Jalapeno cornbread from scratch tastes MUCH better than a box of Jiffy! It’s a simple bread with sweet and spicy flavors and goes very well with chili and soups. Sharp cheddar cheese gives this cornbread even more delicious taste. You’ll love this quick bread recipe!
Cornbread is a great traditional southern bread. It’s warm, comforting, and has a soft, crumbly texture. I love that it’s SO easy to make!
You can whisk it all together in a bowl and pop it in the oven. So fast and easy and it’s very versatile. Of course, it pairs perfectly with a bowl of soup or The Best Chili, but the uses for it don’t stop there!
It is delicious for breakfast with a cup of tea and some honey drizzled on top. It’s a great side dish for lunch and dinner. You can also chop it up, dry it out, and then use it to make cornbread dressing.
Types of Cornbread
There are several ways to make this tasty treat. Recipes for cornbread often have different ingredients and ways of making it, based on regional preferences. Each region also have strong beliefs about what should be included in cornbread and not.
For example, in southern parts of the U.S., you will usually find recipes where corn itself is the most prominent ingredients. Modern southern recipes would include flour and even sugar but that wasn’t always the case.
Southern recipes also prefer buttermilk while northern ones prefer milk. Northern cornbread recipes were also the ones to start sweetening it with sugar or syrup.
And of course, what you use to bake cornbread is also a regional aspect. Southern cooks prefer a cast iron skillet while northern prefer a baking dish.
If speaking regionally, my Buttermilk cornbread recipe is actually a pleasant mix of southern and northern recipes.
Jalapeno cornbread has a southwest influence of adding spicy peppers to food. It has a very pleasant and strong flavor of jalapeno pepper but it’s not actually very spicy. Unless you include the seeds because that is what actually adds majority of heat to food.
Jalapeno Cornbread
Similar to biscuits, this is a quick bread recipe, meaning there is no yeast in the ingredients. As a result, it is very quick and easy to make, just mix and bake. You can have a pan of warm cheesy cornbread ready to eat in less than an hour!
INGREDIENT NOTES + SUBSTITUTIONS
This is not a complete list of ingredients. To see all ingredients, including amounts, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- unsalted butter – Because the amount of salt in butter varies by brand, it is best to use unsalted butter. If all you have is salted butter, omit or use less salt in this recipe.
- eggs – it’s best to use eggs that are at room temperature before you start making this recipe. Not only are cold eggs more difficult to incorporate into batter, but they also increase the baking time.
- buttermilk – If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, it’s easy to make your own buttermilk substitute. Simply mix 1 tablespoons of white vinegar with enough milk to add up to 1 cup together. Then, let it rest for 5-10 minutes, until the milk thickens.
- cornmeal – There are different varieties of cornmeal, ranging in texture from coarse to corn flour. For the best tasting jalapeno cornbread, use finely ground cornmeal. For more information, here’s a great article on the differences between types of cornmeal.
- sharp cheddar cheese – It is always best to buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself. Bagged shreds contain cellulose, a chemical that prevents cheese from clumping. Unfortunately, it also prevents the cheese from melting properly and affects the taste.
- jalapeno peppers – Jalapenos aren’t very spicy at all, but if you have a problem with spicy foods, you can either remove the seeds, or make sure to get young peppers. Young peppers have smooth, firm skin. Older peppers are spicier and have visible veins on the skin.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
1. Add dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Use a whisk to combine everything. This ensures that there are no clumps of flour in the mixture.
2. Add wet ingredients to the dry mixture.
Whisk wet ingredients together before adding the mixture to the bowl to make sure everything is mixed evenly but the batter is not overmixed.
3. Fold in cheese and jalapenos into the cornbread batter.
Be careful not to over mix the batter, as you’ll end up with dry jalapeno cornbread. Just use a mixing spatula or large spoon to gently fold the ingredients into the batter.
4. Spread mixture evenly into a greased baking dish.
5. Bake, cool in the pan, then slice and serve!
Cheesy cornbread is delicious with any type of chili. Make a batch of turkey chili, or for a meatless meal, serve it with vegetarian chili.
If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!
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Jalapeno Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese block
- 2-3 large jalapeno peppers
- 2 tbsp butter to rub the pan
Instructions
- Grate the block of cheese of a box grater and dice jalapeno peppers. (Discard seeds and membrane of the peppers if you want it less spicy. If you want more spicy, add the seeds.)
- Pre-heat the oven to 375° and rub a 9×9 baking dish with butter all over the bottom and up the sides. Make sure to get the corners and folds well.
- Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and whisk them well.
- Combine wet ingredients in another bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredient, whisking after each addition.
- Fold in shredded cheese and diced jalapenos until it's evenly spread throughout.
- Let the batter sit for about 10 minutes and spread it evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for about 33-38 minutes. If the top is browning too fast, you may need to loosely cover the baking dish with aluminum foil for the last few minutes of baking.
Make it in a skillet:
- If you wish to use a cast iron skillet to cook cornbread, you can absolutely do it. I recommend using 10-inch skillet and check for doneness after 20-22 minutes.
Nutrition
Reni Gisondi says
I love, love, love this recipe. I make it all the time. Thank you.
LyubaB says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you love the recipe and make it often—it means a lot to hear that! 😊
Sandra Nystrom says
Probably the best cornbread I have ever made.(must have been the cheese).
Cherie Felty says
Will leaving the cheese out change the texture or moisture?
Melisende says
Very good recipe. I thought it would be too dense because the batter was so thick from of so much cheese but it wasn’t. Bake time was just about right as well. I cut way back on the jalapeno because my family dislikes anything too spicy, so I didn’t taste too much of that. Next time I’ll try a touch more. Cornbread does need to be eaten while hot. It’s never as good once it’s cooled down.
LyubaB says
I am so glad you liked the recipe!
Diana says
Delicious… I will definitely be making this one again thank you !!
LyubaB says
I’m glad you liked it, Diana!
Suz says
Would this work in muffin tins?
LyubaB says
Yes, I make them as muffins sometimes too! You will need to decrease the cooking time I would say to 17-19 minutes. I do the toothpick test where I stick one in the middle and see if it comes out clean.
Bella says
I love this recipe!
Cheri Kennedy says
can I use almond flour instead of all purpose flour to make GF?
LyubaB says
You could try it but it would be a very different texture.
Anne says
Hi, I planned to try this recipe as written but I’ll try it with almond flour and coconut flower. When combined correctly they make similar texture as flour. Just need to increase the wet ingredients and remember that your coconut flour ratio is coconut flour 1:3 or 1/3 cup to 1 cup. May have to bake lower and slower to ensure center centre is baked and not too wet. If it is you can leave it in longer, or use the microwave at 1 minute intervals until the center is the right texture and moisture. That’s all I know from my experiences. Some YAYS 🤗 and some NAYS! 🥴 Lol
Anne says
Oops! I see a couple of glitches in my comment! Center should be written once. I didn’t stutter. Also to clarify I meant to say1/3 cup in 1 cup. So 1/3 coconut flour and 2/3 almond flour. Sometimes I like the texture with just 1/4 coconut flour. And always add a 1/2 tsp of xanthum gum to help keep it all together. Yum!
LyubaB says
Hi Anne,
Let me know how it turns out!