Mexican Cheese Bread

This Mexican cheese bread is naturally gluten-free, built on rice flour and soy flour instead of wheat. Enchilada sauce goes right into the batter, giving the bread a warm, spiced flavor and a reddish tint throughout. Grated cheese melts into the crumb as it bakes, creating savory pockets in every slice.

The method is classic quickbread: mix dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients, combine quickly, and pour into the pan. No yeast, no kneading, no rising time. The baking powder does the lifting, and the enchilada sauce brings both moisture and flavor that a plain quickbread would need herbs and spices to match.

Stir quickly and don’t overmix. You want the batter just combined. Overworking it develops the proteins in the soy flour and makes the bread gummy instead of tender.

Kitchen Tips

• Use a mild or medium enchilada sauce depending on your heat preference. Hot sauce will dominate the cheese flavor.
• Oil the pan well. Rice flour batters stick more than wheat-based ones, so be generous.
• The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Rice flour breads can look done on top while the center is still raw, so test it.
• Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before cutting. It’s fragile while hot and crumbles easily.

Variations

• Jalapeño cheese: Fold in diced jalapeños and swap the cheese for pepper jack for extra heat.
• Cornmeal version: Replace the soy flour with fine cornmeal for a more cornbread-like texture that’s still gluten-free.