Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

Last Sunday, while my family was gathered at my parent’s house for our weekly Sunday dinner, I asked my Dad if he had any tomatoes left in the garden. He said he’d check, and then disappeared for a while. He came back with a handful of tomatoes and a couple of GROCERY SACKS FULL of jalapenos. Not being one to ever turn down garden-fresh produce, I happily took a sack of them home. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with them, but I figured a google search or two could take care of that problem for me.

My husband needed to bring a dish to his Fantasy Football draft (*insert eyeroll here*) so since I knew they were serving chili I decided to whip up some cornbread. Since the overflowing bowl of jalapenos on my countertop was staring at me, I figured there had to be a jalapeno cornbread recipe out there somewhere…and of course, Ina Garten had the perfect recipe.

This is a cakey cornbread, so if you like coarse cornbread this probably isn’t the recipe for you. It’s also not too terribly sweet, which I attempted to remedy somewhat by adding corn, extra sugar and honey. The jalapenos don’t add a lot of heat, so if you’re looking for something spicy I’d probably double the suggested amount below. My husband really liked this recipe, and he said it worked really well with the chili. I can’t attest for that but I can assure you that we’ll make this again soon.

Since this is a pretty straightforward recipe, I don’t have a lot of advice to offer, but do make sure that you don’t overmix the batter and that you allow it to sit before baking. I used a medium-grain cornmeal and omitted the scallions because I didn’t have any in the house.

Enjoy!

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
Yield: 18 servings
Prep Time: 25 minutes, plus 20 minutes “resting” ♦ Bake Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided
1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions
3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers
4 tablespoons honey
1 can creamed corn (12-15 oz)

Directions:

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don’t overmix! Mix in the honey, 2 cups of the grated cheddar, the scallions, the can of creamed corn and the jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Ina Garten, The Food Network

Comments

shangel says

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This sounds like a great cornbread! My mom makes something similar. I’d love to try these sometime.

Angelique says

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I love cornbread,but one with some spice in it. Can’t wait to try this.Yummy!!!

pamela says

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This looks so good, cant wait to try it.

Karlye says

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Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made it tonight to go with our chili. It was the perfect accompaniment! I did leave out the creamed corn because I didn’t have any on hand but put in everything else. Delish!

lady9erfan says

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How do you think these would cook up as mini muffins? I am thinking of making these to go with some chili I am entering into a contest at work.

- lemonsugar says
  
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  They work great as mini muffins! If I remember correctly, I think the bake time is only about 12 minutes though, so keep an eye on them the first time. 🙂

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