Homemade cornbread, baked in a cast iron skillet, full of great jalapeño cheddar flavor! Perfect on it’s own, or alongside some spicy chili!
Homemade cornbread, made in the best way… baked in a cast iron skillet with bacon drippings! This version is also full of jalapeños and cheddar, making it the perfect companion to a big bowl of chili!
Cornbread can be a real hot button topic can’t it? Southerners like it one way, Northerners another. I’m not here to tell you that my homemade cornbread is the best ever… because let’s face it, we all have our own opinions of what that means don’t we?
So I’ll just say that it’s an absolute family favorite… especially with some butter on top!
My version is slightly sweet, not overly so, with a moist crumb. Not cake-like, but not crumbly either. Personally, I think it’s the best of both worlds!
How do you like your cornbread? By itself? Butter on top? Drizzled with honey? Or alongside a steaming bowl of chili? Honestly, my answer would be all of the above! They all have their time and place right?
WHAT IF I WANT TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO THIS RECIPE?
Well you totally can! Here are a couple of recommendations:
- For a sweeter cornbread, increase sugar to 1/2 cup and honey to 1/3 cup
- For a spicier cornbread, increase jalapeño amount, or don’t remove seeds/ribs
- For a cheesier cornbread, increase cheese amount to 1 1/2 cups to possibly 2 cups
- Add a sprinkle of cheese to the top of the batter alongside the jalapeño slices
- Add cooked and crumbled bacon to the batter
- Play around with different cheese flavors… such as pepper jack, Colby, Mexican blend, etc
- Try making muffins instead! Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes (makes 12 muffins)
WHAT ABOUT THE HEAT LEVEL?
I don’t think this homemade cornbread is all that spicy, but if you’re worried, you can use less of the jalapeños, or even omit them altogether. In fact, if you omit the jalapeños and the cheese, this makes a great base cornbread recipe!
The next time you’re serving up a big bowl of chili, or just feeling like you want some great cornbread, I hope you give my recipe a try!
CHILI’S TO SERVE WITH THIS HOMEMADE CORNBREAD:
helpful tools:
- Cast Iron Skillet – hands down the most used pan in my kitchen, and it gives the most amazing sear!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 6 Tbsp butter, melted (slightly cooled)
- 3-4 Tbsp honey
- 1-2 fresh jalapeños, seeds/ribs removed, minced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 Tbsp bacon grease (or vegetable/canola oil works too)
- additional jalapeño slices for top garnish
- additional cheddar cheese, for top garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees and position oven rack to the lower-middle position.
- To a mixing bowl, add cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, and whisk to combine well.
- To another large mixing bowl, add milk, eggs, melted butter and honey. Whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients mixture and use a wooden spoon to combine. Stir in jalapeños and cheddar cheese. Stir until no flour streaks remain, but don't OVER mix. Set aside.
- Heat a cast iron pan over HIGH heat for a minute. Add bacon grease and let it heat up and melt over the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and pour in the cornbread batter. Use wooden spoon to spread batter in evenly. If using, top with jalapeño slices, and/or additional cheddar cheese.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
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Chef Tips
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
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Greg says
Delicious. Added some chopped green onion. Fantastic recipe. Thanks.
Michelle says
Does the cooking time or temperature need to be modified when making this recipe as muffins?
The Chunky Chef says
Yes, as mentioned in the post above the recipe, bake at 400 for about 15 minutes (makes 12 muffins)
Michelle says
Thanks, I did read where you mentioned making muffins but didn’t recall you mentioning a time and temp. Thanks again and I hope you have a Merry Christmas.
Stevie says
Great recipe. My husband said it was one of the best things he’d ever tasted.
Phil says
Can you sub brown sugar for some or all of the white sugar?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve not tested it, but I think it would work, although it might give it a slight molasses-y taste.
