This cornbread recipe is a butter-crusted cornbread with a moist interior thanks to sour cream, corn, jalapenos, and cheese. My husband declares this is the best cornbread I have ever made.
¼cup(43g)pickled sweet jalapenos - chopped (can substitute with pickled jalapeños)
2.5ounces(71g)shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350˚F (180˚C).
Place ¼ cup butter in the skillet you plan to bake in and put it in your oven while it's preheating. As soon as the butter is melted, pour all but approximately 1 tablespoon butter (which will stay in the skillet) into a small dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ cup brown sugar.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons of reserved melted butter. Add 2 large eggs, ¾ cup milk, and ⅓ cup sour cream to the oil mixture and whisk well. Stir in ½ cup fresh corn kernels and ¼ cup pickled sweet jalapenos.
Fold wet ingredients into the cornmeal mixture until all dry ingredients are incorporated, and the corn and jalapeños are evenly distributed. Gently fold in 2.5 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese.
Spread cornbread batter in buttered iron skillet. It will be somewhat stiff. Pour remaining butter you set aside from step #1 evenly over the top of the batter. Use a brush or the back side of a spoon to ensure the butter is evenly distributed over the top surface of the cornbread batter.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick poked in the middle comes out clean.
Notes
Attention Greek yogurt makers:Substitute yogurt-whey for the milk and Greek yogurt for the sour cream. It is my favorite way to use yogurt-whey.Substitute for corn:It's OK to substitute frozen corn for the fresh although I think the fresh is worth the trouble. If you do use frozen, try to find the small and tender white corn as opposed to the larger yellow kernel corn. Only use canned corn if you are on a desert island somewhere and no other corn is available.Preparing fresh corn:My favorite way to fix one ear of corn is to put it in the microwave on High for 3-4 minutes--un-shucked. When finished, shuck the corn and cut the kernels off.