using this recipe, but I need to know if you use fresh jalapenos or pickled? I worry that fresh jalapenos may lead to early molding of the baked bread. Thanks.

    1. I’ve used fresh jalapenos, however I’ve had people reporting using pickled jalapenos. The bread will stay fresh for up to 4 days, if you worry, do place it in the fridge and then remove it, slice it and let it sit at room temperature before serving, or toast it. I love this bread toasted, and I love it the most fresh, on the first day it’s made.
      The loaves will also freeze well.

      1. Quick reply! Thanks. I did use pickled jalapenos, figuring the vinegar content would help prevent any mold formation. It’s rising now and will bake it tomorrow.
        It’s tomorrow–and it’s just out of the oven. Baked it in an oval dutch oven on parchment. Looks good, can’t wait to cut into it. Baked at 450F, done in about 45 minutes…205 degrees. The bottom is a bit scorched. I might try 425 next time or remove sooner. But the taste is GREAT…yum! Thanks for the recipe. Myrleen

  16. I was thinking about using this recipe as a basis for a spinach Parmesan bread and maybe even going crazy and adding some garlic! How should I adjust the flour and water if I want to substitute these in?

    1. it depends on how much spinach you want to add. I wouldn’t remove any water, it’s ok to have a high hydration dough, this one is around 68% hydration, some doughs go up to even 100%. So I would only add a bit more flour if you feel like the dough is unworkable and way too wet.
      You should keep the amount of filling up to 40% of the flour weight.

  17. 4 stars
    Please use grams as a measurement. It’s what the bakers of the world use. Other than that, great recipe! Thank you!

  18. I just wanted to let you know that I love this recipe I made two loaves my very first with sourdough and they turned out perfectly. I do have a question. I started the process yesterday and I added the flower salt and water and letting it rest on a heating pad on low, then I’ll put it in the refrigerator. I want to bake it tomorrow. How could I make that happen? I calculated my days wrong so I don’t have time for two overnights. Any help you have would be appreciated. Thank you so much.

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