Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia

This Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia features diced jalapenos and chunks of sharp cheddar cheese. It’s fantastic next to soups and stews, or it can be sliced into sandwich bread. Grilled cheese sandwich, anyone??

This Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia post is sponsored by Cabot Creamery, but the recipe and opinions are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Spiced!

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“What do you call cheese that’s not yours?”
“Nacho Cheese”

I’ve been on a real Dad jokes kick here lately. It’s not that the jokes are funny (I mean some of them are!), but it’s more because I enjoy watching my 9-year-old son roll his eyes at me. We’re definitely getting to that stage where parents are embarrassing…and I’m embracing it!

Before we jump into today’s recipe, I thought it might be fun to put the cheese jokes aside and look at some legit facts about cheddar cheese. Cabot Creamery posted this fun article a few weeks back about cheese facts. For instance, did you know that cheddar has been around since the late 1100’s? According to legend, a milkmaid set a bucket of milk in a cave to keep it cool. When she came back, it had hardened. With that, cheddar cheese was born.

Did you know that cheddar gets stronger the longer it ages? Those bold, tangy flavors of sharp cheddar cheese become more and more pronounced as the cheese ages. Mild cheddar only ages for 2-3 months whereas sharp cheddar ages anywhere from a year all the way up to 10 years or more.

And did you know there is no difference between yellow and white cheddar cheese? It’s true! The only difference is yellow cheddar includes a natural, plant-based coloring called annatto. Annatto is almost flavorless, so the only difference is the color. The main reason why annatto was first added was simply to distinguish where the cheese was made.

Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia

While I could talk all day about fun cheese facts, let’s jump into the reason why you’re here – for this delicious Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia recipe. I love bread. From long baguettes to rustic round loaves, I just love bread. Homemade bread is absolutely amazing – and it also pairs really well with cheese. Bread + cheese = win!

This Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia is not a traditional focaccia recipe by any means. Traditionally, loaves of focaccia are topped with just olive oil and woody herbs (think oregano or rosemary). However, focaccia also lends itself to some really fun variations. Tomatoes, onions, olives and even berries can work as toppings. In this case, we’re going with diced jalapenos and cubed cheddar cheese.

The inspiration for this jalapenos + cheese combo comes from this Jalapeno Cheddar Bread recipe that I posted a while back. That recipe produces a more rustic loaf of bread, and it’s fantastic (I mean fantastic!) for sandwiches. It’s also been one of the most popular recipes on the blog lately. I mean it’s winter (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere), and winter is the perfect time to bake homemade bread!

I know the idea of baking homemade bread might be scary to some folks. Yeast!? How in the world do I make a recipe with yeast?? Well, let’s take a look. (Spoiler alert: Homemade bread is not that difficult!)

How to Make Focaccia

As with most bread recipes, the first step is simply mixing all of the ingredients together in an electric mixer. You could do this by hand, but a countertop mixer with a dough hook just makes things much easier. At this stage, some bread doughs are really stiff, and you’ll hear them thumping against the side of the mixing bowl. Other bread doughs are softer, and you’ll need a plastic bowl scraper or spatula to help transfer the dough. The dough for this Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia is on the softer side.

Once the dough has been mixed together, you just wait. Consider yeast to be your sous chef in the kitchen. It does the work for you! Just transfer that dough into an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place. The yeast will spring into action, and the dough will start to rise. This step (called the “first rise”) generally takes ~1½ hours. But this step is also completely hands off!

The next step is simply transferring that dough into the pan that we will use for baking. Although the dough is gently transferred, it will end up losing some of its air. That’s totally fine – it’ll rise again. In fact, this stage is called the “second rise.” Just as before, the pan gets covered and placed in a warm location to allow the dough to rise. This step generally takes a little less time – about 1 hour or so.

The final step for making focaccia is to use the tips of your fingers to make indentions across the top of the bread. You don’t want to make actual holes in the dough. Instead, you just want to make deep dimples. Then just drizzle the top of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle some flaked sea salt on top. Send that pan off to a very hot oven, and you’ll be enjoying fresh, homemade focaccia in no time!

This focaccia is baked in an 8″x8″ pan which produces a thicker bread. Many times focaccia is baked in a sheet pan with results in a wider, thinner loaf. I have to say that this thicker version is pretty fantastic! The edges get nice and crispy, but the center stays incredibly soft.

