Jalapeño poppers stuffed with cornbread! Jalapeño halves are filled with cornbread for a perfect party appetizer. (Includes instructions for baking at high altitude.)
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Sometimes you see a recipe and instantly recognize genius simplicity. The genius perfection of peanut butter and jelly filling for a chocolate layer cake. Or whipping up cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract and piping it into hulled strawberries with a sprinkle of graham crackers for a lazy cheesecake dessert. Baking dollops of cornbread batter in hollowed out jalapeño shells is right up there now with my favorites.
It's time for Secret Recipe Club again and I had the good fortune of being assigned Flying on Jess Fuel, written and published by Jess, who's married to a Navy Pilot. They've moved around the country for his fighter jet training and work, and are now nicely settled in California where she and her husband raise quail in the backyard (sometimes up to 40 quail at a time!!!) and grow an incredibly prolific garden.
There are so many things about Jess's blog to love, such as the wide selection of recipes (including a whole vegetarian selection), and her fresh voice. Some recipes that caught my eye were Springtime Vegetable Skillet Baked Ziti , Spiced Dal with Cilantro Yogurt, Orange Sage and Beer Biscuits, and at the top of my list: Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies. I've totally got to try those.
But we've had a lot of little dinners and brunches in our new kitchen over the past couple of months, and what I really needed were appetizers. It's my weakest area of entertaining. Between planning and cooking the main meal, and getting the house ready for guests, appetizers are a last minute scramble as I dig around the pantry for crackers not (too) stale. I've got to do better. And these amazing little Jalapeño Cornbread Poppers are just the ticket (assuming I don't eat them all before guests arrive).
Cook's Notes:
I made these in Tahoe at ~6400 feet above sea level, so I used self-rising flour and nixed the baking powder. At sea level, that won't be enough to puff up the cornbread, so I recommend you follow Jess's direction of using all-purpose flour and adding 1 Tablespoon baking powder.
I cut the recipe in half, and used a little more egg than recommended, again to compensate for the dryness in high altitudes. At sea level, use ½ egg if you cut the recipe in half as I did.
I substituted coconut sugar for granulated sugar, and used coconut oil for the oil. The result was a subtle coconut flavor that was great with the jalapeños.
Jess adapted these from Oh Bite It, which used a box recipe for the cornbread.
I had a little cornbread batter left over as I was a little cautious on how much to spoon into the jalapeño cavities. Baking at high altitudes can present explosive surprises. So darn it, I had to make little cornbread muffins with the left overs. So, so good.
Wimpy Tips
Adding a little cooked, crumbled chorizo sausage to the batter wouldn't go amiss if you must add meat. Just make sure the chorizo has cooled off before you fold it in to prevent scrambling the egg in the batter.
More Mexican Appetizer Ideas
Texas Trash Dip (Warm Bean Dip)
Or if you want to make a different kind of cornbread, make this steamed sweet corn tomalito. Since it's steamed, it's super moist and soft. And it has both puréed sweet corn as well as whole corn kernels mixed into the batter. It's a guaranteed family favorite.
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Jalapeño Cornbread Poppers
Print Recipe Save Pin Recipe Add to Recipe Collection Add to Shopping ListIngredients
- 6 medium-large fresh jalapeño peppers
- ⅓ cup self-rising flour
- ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 ½ tablespoon coconut sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ¾ large egg
- 3 tablespoon 2% milk
- ⅔ cup shredded cheddar divided
- ½ cup sweet corn fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
- Slice each jalapeño down the center, and remove seeds and ribs. Try to keep some stem on each half.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, oil, and milk until just mixed. Stir in ½ cup of the cheese and all of the corn. Carefully spoon the batter into each jalapeño half until barely mounded. Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cornbread is firm and cooked through. At sea level, the baking time should be closer to 15 minutes.
April @ Angels Homestead
I can just imagine how tasty these are, adding a cheesy cornbread filling to poppers is genius. I cant have them, but I know the rest of my family would absolutely love them. PINed it. 🙂
Couscous & Consciousness
I love the idea of cooking cornbread in the cavity of the jalapenos. This would be great for an appetiser, or nice accompaniment to soup as well. Great choice.
Sue
Debra
That is truly genius. What a great accompaniment to a chili.
Emily @ Life on Food
These little bites look delicious! Great pick! Happy Reveal Day!
Lauren Everson
You're right, stroke of genius. I'm getting excited for football season already! Nice pick this month.
Melissa
Jalapeño poppers is one of my all time favorite appetizers. I could eat an entire plate myself! These sound fantastic! Great pick this month 🙂
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
I am so excited to see these! I absolutely love jalapeno poppers!! Pinning (and stumbling too)! If you have a free moment, I would love it if you came by and linked them up with us at Foodie Fridays!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks for the invite, Michelle! I'd love to!
Sarah | Curious Cuisiniere
I love the idea of adding cornbread to jalapeno poppers! Awesome pick!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
Genius!
JJ - 84thand3rd
These are such a great idea! Fab pick!
Rebekah @ Making Miracles
Those look amazing!! I'm scared of jalapenos (I'm a wimp) but I can drool over your photos! 🙂
Karen
What a FABULOUS recipe and as a hot and spicy lover, these would be perfect for before dinner drinks or a tasty snack! Great SRC pick, Karen
SallyBR
Very nice choice for your assignment this month! I had jalapeno poppers for the first time a couple of months ago, fell in love, but never made them at home
you are tempting me! ;0)))
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
Oh wow a jalapeno stuffed with cornbread sounds awesome.
Amy @ Fearless Homemaker
Oh, I love jalapeno poppers and these look SO good. I would LOVE a couple of these for lunch right now!
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel
Your peppers came out beautifully! I'm so glad you enjoyed these... they are one of my all-time most popular recipes on my blog!! High altitude baking is so intriguing to me down here at ~250 ft. 😉
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm not at all surprised that they're so popular! And high-altitude baking has been a learning process. We spend most of our time in the Bay Area at ~0 feet, and I've had many ups and downs!!
Stephanie
This cornbread sound so delicious and interesting! The idea of high altitude baking scares me, however.
Great SRC post
Karen @ Karen's Kitchen Stories
These look delicious! I love Jess's blog! Lucky you, being in Tahoe, one of my favorite places!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
We love it here! We've hiked the last few days and head home tomorrow.
Erika
GUH. Those look so good. I'm not a huuuge fan of spicy and I rarely make stuffed peppers, but if you stuff them with CORNBREAD...oh my. I'm all in! On a scale of 1-10, how spicy would you say these are? Maybe I'll try this...in a bell pepper! I could totally make a meal out of cornbread in a pepper 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
They pack some heat, Erika. (And big welcome home from your worldly travels!!!) Not as spicy a Serrano, but some are spicier than others, so I'd definitely go the sweet bell pepper route. Anaheims could be another option. I don't think of them as very spicy at all.
Erika
Okay perfect! And thanks Susan 🙂
apuginthekitchen
That really is a genius idea, I love it. Baking the cornbread in the pepper, brilliantly delicious. So nice to highlight Jess, her quails and garden. Beautiful blog!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm so glad you went over to check out Jess's blog, Suzanne. It really is a lovely blog to wander through - I love her garden and especially her quail. I have quail envy.
Tara
These look delicious! Such a great appetizer. My husband would love them.
Kirstin
oh wow! These sound yummy and I'm not even a fan of jalapenos.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much for a great comment. I cracked up! You could do this with other peppers, if you prefer. Anaheims, I think would work well, and a friend of mine above (Erika) might try the cornbread in a sweet bell pepper.
Asiya @ Chocolate & Chillies
These looks amazing!!! Love the cornbread topping..great SRC pick!
mjskit
One of the best version of jalapeno poppers I've seen in a long time! YUM!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
High praise from you MJ! I consider you an expert in this area. Thank you so much 🙂
laurasmess
These look AMAZING. I love jalapenos, I could eat them in every meal. I've never stuffed my own but I am definitely going to try this beautiful recipe. Yum, Susan!! So good!
cheri
What a great recipe Susan, this would be perfect for entertaining. Love your presentation.
bakingaddict
I baked with cornmeal too this month. This looks absolutely delicious and perfect for entertaining guests. Great SRC pick!
Oui, Chef
Can't wait to make these...they sound AMAZING!
Terra
Oh my word I need these in my life! They are definitely a genius idea! I plan to for sure make them soon! Yum, Hugs, Terra