JALAPENO CHEDDAR SKILLET CORNBREAD

I have been wanting to make Jalapeño Cheddar Skillet Cornbread FOREVER! I just so happened upon a gentleman in the grocery store last week, in the baking aisle. His cart was full of goodies, and I just knew he knew how to throw it down in the kitchen. So, we started talking cornbread and I told him how I was longing to make it with jalapeños. He told me to sauté my jalapeños prior to folding them into the batter. Hello? Awesome! I grabbed a bag of Tenda Bake self-rising yellow cornmeal and I was on my merry way, totally unsure if I could pull this off. Only one little glitch…I tell you about that later. I used this 12″ cast iron skillet from Lodge…click here! Don’t own a cast iron pan? Why not? You really need one in your kitchen. If you do not, a 9×12 baking pan will work just fine.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Sauté the diced jalapeños in the olive oil until tender.

Prepare your cast iron pan by lining it with a tablespoon of butter or cooking spray…be sure to get the sides. In a large bowl, whisk to combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

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Add the buttermilk, melted butter, honey, eggs and sautéed jalapeños to the flour mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Try not to over work the batter. Gently fold in the cheddar cheese. You will see the mixture already start to rise.

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Pour mixture into the cast iron pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Now…this is where I kind of screwed up. However, I was able to recover. So, one thing you do not want is dry cornbread…keeping that in mind…I kind of pulled it out of the oven a bit too soon. It looked done on the inside and even a toothpick came out clean…but when I went to cut…it was not done. Luckly, I placed it back in the oven for about ten minutes and all was good! Try keeping it in at least 25 minutes…you may need 30 to 35, depending on your oven. The top will turn a very nice deep golden brown. About halfway through, I placed a few jalapeño slices in the middle of the cornbread for garnish.

Remove the Jalapeño Cheddar Skillet Cornbread from the oven and allow to cool just a few minutes. I served my with my Turkey Chili! ENJOY!

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