For this Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia, I used diced jalapenos and cubed Seriously Sharp Cheddar from Cabot Creamery. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that we are huge fans of Cabot in our house. We always keep bars of Cabot cheese in the fridge – both for snacking and cooking. And I just had a bowl of Cabot’s Vanilla Bean Greek yogurt for breakfast. Delicious!

Cabot is a cooperative that was founded in Cabot, Vermont in 1919. As a cooperative, that means the farmers themselves are also the owners of the company. Today, Cabot still maintains a strong farm family community across New York and New England. I really like how the family roots run deep at Cabot. Oh, and it helps that they make some pretty darned tasty cheese, too!

How to Store Leftovers

Leftover slices of this focaccia can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. To restore the crispy top, just toast the slices in an oven or toaster oven for a few minutes before serving. This bread also freezes well. Just wrap the cooled focaccia in plastic wrap and store it in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temperature.

So next time you’re picking up groceries, grab some Cabot cheese and a few jalapenos. This Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia is absolutely delicious! A square of this bread would go well with soups and stews, or you could split it and use it for amazing sandwiches. No matter how you enjoy it, I hope this bread becomes a new favorite in your house. It’s certainly a favorite in ours! Happy Baking!

Did you bake this Jalapeño Cheddar Focaccia Bread bread recipe at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me (@Spicedblog) and Cabot (@CabotCreamery) on Instagram – we’d love to see your version!

Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia

This Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia features diced jalapenos and chunks of sharp cheddar cheese. It's fantastic next to soups and stews, or it can be sliced into sandwich bread. Grilled cheese sandwich, anyone??

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 24 minutes minutes

Rising Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 3 hours hours 9 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Calories: 242kcal

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Ingredients

• 2 large fresh jalapenos
• 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp table salt
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1¼ tsp active dry yeast
• ¾ cup warm water
• ½ cup warm milk can substitute with more water
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 5 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil divided
• 6 oz. Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar cheese cut into ½” cubes
• ½-1 tsp flaked sea salt for topping

Instructions

• Cut 4-5 slices from one of the jalapenos and set aside. (Note: These will be used on top of the focaccia later.)
• Remove the seeds and ribs from the remaining jalapenos and dice into small pieces; set diced jalapenos aside.
• Using a countertop mixer, add flour, table salt, sugar and yeast; stir until well combined.
• Add warm water, warm milk, garlic, 2 Tbsp of olive oil, cubed cheese and diced jalapenos; mix on low speed until well combined.
• Increase speed to medium and mix for 3-4 minutes. (Note: The dough will be soft and loose. Use a spatula or dough scraper to transfer the dough in the next step.)
• Spray a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray (or drizzle with a bit more olive oil.) Transfer dough into the large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm location until dough has doubled in size (~75-90 minutes). (Tip: I let dough rise in my oven with the oven light on. Just make sure to remove the dough before you turn the oven on!)
• Line an 8” square baking pan with parchment paper. Spray parchment with nonstick cooking spray. (Use enough parchment so that it overhands the edges by 1-2”. This will allow you to lift the bread out of the pan once it’s baked.)
• Brush 2 Tbsp of olive oil evenly into the bottom of the pan.
• Carefully transfer the dough from the bowl into the prepared pan. Flip dough over so that it’s entirely coated in olive oil.
• Cover pan and let rise in a warm location for 60-90 minutes, or until dough has mostly filled the pan.
• Preheat oven to 475°F. (If letting the dough rise in the oven, make sure to remove it first!)
• Using the tips of your fingers, press into dough until you touch the bottom of the pan. You don’t want to make actual holes in the dough. Instead, you’re looking to make indentions in the dough every ~1½”. (Tip: If the dough sticks to your fingers, dip them in water.)
• Drizzle the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil evenly on top of the dough. Gently press the jalapeno slices (from above) into the top of the dough and then sprinkle flaked sea salt on top.
• Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until golden brown in color.
• Remove pan from oven and carefully lift focaccia out using the overhanging parchment paper. Remove and discard parchment paper.
• Turn oven off and place focaccia back into the oven for another 5-6 minutes. (Note: This will allow the bottom and sides of the bread to turn golden brown.)
• Remove focaccia and let cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Looking for more cheesy bread recipes? Check out these other favorites, too: