No-Knead Jalapeño Cheddar Artisan Bread
Beginner friendly, this bakery style No-Knead Jalapeño Cheddar Artisan Bread has amazing flavour. It’s a little spicy with pockets of melted cheese and a crackly, golden crust!
Ingredients
- 1½ cups water room temperature (at or near 70°F/21°C)
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3½ cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 50 grams (a little under ½ cup) cheddar cheese cut into ¼ x ½-inch cubes
- 1/3 cup 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 bowl.
- Dust with flour, cover and refrigerate overnight. 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 your Dutch oven inside the oven.
- Uncover then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface seam side down. If needed, gently turn it with your hands and nudge it into the shape of a loaf. Place it on a sheet of parchment paper and 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
Substituting alternative flours: 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 if using all-purpose flour or a gluten free blend.
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.