Cholula Cheese Bread
I’m always on the lookout for unique bread recipes so when I came across Bernard Clayton’s recipe for Tabasco Cheese Bread I knew I had to try it. The promise of cheese baked into a golden loaf was too tempting to resist, especially when I decided to add my favorite hot sauce to the mix.
When I was a kid Cholula Hot Sauce was on the table for nearly every meal. For breakfast we ate it with carne asada and refried beans, for lunch we put a teaspoon in our caldo tlalpeño (chicken soup) and for dinner we sprinkled it on burritos or taquitos. It’s funny how this condiment wove its way to so many of my memories, including a more recent one, when my mother visited back in 2002 and doused my very gourmet, very delicious Baked Rigatoni with Red Wine Vegetables and Creamy Sauce with Cholula. It was a traumatic event, but we laugh about it now. 
So… back to this bread. I switched out the Tabasco sauce for Cholula, used olive oil instead of butter and substituted a mix of monterey jack, mild cheddar, queso quesadilla and asadero cheeses for the sharp cheddar called for in the original recipe. The result was a gorgeous round loaf of bread with an unbelievably soft texture and the aroma of slightly toasted cheese. When I sliced it open I was surprised to see that the cheese had completely dissolved into the bread – not what I was expecting after having made rosemary sage bread with goat cheese and mozzarella bread. I think the cheese dissolving like this contributed to the loaf’s texture.
Since it emerged from the oven I’ve enjoyed several toasted slices of this bread with bowls of soup, but the most decadent way I’ve eaten it? As part of a grilled cheese sandwich filled with garlicky greens nestled beneath Italian fontina cheese. Mind-blowing right? Grilled cheese sandwiches made with cheese bread! If you want to recreate this meal you can do so by melting 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet, then sautéing trimmed and quartered cremini mushrooms until they are nicely browned. Add a handful or two of baby spinach and sauté until wilted, then add 2 minced garlic cloves, a teaspoon of minced fresh sage leaves and a dash of pepper, cooking about a minute longer. To finish up, divide the filling between slices of Cholula Cheese Bread, sprinkle with fontina cheese, then cook the sandwiches in a large skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Resist the urge to cook the sandwiches over high heat because then the bread will burn and the cheese won’t melt. Also, press down with your spatula every now and then to ensure a crisp crust. Yum!
Cholula Cheese Bread (Or, Tabasco Cheese Bread)
Adapted from Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads, by Bernard Clayton
Ingredients: Makes 1 large round loaf
- 3 to 4 cups bread or all-purpose flour, approximately
- 1 package instant (rapid rise) dry yeast
- 1-2 teaspoons salt, according to taste (I prefer 1 teaspoon worth of saltiness in the bread)
- 1 1/4 cups warm milk
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese mix (Monterey Jack, Mild Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero), or 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon Cholula Hot Sauce, Tabasco or another preferred hot sauce
- 1 egg yolk, beaten, mixed with 1 tablespoon milk (for the glaze)
In a mixing or mixer bowl measure 2 cups flour and add the yeast and salt. Pour in the warm milk. Blend well with 50 strokes of a wooden spoon or for 2 minutes with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. Add the olive oil and cheese, blend into the batter.
Mix in the hot sauce. Measure in additional flour, 1/4 cup at a time, and stir by hand or with the paddle attachment until the dough is a rough mass and has lost its wetness. It will clean the sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, attach the dough hook.
If by hand, turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead with a strong push-turn-fold motion. Add sprinkles of flour if the dough is sticky during the early stages of kneading. If using a mixer, add light sprinkles of flour until the dough cleans the bowl and gathers as a ball around the hook. Knead for 10 minutes.
Place the dough in a large bowl greased with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, turning to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until it has doubled in volume, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Punch the dough down into the bowl, knead briefly, and turn out onto the floured work surface. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased 8-inch cake pan. Press into the cake pan, filling out to the edges. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave until the the dough has doubled in bulk, or just begins to peel over the edge of the pan. About 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F 20 minutes before baking.
Brush the bread with the egg glaze. Place in the hot oven for 10 minutes, and then reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. When tapping the bottom of the crust yields a hard, hollow sound, the bread is done.
