Texas Moppin' Rolls

Sharlene~W's Note:

I've been looking for years for a cheesy bread recipe I misplaced years ago. I found this one at breadbaking.com and I am so excited to finally be able to make something similar again! If you want to use fresh hot peppers, substitute 2-3 minced jalapenos. This recipe is fairly mild using the crushed red pepper flakes. A combination of the green jalapenos and the red pepper flakes would be awesome--an excuse to make these again soon.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 24

• 2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 6 1/2-7 cups all-purpose flour, divided

Directions:

1. Combine yeast, honey and warm water in large bowl; stir until completely dissolved. Add salt, hot red pepper flakes, onion, Monterey Jack cheese and Cheddar cheese; stir until thoroughly mixed. Add 6 cups of the flour, 2 cups at a time, mixing after each addition until the flour is completely incorporated.
2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 6 to 8 minutes, adding enough of remaining flour to form a fairly stiff dough. Rinse and dry the bowl, then oil surface of dough and place dough in bowl. Cover with a clean, dry cloth and let rise in a warm, draft-free place about 1 hour, or until doubled.
3. Punch down dough. Knead briefly to expel large air bubbles. Divide dough into 24 equal pieces (about 65 grams each). Roll each piece into a fat oval.
4. Place rolls in a lightly greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan (three rolls across, four down). Let rise about 20 minutes, or until nearly doubled.
5. While rolls are rising, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place on middle rack of oven and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until top crust
6. is browned. Remove rolls from pan and let cool on racks.
7. NOTES:.
8. With so many different palates to please, our abbey cooks are usually pretty cautious about spicy seasonings. As a result, sometimes monastery food is a bit bland, so I like to create breads with strong flavors. Every time I serve these rolls, one of the brothers is sure to comment on how he expected "just another roll" and got a mouthful of pepper and cheese bread with an attitude. These rolls are actually pretty mild compared to a lot of Tex-Mex food, so feel free to increase the amount of crushed red pepper.
9. I used ordinary dried crushed red pepper (hot red pepper flakes) for this recipe, but if you keep fresh jalapenos or other hot peppers in the fridge, by all means use them. Three 3-inch jalapenos, minced fine, provide moderate heat. You can experiment with other peppers as well.

Reviews

[**Tinkerbell**]

We were really looking forward to these rolls. Unfortunately we all agree that the minced onion actually gave them a weird after taste. We'll no doubt be making these again, but next time I'll exchange the onion for fresh garlic & maybe a little onion powder. The red pepper flakes were a huge hit. I'll probably double those next time. Thanks for sharing, Sharlene!

[phosman646]

Perfect with chile..they were gone in a hurry..Thanks

[HeidiSue]

These tasted great, but didn't look as pretty as yours. I am new at baking, so learning. I was hoping they would be more cheesy, but the spice was a perfect amount. They were easy to make with my new kitchenaid mixer. Thanks! Heidi