Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
Updated Dec. 30, 2025
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 12tablespoons/170 grams unsalted butter
- ¼ cup/84 grams honey
- 2¼ cups/590 milliliters buttermilk, at room temperature
- 3large eggs
- 1½ cups/180 grams cornmeal, preferably coarse
- 1cup/125 grams all-purpose flour
- 1½ tablespoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 to 4tablespoons chopped fresh or pickled jalapeño, seeded if desired for less heat
- 1½ cups/6 ounces shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack, or a combination
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
370 calories; 21 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 444 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Step 2
In a 10- to 12-inch cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and cook until the foam subsides and butter is golden and smells nutty, 4 to 7 minutes.
- Step 3
Transfer butter to a large heatproof bowl (do not wipe out the skillet). Into the bowl, whisk in honey, buttermilk and eggs until smooth. Then whisk in cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir in jalapeños.
- Step 4
Scrape about half the batter into the skillet and top with half of the cheese. Repeat with remaining batter and top it with the remaining cheese.
- Step 5
Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 45 minutes (a 10-inch skillet will take longer than a 12-inch). Cool in skillet for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
I'm not going to opine on flour and honey in cornbread (though as a southerner I do have opinions). But I will recommend you save a little time and effort and put the butter in the skillet and, instead of melting on the stovetop, put it in the oven and let it melt while the oven is preheating. In the meantime, mix dry things in one bowl, wet things in another. Mix together. When the butter is melted, pour it into your cornbread mix, then pour back in the skillet as directed in the recipe.
If you're using coarse-grind cornmeal, you'll want to whisk the cornmeal and buttermilk together and let them rest together awhile -- several hours is best -- before combining with the other ingredients, or the finished cornbread may retain an unpleasantly gritty mouthfeel.
The recommended coarse cornmeal will benefit from soaking in the buttermilk for at least 20 or 30 minutes before the batter is made.
his did not turn out well for me. It was VERY greasy even though I cut down the amount of cheese by half. I looked at other recipes after this and see there is too much fat (eggs, butter, buttermilk) to gluten ratio. Also cut down on the amount of salt, which seems excessive. Very disappointing.
A rare miss from Melissa Clark. First this is too much batter for a10 inch cast iron skillet. Bake time was way off. Mine took more than 40 minutes but burned on the edges (and of course, on the bottom of the oven). I made as directed which was too sweet for my southern taste buds. Think I’ll stick to Memaw’s recipe and add some jalapeño and cheese when I want to be fancy.
In my 62 years, I’ve had a lot of hams. This is the best I’ve ever had and the only way I’ll make it going forward