Remove the bread from the oven. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before slicing.
104 Responses to “Cholula Cheese Bread”
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Wow this looks good! I wonder if you left the cheese in larger chunks they would stay little pockets of cheese in the finished product. Either way it looks tasty!
Lovely bread!!
Wonderful bread and the cheese sandwich sounds so delicious
that is the single greatest idea i’ve seen with the greatest hot sauce in the world.
Cholula is absolutely my favorite hot sauce too! That bread sounds out of this world.
yummy! I love homemade breads…
Your bread looks so nice…
I am really excited about this recipe. I absolutely love putting cholula on just about anything! I can’t wait to try it out. mmm
Plus I haven’t made bread in a long time, too long. It’s time to get baking before the weather gets too hot to turn on the oven!
wow, you’re certainly right about making a grilled cheese with this FANTASTIC-looking bread!!!
That bread looks absolutely fantastic! A promising combination of delicious flavors! Relly amazing. The kind of bread I crave…
Cheers,
Rosa
The bread sounds good, but that sandwich sounds heavenly. I’m going to have to bake a loaf or two to try the sandwich. I just found your blog today and I am sure it will be a regular read from now on.
Adding the hot sauce is brilliant! I add cheese to my no-knead bread all the time, and sometimes hot peppers (or roasted red ones), but I’ll have to experiment with hot sauce now. No Cholula in the house, but I have some Crystal’s.
Great looking bread! I love the suggestions of what to eat with it. Thanks.
That bread sounds fantastic with your adding all those cheeses! And then making into a grilled cheese sandwich! YUM!
Fabulous!!!
That is a BEAUTIFUL loaf of bread! Oh the possibilities. sigh.. ;o}
Looks delicious! And I like the idea of the cheese completely disappearing into the loaf. K x
wow, sounds so interesting … can’t imagine a bread with hot sauce baked into it, i think i’ll have to try it
What a great combination for this recipe!
My fondness for Cholula hot sauce goes way back too.
Now that I am a “newbie” breadmaker, I am going to give this fabulous recipe a try real soon – Steven
What a gorgeous looking loaf Ari. It’s baked beautifully & the slices are very pretty too. Stunning!!
That is some seriously gorgeous bread!!! Cheers, Barbara
I bet this would be great toasted and served with fried eggs as well. Yum!
Your bread looks really good!
Paz
this looks like it will be my first cheese bread attempt!
Hi Ariela!
Your bread looks gorgeous, as always! I also own a copy of Bernard Clayton’s “New Complete Book of Breads,” and was wondering if you have tried (and liked) any of the other recipes in the book. Any recipe you’d recommend I’d certainly like to give a try. Thanks!
-Joy
Joy – Not yet, but I’m trying another recipe today. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Looks and sounds delicious!
You are killing me. I’m sitting at my desk this morning reading this recipe, All I’ve had to eat so far is a half cup of homemade snack mix. I love my snack mix, but this bread, this grilled cheese sandwich, have me drooling. What time can I come for lunch?
Seriously, this recipe may actually get me to plunge into the bread making world.
Thank you for this one. CIndy
Cindy – I hope you do take the plunge! And if you have any questions about bread baking email me, I’m always happy to help.
This looks really good. I’m not sure about the hot sauce though I’d try it.
This looks good, although I’m skeptical of the hot sauce.
I make grilled cheese+ (the “plus” varies, depending on what’s in the fridge) a lot, but the idea of grilled cheese on cheese bread is heavenly.
I also like Cholula Hot Sauce and am a huge fan of cheese bread. I think grilled cheese with cheese bread is a delectable idea
Your pictures are super!
The cheese bread looks fabulous!
That sandwich sounds so delicious! Another great recipe.
This looks fantastic. Am I the only one loyal to Franks?!
Alicia – Is Franks a kind of hot sauce? My heart has always belonged to Cholula so I haven’t tried any other brands.
the bread recipe sounds alot like one I’ve been making lately with riccotta and freshly grated parmesan. I make it with whole wheat and never thought to add hot sauce (WOW!), but its a great easy peasy bread!
and, shiza, your grilled cheese recipe is, again, WOW!
yeah, i’d say this counts as a unique bread! it looks and sounds quite appealing, as i always like to fire up my foods.
