Hatch Chile Partybrot – pull apart bread

It’s coming to the end of the Hatch Chile season, but there are just enough left in the shops to try some other recipes, and even when they do run out, Anaheim and Poblano Chiles are a good substitute. Partybrot is German for ‘party bread’, which is a type of pull-apart bread. ‘Party bread’ as the name suggests is a great way to serve bread at a party as it is so soft, that it is easy just to rip off a ball of bread. I’ve made these in the past and thought it would be good with some chopped roasted hatch chiles added to the dough.

I made this bread with Hot Hatch Chiles, since bread and the added cheese, would help cool down the chiles. However you could easily using milder chiles instead, but the flavour might get lost. You could also use other flavourings instead of chile for this type of bread such as crushed garlic, cinnamon or even cheese mixed into the dough.

Ingredients

• 4 cups (500g) of strong white bread flour
• 1.25 cups (295ml) of warm water
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tsp rapid-rise active yeast
• 6 roasted Hatch Chiles (Hot), chopped and patted dry
• Some grated cheese

Method

1. Mix together the flour, water, sugar, salt, oil and the yeast to form a dough. Knead the dough for about 5 mins, cover and leave somewhere warm for an hour to double in size.
2. Punch down the dough and knead the dough for about a minute, while also adding the chiles.
3. Cover the dough and allow to rise for another hour. Prepare a cake-tin(s) with oil and/or parchment paper.
4. Remove the dough to a well floured work-surface. Divide the dough into about 18 equal sized pieces.
   

   Hatch Chile Dough

5. Using floured hands, form the dough into a smooth ball, by tucking it in on itself underneath. Place the dough ball in the cake pan on the edge. Repeat the process until the cake pan is full. There should be enough dough for a couple of cake pans.
   

   Cake tin filled with dough balls

6. Allow the dough balls to rise for another hour.
7. Bake the bread in a 385F (195C) oven for 30 minutes. Don’t be tempted to bake this bread for too long as it should be soft and easy to pull apart. 10 minutes before the end of baking, sprinkle on some cheese on top of the bread. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool before removing from the cake pans.
   

   Hatch Chile Partybrot