As a Southern girl, I grew up having a piece of cornbread with dinner on a regular basis. My mother and my father made great cornbread. My mom made the best sweet cornbread that she baked in the oven and my dad made the best hot water cornbread that he fried in a skillet on the stove. Needless to say, we ate cornbread all the the time and it was NEVER Jiffy! No disrespect to Jiffy but you can make cornbread yourself with just a few more ingredients. You can either bake cornbread in a cast iron skillet, a Pyrex dish or turn them into muffins which is how my 5 year old enjoys eating it.
If you like a little spice and a little sweet, try these Jalapeno Cheese Corn Muffins. I added a tablespoon of honey and finely diced jalapenos to the batter which gives it the perfect balance of sweet heat. You can certainly make these muffins and leave out the jalapenos. I normally will make half plain for my 5 year old and the other half with the peppers. These muffins go perfectly with my Three Bean Chili Recipe or even with the Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. Give them a try and let me know what you think!
Ingredients to Needed to Make the Corn Muffins
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup of yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of buttermilk
1/2 cup of butter, melted
1/2 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
1tablespoon of honey
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
2 jalapenos, sliced thin for muffin tops
1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
Directions to Make the Corn Muffins
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non stick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda and salt.
4. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, sugar, eggs and honey. Pour egg and milk mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until well combined.
5. Add finely diced jalapenos and shredded cheese and stir to combine.
6. Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tray. Place into oven and bake for 10 mins. At the 10 min mark, place the thinly sliced jalapenos on top of the muffins and finish baking for another 5-7 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffin.
7. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Drizzle with a bit of honey. Serve with a bowl of chili or soup!