Love your site – thanks for the giveaways each month. I used several of your recipes – delicious!
Cheese? Cholula? Yum! Cholula is a condiment of choice in our house as well. I keep meaning to practice my bread-baking skills (which are not very well honed yet), so now I’ll simply have to try this bread!
I like to bake breads at home and always looking for same new recipes.This is a new one to try.
omg grilled cheese made with this bread would be absolutely amazing!! I love that it has Tabasco in it too!
This looks really good. It is an interesting use of hot sauce for sure.
I’m emailing this recipe to my sone, as he likes to bake bread, and is a big cheese-lover. Thanks for sharing!
Ooohh, cheese and hot sauce, what a fantastic combo!! I finally got around to making your calzones and they were wonderful! My husband was so impressed that I made them from scratch on Saturday morning
Nicole D. – Go you! That’s awesome you made the calzones and that everyone enjoyed them.
I’m emailing this recipe to my son. He loves to bake bread, and also loves cheese…perfect!
This looks fabulous! I love the idea of putting sauteed spinach and mushrooms in the grilled cheese sandwich!! Yum!!
Bread with cheese sounds yummy,but I am not sure about hot sauce. How hot is the bread once it is baked?I am really timid about spiciness/hotness.
Martha T – It is not that hot, there is only 1/2 teaspoon of sauce in the bread. You can taste it in the bread, but only slightly. What it mainly does it accentuate the cheese flavor.
could there be anything better that grilled cheese on cheese bread, i think not.
This looks really good. I wish I had the time to bake more bread. I have several bread books. I think I might try this cheese loaf this weekend. Thank you for the recipe.
This bread sounds incredible. I love cholula on scrambled eggs! I am printing it out now so I can try it soon. Thanks for sharing!
I’m sure this would be a hit at my house. I got my 8 year old son hooked on putting Frank’s Red Hot Sauce on his scrambled eggs. Oh, and the grilled cheese with spinach and mushrooms – you’re making me hungry!
I love all the ingredients in this bread, and yet I can’t quite wrap my brain (or taste buds) around what this would be like in a loaf, or how to use it. Guess I will have to try making it to find out.
mmmh….cheese. mmmh….bread. all in one? up and gone to heaven.
This sounds fantastic! I’ve been on a big baking streak lately, and was thinking I needed to try a cheese bread soon – this may be the one. Thanks for posting!
I just made cheese bread (my recipe is different though) yesterday for dinner and loved it so much that I decided I have to look for new ones and here I log on and was surprised to find a new recipe!!!Thanks so much Ari!!This surely looks so damn good…Will definitely try this!!!
There’s nothing better than homemade bread. Yours looks delicious.
How coincidental, I picked up his book complete breads and soups just this weekend and spent 4 hours on Sunday reading through all those wonderful bread recipes. I mentioned to a friend that I would never again need another bread book (tongue in cheek).
Lots of detailed information, geography, history and how-to in this remarkable tome! Great give away book from my favorite blog!
This looks absolutely delectable!! Pricey shopping list tho..
I always have French and Italian cheeses on hand.. Although Provolone probably wouldn’t work, I wonder if Gruyere could do the job.. Can’t wait to try it out!
Nice looking bread! The smell of baking cheese bread is so amazing!
the bread looks wonderful. no picture of the sandwich?
it sounds very tasty. i never would of thought of adding mushrooms & spiniach to a grilled cheese but i will now.
I just made homemade bread myself. It’s the best!
oh man, this bread looks amazing, especially because i practically drink choulula straight from the bottle. and i love it on my grilled cheese, so i think this will have to be made immediately.
thanks for the recipe!
This is one of the best looking bread I’ve seen in a while. Looks delicious.
I just happened to catch an episode of Alton tonight where he talks about baking bread and I learned a lot! The most valuable thing I learned was how to use the dough hook properly on my mixer… I think this is where I went wrong when I made this bread. Mine didn’t come out horrible but I think it was too soft. (By the way, your yeast tutorial from an earlier post came in handy here when I realized the recipe called for rapid rise and I only had active yeast!)
