Step up your bread making skills with this Bread Machine Jalapeno Cheese Bread! This easy recipe is slightly spicy, slightly cheesy, but fully delicious!

I don’t know about you, but bread is my absolute weakness.

My favorite food is sandwiches. The best thing in the world is dipping fresh french bread into broccoli cheese soup. And I adore spicy foods.

As you can see, bread is kind of a favorite around here.

A few years ago I bought a bread machine from the thrift store for six dollars. At that time, I wanted to be a little more frugal because I just had our daughter Allison a few months before. And being a stay-at-home mom means less money.

I couldn’t believe how much better bread tasted when you made it yourself! Grocery stores have nothing on this great recipe.

At first, I was intimidated because I’ve never used yeast before. I thought it was complicated and easy to mess up. But with a bread machine, you can make just about any recipe fool-proof.

This Jalapeno Cheese Bread was one of the first recipes I made and I was instantly hooked. It was my three favorite things combined into one delicious loaf.

Although it’s not a quick bread by any means, a lot of the work is hands-off.

Can you bake jalapeno cheddar bread in the bread machine?

So you can make this Jalapeno Cheese Bread Machine loaf in two different ways. One is to bake it directly in the bread machine, and the other is to make just the dough in the bread machine and bake it in the oven.

I’ve done both, and I totally prefer baking bread in the oven myself. The way my machine is designed, the loaf ends up being really tall and oddly-shaped and not good for sandwiches.

See that huge lunk up there? Still delicious, but not all that pretty.

If your bread machine is the same way, you can try laying the loaf on its side and slicing it that way to get regular-sized slices.

Or if your bread machine has a loaf-sized pan, you can definitely bake it in your bread machine. Use the “Light” or “White” setting for it, and it’ll take around 3 hours depending on your machine.

But the beauty of the bread machine is you can put in all the ingredients and basically forget about it for 90 minutes. And when you bake bread in the oven, in a regular loaf pan, you get this deliciousness up there.

How do you know when the bread is done baking?

I do an old-fashioned “Hollow test” where I knock on the top of the bread. If it sounds hollow toward the middle, it’s done.

If you have a thermometer, you can also test it that way. Most breads are done at 190 degrees.

But if you look at the top of the bread, you’ll be able to tell pretty easily. The top will be golden brown and dry. I’m not a bread expert, but I haven’t had a bad loaf yet while doing the knock test!

What kind of cheese can you use?

I use shredded cheddar. But even pepper jack cheese would be awesome! This loaf of bread really can’t be messed up. Try mozzarella. Or cheddar jack. Or colby jack.

How can you serve this bread?

When I first make a loaf of this, I’ll serve it with soup. A nice bowl of chili would be great with it too.

But once the soup’s been eaten and there’s still bread left, I’ll turn it into sandwich bread. Oh yeah, I just took sandwiches to the next level.

Or how about some cream cheese spread on top? Maybe that’s weird for some, but next time I make this I’ll be toasting some slices and spreading cream cheese on them. It’s just like a jalapeño popper!

How to Make Jalapeno Cheese Bread

Ingredient list:

• 3 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup diced jalapeno peppers (Either fresh jalapeños or jarred)

Other tools (Affiliate links may be used here):

• One loaf pan (9×5 inch loaf pans work with this recipe)
• Wire rack for cooling
• Sharp knife for cutting the cooled loaf

Start by placing all ingredients in your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.

For most, that’s usually water first, then sugar and salt, then flour, cheese, jalapenos, and yeast.

So wet ingredients first, then dry ingredients. The yeast always goes last so it doesn’t start mixing with the water while you’re putting in the other ingredients.

Set the bread machine on the Dough function if you just want it to mix and knead the dough. This usually runs about 90 minutes.

Check after 5 minutes and add one tablespoon of flour or water if the yeast mixture is too wet or too dry.

During this time, you’ll see the dough rise, mix, and rise some more until finally it’s a huge ball of dough.

After the bread machine finishes, transfer dough onto a floured surface and knead a few times. Place into a greased loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let it rise at room temperature for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, then bake for 25 minutes or until the outside is hard and sounds hollow when you tap on the top.

Seriously, if this is your first time and are pretty intimidated by a bread machine, give this recipe a try. It’s mostly hands-off; and although the whole process takes 3 hours, you’ll be happy you made this jalapeño cheese bread!

Looking for more bread recipes? Check these out!

Bread Machine Whole Wheat English Muffins

Bread Machine Breadsticks

Bread Machine Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Healthy Greek Yogurt Banana Bread

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread