Description
This hatch chile cheese bread has lots of cheesy flavor and a little kick. It can be made with hatch chiles or jalapeño peppers. It’s perfect with BBQ, a bowl of chili or use it to make the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup chopped hatch chiles or green jalapeño peppers, seeded, ribs removed
- 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water (110 degrees)
- 1 cup milk, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten, at room temperature
- 2½ cups unbleached bread flour
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon semolina flour, divided
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- ½ pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
- Extra grated cheese for sprinkling on top, optional
Instructions
- Prep peppers. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over low heat. Add peppers and sauté until softened, 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
- Prep liquids. In a small bowl, stir yeast into water and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add milk, the 3 tablespoons of melted butter and egg. Mix well.
- Make dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together peppers, bread flour, 1 cup semolina flour, sugar and salt. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients. Stir mixture with a wooden spoon until dough starts to come together. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to low and mix about 1 minute. Add cheese, increase speed to medium and continue mixing for 2-3 minutes more, or until dough comes together and cheese is evenly mixed in. Form dough into a ball.
- First rise. Generously grease a large bowl with butter. Add dough and roll it around to coat with butter. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until dough has doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
- Prep pan. While dough is rising, prepare the baking pan. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch baking pan. Dust pan with remaining semolina flour. When dough has finished rising, turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and, using floured hands, gently form dough into a rough loaf. Put dough in prepared pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
- Second rise. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until dough completely fills pan and rises above it slightly, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Sprinkle extra cheese on top of dough, if desired.
- Prep oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake. Remove plastic wrap and bake bread in center of oven until it is golden on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, 50 minutes to 1 hour. The internal temperature of the bread should also be at least 190 degrees. Cover bread with a sheet of aluminum foil if crust starts to get too brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan to loosen loaf, then remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from the Houston Chronicle.
