A slice of cornbread drizzled with honey, surrounded by whole and sliced jalapenos

Everyone likes cornbread a little differently. This homemade version is meant to be 'just right.'

Just sweet enough, but not overly sweet
Dense but fluffy
Not greasy and the texture isn't eggy

The cheddar and jalapenos add a little extra interest but don't overpower the flavor.

Boxed cornbread from Jiffy to Bob's Red Mill bake up without fail. But I've wanted to find a good recipe to make from scratch. Little did I know how many homemade versions existed and how different they all turned out.

I had a hard time finding a recipe that got the basics right. They either seem to have no salt or no sugar - I want something in the middle. I also baked versions that turned out to be grease sponges - don't be me wrong, you need some fat in cornbread, but many recipes went overboard. Lastly, I've had a few recipes result in an eggy texture, like a wannabe quiche.

This recipe is the best cornbread if you're looking for a balanced version.

Cornbread with Jalapenos & Cheddar

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Servings: giant 3" square pieces

Calories: 361kcal

Ingredients

LARGE BOWL

1 ½ cups corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

MEDIUM BOWL

1 ¼ cup buttermilk
⅓ cup butter melted
⅓ cup sugar
2 large eggs

ADD AT END

2 jalapenos
1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese

GARNISH

1 Tbsp honey

Instructions

PREPARE:
Small dice the jalapenos, and taste them for spiciness (use less or more as needed). Shred the cheese. Melt the butter.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9" square baking pan and sprinkle with corn meal.
COMBINE DRY INGREDIENTS IN LARGE BOWL
Choose the bowl you'll use to mix the batter in. Whisk the corn meal, flour, baking powder and salt together in that bowl.
COMBINE WET INGREDIENTS IN MEDIUM BOWL
Mix the sugar in with the melted butter. Add in the buttermilk and eggs and whisk to fully combine.
MIX IT ALL TOGETHER
Pour the wet ingredient bowl over the dry ingredients. Add in the diced jalapenos and cheese. Stir until just combined.
Pour into the prepared 9" pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
CUT AND SERVE (with honey!)
Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving (or they might fall apart when cut).
Top with honey.

Nutrition

Cornbread recipe tips & tricks

Cheese: The amount of cheese is very flexible, so you can easily add more or less without affecting how it bakes.
Jalapenos: As mentioned in the hot pepper guide, remove the seeds to keep the heat down. Or to turn it up a notch, add them in. You can also add more jalapenos without affecting how it bakes.
Buttermilk: I buy powdered buttermilk and mix it with water according to the directions. This is a good option for those of you who don't use buttermilk often and would end up wasting half a carton of it.
Honey: When you drizzle it on top, it will soak in a bit, like syrup does on pancakes. I like to keep extra around to drizzle on as I eat it, but that's just because I loooove honey!
Cooking until golden: If the top gets golden and it isn't done, you can cover it with tinfoil. That will keep the top from burning - but once you put it on it will stop browning, so put it on after it turns the color you want.

Recipe inspiration

Like I said earlier, I've had a hard time finding a cornbread recipe I like. It's probably because everyone has a different idea of what makes a perfect cornbread.

I made a handful of tweaks to the recipe over at My Evil Twin's Kitchen. I replaced the honey with an equal amount of sugar. Most sweet cornbread recipes call for over a cup of sugar, but those are sweeter than I am looking for. The same volume of sugar is sweeter than honey, making my substitution sweeter than the original recipe, but not overly sweet. I also don't like cooking with honey because I usually only have craft, local honey, making it very expensive to use as a general sweetener. Which gave me the idea to drizzle honey on top, instead!

I also left out the fresh corn kernels because I wasn't looking for that texture in my version. However, that does have it's place, so jump on over to her recipe if that sounds tasty!

Lastly, if you like step-by-step picture tutorials, My Evil Twin's Kitchen has a pretty nice one. Since my version of her recipe is very similar, her guide will be pretty helpful.

What do you use for cornbread?

Do you have a favorite boxed mix? Do you usually make it from scratch? Share your favorites and your tricks in the comments below.