Jalapeño Cheddar (No-Knead) Bread 🌶

Ingredients

  • 60g (dark) Rye Flour *  — 20% total flour
  • 30g Whole Wheat Flour *  —  10% total flour
  • 210g White All-Purpose Flour (Unbleached flour is recommended) *  —  70% total flour
  • 8g Salt (Fine-grain table salt is recommended, either iodized or non-iodized)
  • 1tsp Instant Yeast **
  • 210g Warm Water (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but no hotter than 120 degrees F)  —  70% of flour amount
  • 50g Shredded Cheddar Cheese (~1/2 cup; feel free to use up to 1 cup and/or to vary the type of cheese)
  • 1 Medium Jalapeño (~100g) — Seeds and core can be left in for more heat or removed for less heat; you can chop any size, but note that larger pieces will reduce the odds of even dispersion

Directions

  1. Combine flours and salt in a large, non-reactive bowl (e.g. glass, stainless steel, ceramic, or food-safe plastic); mix well.
  2. Stir yeast into bowl with flour/salt mixture . **
  3. Stir cheese into bowl with flour/salt/yeast mixure.
  4. Combine chopped peppers and water in a separate container.
  5. Mix water into bowl with dry ingredients using a spoon or dough spatula. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated (i.e. no visible dry flour) and until the mixture just starts to stick to the bowl. Note the dough will be quite shaggy at this point.
  6. Cover bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.
  7. Stretch and fold the dough 4-8 times. For this, you’ll want to have a utensil to scrape the bowl with, such as a plastic bowl scraper or silicone spatula. Dip one hand and the scraping utensil in cold water. Firmly grasp one end of the dough with the hand you dipped in the water and lift the whole bunch of dough, gently scraping at the bottom with the utensil as you go to lift it from the bowl. Once the dough is completely lifted, hold for a few seconds to let relax and stretch, then place it back into the bowl and fold in half, folding the end you are currently holding onto its opposite end. Take some care to try to seal the seam where the two ends meet, but do not necessarily compress the entirety of the dough. Turn 90 degrees and repeat 3-7 more times. At the end of your stretch-and-folds, flip the dough upside down (i.e. seam-side down).
  8. Cover bowl and let sit for 1 hour.
  9. Perform another set of stretch-and-folds.
  10. Cover bowl and let sit for 1-2 hours, until dough has risen appreciably, though not necessarily doubled.
  11.   Sprinkle some flour around the edge of the dough in the bowl as well as the top of the dough. Using a spatula or bowl scraper, release the dough from the bowl onto a lightly-floured work surface. Let rest 15 minutes.
  12. With lightly floured hands (and, optionally, a bench scraper), shape the dough into a ball, using a technique similar to the stretch-and-fold method but not lifting the dough off the work surface and not folding quite all the way over. Make sure all seams meet on the top of the dough, from the way the dough is currently situated. Once a ball has been formed, flip the dough seam-side-down. Gently pull the dough toward you – the bottom should stick some to the work surface at this stage, as you want some resistance in order to develop a tight skin on the top of the bread. Rotate about 120 degrees (a third of the way around) and repeat the pull.
  13. Flip the dough, top-down, into a floured banneton (bread proofing basket) OR a large bowl lined with a floured, lint-free cloth. Lightly dust dough with flour. Transfer banneton to a larger bowl and cover with plastic wrap OR gently fold cloth over the dough enough to cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
  14. Refrigerate dough overnight or up to 5 days. NOTE: If you are making this bread in one day, let dough proof at room temperature 1-3 hours, depending on ambient temperature. Dough is fully proofed when you can press a finger around 1/2″ into the dough and it springs back about halfway (no spring = over-proofed, immediate spring entirely back = under-proofed). Note if you find the dough over-proofed, you may re-shape and repeat the proofing process. Also note that a cold (refrigerator) proof will retard the spring action, but the length of refrigeration is sufficient, even if the dough does not appear to have risen at all and the finger press test fails.
  15. This bread can be baked a variety of ways, and the next several steps depend on your chosen method. Prepare baking method and preheat oven:
    1. If baking in a Dutch Oven: Line the bottom of the dutch oven with a shallow layer of cornmeal or semolina flour. Place dutch oven (with lid) in oven and preheat to 475 degrees F.
    2. If baking on a Pizza Stone: Cover the pizza stone with a shallow layer of cornmeal or semolina flour. Place on middle rack of oven. Fill a roasting pan with water and place on lowest rack of oven. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
    3. If baking on a Baking Sheet: Place baking sheet on middle rack of oven. Fill a roasting pan with water and place on lowest rack of oven. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
  16. Bake the bread:
    1. If baking in a Dutch Oven: Carefully move the dough to the dutch oven with seam side down and cover with lid. Turn oven to 450 degrees F and bake 20 minutes. Remove lid of dutch oven (NOTE the lid will be HOT and will remain so for some time! It is recommended you leave on top of your stove with an oven glove on top to remind yourself and others that it is HOT. Alternatively, you can leave it in the oven next to the dutch oven), lower oven to 425 degrees F, and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Bread should have a dark brown crust and register an internal temperature greater than 200 degrees F.
    2. If baking on a Pizza Stone: Place dough seam-side-down on the stone. Turn oven to 450 degrees F and bake 20 minutes. Rotate the dough 180 degrees, lower oven to 425 degrees F, and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Bread should have a dark brown crust and register an internal temperature greater than 200 degrees F.
    3. If baking on a Baking Sheet: Transfer dough to a cornmeal- or semolina-lined piece of parchment paper. Transfer parchment paper with dough to baking sheet in oven. Turn oven to 450 degrees F and bake 20 minutes. Rotate the dough 180 degrees, lower oven to 425 degrees F, and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Bread should have a dark brown crust and register an internal temperature greater than 200 degrees F.
  17. Carefully remove bread from chosen baking vehicle and transfer to parchment-lined cooling rack. Let cool at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight, before slicing. Slicing prior to the completion of the cooking and cooling process will result in loss of steam and deflation of the bread, leaving a denser, wetter crumb.

NOTES:

* Note total flour amount is 300g. Rye flour is used to add depth of flavor. Whole wheat is used for both depth of flavor and to enhance crust development. Different flour varieties can be incorporated, but it is recommended to keep at least 70% of the flour as white all-purpose or white bread flour for gluten development. The flour can be entirely white all-purpose or white bread flour, but the crust and flavor development will vary. For a larger loaf, the total flour amount may be increased to up to 500g, but make sure to keep the ratios the same, especially that of the water (percent hydration is of major importance in bread baking).

** If using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, add yeast and a dash of sugar to warm water (instead of adding to dry ingredients) and let sit 10 minutes before incorporating chopped peppers.