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Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread sliced up and sitting in an iron skillet with a jar of hot honey on the side.

Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread with Hot Honey

Tender, perfectly moist, this is the cornbread of your dreams! The best balance of sweetness and heat, thanks to hot honey, diced jalalpeño pepper, gooey cheddar cheese, and Tajín seasoning. Great for BBQ, chilli, soup, even as a side to a baked ham!
Course Baking
Cuisine North American
Keyword cheesy cornbread, cornbread, hot honey, jalapeño cornbread, tajín
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling 40 minutes
Servings 10

Ingredients

  • 2 medium jalapeńo peppers finely diced
  • 4 tbsp (57g) butter for melting
  • 1 tbsp softened butter for greasing the skillet
  • 1 cup (135g) All Purpose flour, you can use a gf cup for cup blend
  • 1 cup (165g) cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp Tajín seasoning, feel free to replace with cayenne pepper if this is all you can find
  • 3/4 cup (80g) grated cheddar cheese, or even bagged Tex-Mex shredded cheese
  • 1/2 cup (65g) cubed medium cheddar cheese, about 1/4 inch cubes
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk or sour milk, see Notes below
  • 2 tbsp runny honey
  • 2 tbsp Hot Honey, see Notes

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Sauté the finely diced jalapeño pepper in a small skillet over medium high heat till just warmed through and starting to brown. You don't even need to add any oil to the pan, it will go quite quickly. Transfer to a bowl to cool down till needed.
  3. Place the 4 tbsp of butter in a small pot and melt over low heat. Set aside to cool a bit.
  4. Take the softened butter and evenly grease a 10 inch cast iron skillet or baking pan (it can be a 8 x10 inch or similar)
  5. In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and Tajín or cayenne pepper.
  6. In a small bowl, gently beat the eggs. Add the buttermilk, the runny honey and Hot Honey (spray the measuring cup with non-stick spray first before pouring honey into it- will release much easier!) and the melted butter. Stir to combine.
  7. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ones. Gently combine without over-mixing. It doesn't have to be completely mixed.
  8. Add the grated cheddar cheese, the cubed cheese and the cooled diced pepper to the mixture and give one more good stir to combine.
  9. Pour the batter into the greased pan.
  10. Bake on the centre rack for 28-30 minutes. The bread should be set, and a skewer inserted into the middle of the bread should come out clean or with only a couple of crumbs.

  11. Cool for about 30 minutes. Slice and serve.

  12. See blog post for more details and suggestions on re-heating, storing etc.

Recipe Notes

To replace buttermilk, just add 1 tbsp of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let sit for about 5 minutes. It will sour perfectly
Hot Honey Recipe: Combine 1/2 cup runny honey, 1 tbsp dried chilli flakes, and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar in a small pot. Heat over medium till warmed through and bubbles are starting to appear around the edges. Remove from the heat and let it steep for 30 minutes. Transfer to a glass jar with a lid. You can strain the chilli flakes if you want (I like them in) This will keep in your cupboard as long as any other honey. If it crystalizes at all, just stir it up, or warm on low till the sugars melt back into the honey.
You can bake up this batter as muffins as well. It will fill about 12 regular sized muffins. Give them about 15-20 minutes in the oven, but check at the 15 minute mark.