Mini Jalapeno Cheddar Loaves

Making mini jalapeño cheddar loaves is a wonderful way to enjoy sourdough bread in a unique way. These are small, sharable sized breads filled with jalapenos and sharp cheddar. These make perfect gifts or perfect soup bowls for some extra flavor!

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❤️ Why You’ll Love Mini Jalapeno Cheddar Loaves

Everyone loves miniature versions of their favorite foods. These are easy to share, and around the holidays, easy to give as appreciation gifts to teachers, coaches, or friends. But this recipe is also versatile in the way that if you didn’t want to make 6 mini loaves, you can make two regular sized loaves which makes this a well-rounded delicious recipe to have in your kitchen!

🍲 Ingredients

Sourdough Starter – Active and bubbly sourdough starter is important for this recipe, as it is what makes the bread rise.

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Jalapenos – one 12 oz jar of drained jalapenos, patted dry so they don’t add more moisture to the dough. I like mine without seeds because truthfully, I’m a baby when it comes to spice 🙂

Cheddar – Shredding a block of cheddar cheese yourself makes the best and cheesiest result. But you could also cube it for larger chunks of cheese in your bread.

Flour – All-purpose flour is the most accessible and affordable flour. But you could also use a portion of whole wheat flour for more flavor, or bread flour for a chewier texture.

Water – Warm filtered water.

Salt – I use pink Himalayan salt, but use the salt you have on hand!

👩‍🍳 How to Make Mini Jalapeno Cheddar Loaves

In the morning, feed your sourdough starter
In the afternoon, when your starter has peaked, assemble your dough.

Dough Assembly

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your sourdough starter and water until the starter has dissolved and turns into a milky liquid.
Add the flour and salt and mix together until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
While your dough is resting, drain your jalapenos, pat dry, and shred your cheddar cheese.
After resting, add your jalapenos and cheese directly into the bowl. Wet your fingers and pull one side of dough up and towards the middle, folding over the inclusions. Rotate the bowl and repeat until a semi – smooth ball has formed.
Cover and let rest for 30 minutes – 1 hour. Perform 2 – 4 more stretch and folds every 30 minutes to 1 hour apart until all the inclusions are dispersed evenly throughout and the dough looks strong and smooth.
Cover with a damp tea towel or bowl cover and let rest on the counter overnight. About 8-10 hours.

The next morning

In the morning, your dough should have doubled in size. Turn over onto a lightly floured work space. Separate the dough into 6 equal pieces (280 – 300 grams each).
Shape each piece like you would a regular round artisan loaf, only this one is smaller.
Place seam-side up into a proofing basket and place all 6 baskets onto a baking sheet for easier transferring. Cover with plastic wrap and place the whole tray of dough into your fridge for 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Baking

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Turn lo the loaves over onto a large piece of parchment paper, score the dough as you would a normal size loaf and place them onto a baking sheet.
Place an oven-safe shallow dish (I use my cast iron skillet) on the bottom rack of the oven. Pour boiling water in the dish and close the oven immediately to trap in the steam.
Bake for 18 minutes with steam, then remove the dish with water and bake for an additional 18-20 minutes until golden and crispy.
Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing and enjoy!

🪄 Tips and Tricks

to make into a bread bowl, with a sharp serrated knife cut the top of the bread off in a circle. Then with your hands, take the inside of the bread out as deep and wide as you prefer.
If you top any soup off in the bowl with cheese, you can toast the entire bowl for another 10 minutes at 400 degrees
Make sure the mini loaves aren’t touching in the oven, so they have room to expand properly.
For More Cheese Flavor: You can mix in additional spices like garlic powder or onion powder with the jalapeños for a more complex flavor.
Adjust Spice Level: Use mild or less jalapeño if you prefer less heat or use more if you like it spicy.

🗒 Variations

You can easily keep the jalapenos and cheddar out of the bread to make classic sourdough soup bowls, or if you wanted whole loaves – this recipe makes two full sized jalapeno cheddar loaves, you will just need to adjust the baking style and time. The details are in my beginner sourdough recipe linked here:

🗒 Substitutions

If you don’t have access to the mini banneton baskets, you can easily turn 6 mini loaves into 2 regular sized loaves.

For more flavor, you can add different spices or your favorite cheese.

If you want more depth of flavor, substitute 100 grams of flour for whole wheat flour, or bread flour for a chewier texture.

Jalapeno and cheddar – Favorite cheese or different inclusions.
Flour – bread flour/ whole wheat flour

🗒 Best served with

Chili on a cozy night.
Charcuterie / snacks

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Once cooled, store the loaves in an airtight container for a day or two, and freeze any leftovers for longer storage.

🤔 Common Questions

What if I don’t have mini bannetons?

No worries! You can make this recipe into 2 regular sized loaves easily.

My dough seems too wet.. what should I do?

A wet and sticky dough can mean a couple different things, either it is over proofed or over hydrated. Make sure it isn’t sitting on the counter for too long during the bulk ferment. But also make sure to pat the jalapenos dry when you add the inclusions so that they don’t add too much moisture to the dough.

5 from 2 votes

Mini Jalapeno Cheddar Sourdough Loaves

Print recipe

Prep Time:2 30

Cook Time:48

Fermenting time:8

Total Time:11 18

Equipment

Ingredients

100 grams bubbly, active sourdough starter
700 grams water
1000 grams all-purpose flour
18 grams salt
12 oz sliced jalapenos, drained one standard sized jar
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese