Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
Updated December 29, 2025
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
12 tablespoons/170 grams unsalted butter
¼ cup/84 grams honey
2¼ cups/590 milliliters buttermilk, at room temperature
3 large eggs
1½ cups/180 grams cornmeal, preferably coarse
1 cup/125 grams all-purpose flour
1½ tablespoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 to 4 tablespoons 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 (8 to 12 servings)
35 grams carbs; 110 milligrams cholesterol; 370 calories; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 21 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 444 milligrams sodium; 11 grams protein; 11 grams sugar
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.
Followed the recipe to a T, made sure to use weights instead of traditional measurements and it turned out super rubbery and white? Any insight into what i did wrong would be great
I subbed the egg with Just Egg because I had it but you could totally use powdered subs or whatever else like flax I’ve made cornbread with it before. For buttermilk I used oatmilk and a couple tablespoons of white vinegar (some people use acv but I don’t like the extra fruity taste in there) and I set it aside for 10-15 minutes. And for butter I just used plant based butter (I had EarthBalance on hand.) I also added a poblano in addition to one jalapeño since I needed to use that up. Lastly, (I know I made a lot of modifications lol) I added one can of creamed style corn and one can of corn kernels, since I like to have really moist cornbread with lots of corn in it. I couldn’t fit it in one 10” skillet anymore because of the extra I added. I could fill that skillet halfway twice so I made two cornbreads. They came out with a beautiful crispy, buttery crust and gooey, cheesy, moist interior. This cornbread recipe was a great base and allowed for modifications without actually needing to change the cooking time or the base ingredient anounts (milk, flours, etc.). This will definitely be my go to from now on.
A warning for metric recipe users! I found that a cup and a half of (fine) cornmeal weighed 270g not the 180g specified, a significant difference. This might be one of the few times where more consistent results are achieved with cup measurements...