I love these kinds of savory breads to dunk in hearty soups and chowders. This looks delicious!
Just wanted to let you know that I tagged you here. Feel free to pass it along or not as you wish. Just wanted to show the love.
looks great!
Cholula is my all time favorite! I can hardly resist putting it on EVERYTHING
Hello Ari
Your bread is similar to a challah bread dough without the cheese and the chili sauce, I just baked 3 challahs, I couldnt resist the smell of a warm bread, though we just finished super… i had to have a slice hot from the oven… iam very bad i know….. your bread must have a nice aroma and flavour…. remember me when you eat another slice…
I must try your recipe without telling my fussy eater what is inside the bread ????
thanks for sharing the recipe
Arlette
I’ll have to make this for my husband or he might try and get rid of me. Gosh this would be up both of our alleys!
My boyfriend would die for this– I’d be a good girlfriend if I made it for him. Looks moist and tasty!
Sounds really different!
This bread looks great. I’m definitely going to try it.
My dough is sitting on the counter for its second rise right now. I can’t wait!
I love cheese bread!!! I work as a baker at Whole Foods in Newtonville, MA and we make this amazing four cheese bread that would blow your mind. The first time I tried this bread was early one weekend morning and one of the loaves came out mis-shaped. Let me tell you, I had already eaten my breakfast but I couldn’t resisit its ewgoowey deliciousness. If you have a Whole Foods near you, totally check out this bread! We only make it on weekends, so the one near you probablly does the same. Your book of the month looks great! crossing my fingers.
That bread looks delicious!
Oh my..that looks so yummy!
Still warm out of the oven with a dollup of really good butter……
I just discovered your web site and am enjoying it. I’d love to win this book, but I must say, your take on the recipe looks wonderful.
How interesting — my husband came home with a bottle of Choula hot sauce yesterday. We had a discussion about what we could use it for in baking — my husband thinks hot sauce is just for sprinkling on top of things. Wait until I show him this bread! Jane
It looks so beautiful! and delicious… love the round shape.
This sounds absolutely fantastic! Cheesy-ness and spiceyness! What an excellent combination! I’ve been wanting to try to make breads and I’m definitely bookmarking this page to tuck away!
I am totally going to try this. My family loves bread, cheese and tabasco.
I bake a cheese bread from King Arthur’s website. But your bread looks so perfect, that golden color is stunning. Will definitely try your version. Thanks for the recipe.
I can’t wait to give this one a try!
Ari, you are tempting me to go and bake this bread.
I, too, grew up with Cholula, but now it’s a toss-up between that and Pepper Plant for my favorite. I always sub one or the other when something calls for Tabasco.
this looks sooo delicious
That’s such a beautiful bread, and a great adaptation. I am curious, would it matter much if you didn’t glaze the bread?
This looks delicious!
your bread looks beautiful….
I am going to try this recipe this weekend! I am tired of using a bread machine that doesn’t work and produce lumps of rock! Back to cooking in the oven. This bread looks delicious!
I’ve been looking for a good, spicy cheese bread that doesn’t taste like fake cheese. I’m excited to give this one a try!
Just found your blog — it’s absolutely yummy! Think I’ll be checking in a lot!
Oh my, that bread looks fabulous! Can’t wait to try it
I’ll definitely try this one!
My goodness this looks divine! Add one more item to the list of things I need to make! Since discovering your blog the list has grown alarmingly!
Wow! This looks really delicious, interesting combination of flavors, can’t wait to try this recipe!
I made this this past weekend (with chedder & tabasco). Good stuff, but I think next time I’ll just use milk for the glaze, and also work in a spiral of straight tabasco when shaping the loaves. It’s good mixed in with the dough, but I’d love a hit of heat right in the middle of the slice. (Added a little more cheese to a spiral in the shaping might be a good idea, too.)
Clayton rules!
I’ve just ordered one of Bernard Clayton’s books and was looking forward to reading it… but now I can’t wait! What a completely delicious recipe! My hubby is a serious Tabasco fan, so this one is sure to be a hit. Thanks for the great ideas you provide on your website, and the inspiration to bake and bake well.