Name: Jalapeño-Cheddar Cornbread
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Ingredients: 1½ cups (7½ ounces/213 grams) yellow cornmeal; 1 cup (5 ounces/142 grams) all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1½ teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 1½ teaspoons salt; 1¼ cups whole milk; 2 large eggs; 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted; 6 ounces (170 grams) extra-sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (1½ cups); 4 jalapeño chiles , stemmed, seeded, and minced (¾ cup)

Why This Recipe Works

Making cornbread from a box is easy, sure, but it is also limiting. Making cornbread from scratch really isn’t much harder, and it opens up a vast world of cornbread varieties, including adding spicy jalapeño chiles and cheddar cheese. For this recipe, we used a ratio of 1½ cups cornmeal to 1 cup flour so the bread was tender yet sturdy enough to hold the add-ins. Two tablespoons of sugar enhanced the cornmeal’s subtly sweet flavor. After simply stirring the dry and wet ingredients together, we added 4 minced jalapeños, removing the ribs and seeds for a vibrant yet controlled jalapeño kick. Extra-sharp cheddar lent savory, cheesy tang. We stirred most of the cheese into the batter to distribute the flavor throughout and reserved ½ cup to sprinkle over the top, where it baked into a beautiful cheesy crust.

Before You Begin

We developed this recipe using fine-ground cornmeal. Our favorite is Arrowhead Mills Organic Yellow Cornmeal; however, more commonly available Quaker Yellow Cornmeal will work just fine here. Do not use coarse-ground cornmeal. Do not use mild or regular sharp cheddar cheese in this recipe, as its flavor doesn’t stand out like that of extra-sharp cheddar. You can use an 8-inch square baking pan instead of a 9-inch round cake pan. If you use a dark-colored cake pan, reduce the baking time in step 3 to 30 to 35 minutes.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease light-colored 9-inch round cake pan, line with parchment paper, and grease parchment.

Whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk milk, eggs, and melted butter together in second bowl. Stir milk mixture into cornmeal mixture until just combined. Stir in 1 cup cheddar and jalapeños until just combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan, smooth top with spatula, and sprinkle with remaining ½ cup cheddar.

Bake until cornbread is deep golden brown, top is firm to touch, and paring knife inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cornbread cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cornbread from pan, discarding parchment, and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Serve.