John Stephenson says
My wife and made the recipe this evening, I come from a southern cornbread eating, front porch sitting family. We have lived in the same town for almost 200 years. I have eaten good cornbread and fair cornbread and occasionally bad cornbread. Today I have the best cornbread that has ever passed my lips. My wife is in full agreement. We are scratch cookers and bakers. I feel that I am betraying my family but I must proclaim THIS IS THE BEST CORNBREAD EVER. I followed the recipe and used a cast iron skillet. The cornbread was light and fluffy, a slight sweetness and a hint of heat from the pepper. It was a life changing meal. Thanks so much for sharing this delicious recipe.
Jerri says
I have made this multiple times and it is fantastic!! I get requests to bring it to gatherings as well. It is an excellent blend of flavors. Just a slight hint of spicy and sweet, that blends perfectly.
Sandy Russo says
Can you use buttermilk instead of regular milk in this recipe?
The Chunky Chef says
Yes, absolutely 🙂
Thea Painting says
Can you use pickled jalapenos instead of fresh?
The Chunky Chef says
Yes, absolutely 🙂
Dianne says
Could I make this recipe without the sugar and honey since my husband and I don’t really care for sweet cornbread. I have been making cornbread in an iron skillet for a long time and it’s the best way to cook it.
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested the recipe without any of the sweeteners, so I can’t say for certain.
Nancy says
Found your recipe for cornbread when I wanted a sweeter bread to accompany a batch of white chicken chili I was making. This cornbread came out beautifully from both the skillet and the muffin pan. I used pablano peppers since I had extra from the chili, and I used a 4-cheese Mexican mix that I had on hand instead of cheddar. My husband loves sweet cornbread, but I prefer more traditional flavor. So as a compromise, I cut back on the sugar and honey by about a third. It was still quite sweet and we both loved it! It could double as a dessert! Thanks so much for the awesome recipe, detailed directions, and suggestions for ingredient modifications for personal tastes!
Jennifer Wilson says
Just tried this recipe. Mayde it exactly as directed. It was terrific. Turned out moist and flavorful. The cast iron skillet is the best way to bake it. I will be making this again. Thank you for a fabulous recipe! Great paired with the White Chicken Chili recipe.
McKenzie says
This was delicious! Make this recipe you won’t regret it! I made this with her crockpot chicken chili recipe; it was a match-mate in food heaven!
nicole says
Would this freeze well if I wanted to bake off a couple in advance?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Nicole 🙂 I’ve never tried, but I think it would work just fine.
Kim says
What size skillet is used for this recipe? I have several sizes.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Kim 🙂 I usually use my 12 inch skillet for this recipe
Julie B says
Can I use corn flour instead of regular flour??
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested the recipe as written, so I can’t say for certain if that would work.
Andrea says
Excellent recipe and I love cooking it in the skillet! My cast iron skillet is still new to me, I’ve always wanted one and I am so in love with it. Every home cook really needs to invest in one much earlier than I did! Anyway, this recipe is very simple and easy to follow and takes just 5 minutes to whip up. I skipped the bacon grease and “greased” my skillet with a teaspoon of butter instead of using the canola oil. I did NOT add any cheese or jalapeños. I used 1/2 cup of white sugar in addition to the honey (I was a bit short on honey) for a sweeter cornbread. My oven runs hot and at 23 minutes the cornbread was perfectly done, beautiful golden brown sides and bottom. It is not overly dry, but it does fall apart easier than other recipes I’ve tried. For example, I could not butter a piece with soft butter because it fell apart in my hand. It works best as a “spoon corn bread” that you just spoon onto your plate. This went alongside the White Chicken Chilli and was the perfect accompaniment! Delicious!
Kara says
Followed the recipe just as written, and it was so good! Loving all your recipes!
Des @ Life's Ambrosia says
I love corn bread and I love that this version has a little kick to it!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
We love cornbread at my house. I love spicing it up a little!
Jen says
I could make a meal out of this cornbread alone! Looks fantastic!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I could eat that entire skillet! Love cornbread!