This is by far my favorite cornbread recipe after considerable testing. With bacon and a gorgeous crispy brown coating from the cast iron skillet, it’s spicy, juicy, and delicious! Additionally, I appreciate that buttermilk is not used because I detest having to buy it just for cornbread. It’s also gluten-free.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon
- 3 jalapeno peppers, minced
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup skim milk
- ¾ cup gluten-free flour
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese, divided
- 5 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Place bacon in a cast iron skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on paper towels, reserving bacon grease in the skillet. Spread the grease up the sides of the skillet using a paper towel.
- Cook jalapeno peppers in the bacon grease over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
- Combine cornmeal and skim milk together in a bowl; let sit until some of the liquid is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Mix eggs and butter into cornmeal mixture; stir into flour mixture just until batter is moist. Fold jalapeno peppers, 1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, and green onions into batter. Pour batter into the cast iron skillet; crumble bacon over top and sprinkle remaining cheese over bacon.
- Bake in the preheated oven until set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.
- I suggest wearing gloves when you mince the jalapeno peppers.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 389 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 40 g |
| Cholesterol | 113 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 808 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Not a fan. Cheese on top burned before cornbread was done.
This is food crack. I will never make or use another savory corn bread recipe. I made it for the first time when I was around 17, just made it again now that I am 24 and married for my husband who was craving cornbread, I remember it being really good but it’s better than I remember! He said if he had any criticism it is that it is a little too crumbly for him and he would like it denser, for me I might do a half cup more cheese because I really love cheese, but even as is this recipe is just fantastic and anyone would be very happy to eat it!
Made it just as the recipe stated, but forgot to add the scallions and used cheddar cheese as that is what I had available.. It was good. Will definitely make it again. If using cheddar cheese, will add more, but will try with the pepper jack.
Changes due to diabetic in family and to prevent being spicey for our taste: Used combination of Splenda & Monk Fruit in place of sugar. Used 1/2 Wheat Flour and 1/2 Almond Flour. Used Mexican Triple Cheese. Used 1 can (7 oz.) in place of Jalopenos and 1/3 chopped green pepper. Doubled recipe and baked in pre- heated Germany-made “Blue Skillet.” Wonderful crispy bottom. Very good but a bit too greasy with all the bacon grease and butter. May try subbing some olive oil for part of bacon grease & butter next time.
Beautiful recipe! Took my chances and doubled it using a cast iron lasagna pan. Preheated the pan in the oven and 20 minutes was perfect cooking time. I left the bacon and peppers in the pan, and poured the batter on top. Crowd hit for a chili party!
I really like this cornbread! I’ve made it following the recipe exactly and I’ve also subbed ingredients when I didn’t have ingredients on hand. I’ve subbed green onion with shallots and cheddar instead of pepperjack. It’s always delicious! The jalapenos are a must but I could see subbing the bacon with ham as another reviewer stated.
Great cornbread! Yes, i did make some changes, and yes I will make again. I’ll start with the changes I made, then the additional changes I’ll make in the future. Added a small amount of buttermilk for more robust flavor, Added some cream corn for adding moisture and bits of corn (not gluten free), and a pinch or two of baking soda to give the outside more crispness. It was great! What I plan to change in the future is to incorporate colby or sharp cheddar for flavor and color enrichment and switch exclusively to buttermilk. Really good versatile cornbread.
Will make it over and over. This is now my go to cornbread!
It turned out great. Wouldn’t change a thing. Cooking with the bacon grease made it even better! Everyone loved it.
I (to a fault) follow directions to the letter. Unfortunately, this meant that I forgot to add my jalapenos at the critical time (Step 5 SHOULD READ: Fold 1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, jalapenos and green onions into batter.) I ended up adding to the skillet after I had everything beautifully organized (bacon and pepperjack on top). This meant that I had to mix everything together. Other than this misstep on my part the cornbread turned out amazing. Would make again.
This is so bad for you, but so fricking amazing. Positively delicious.
I have nothing to compare this to never haven eaten cornbread before but I liked the taste. swapped flour for normal AP as that’s what I had to hand. also added extra oil as bacon didn’t leave enough. thought it would pour over the top of my 8 inch skillet but it filled it perfectly
Made this cornbread using AP flour and apple cider laced low fat milk. Husband loved it but I think it’s too spicy for me. Recipe calls for 3 jalapeno peppers so maybe the peppers I chose where too big. The scallions I bought were also huge so I only used 4. I’ll try this recipe again but cut down on the jalapenos. If you like hot and spicy this recipe is for you.
This was very flavorful cornbread, even though I substituted some chopped sweet red pepper for the 3 jalapeño peppers. The cast iron skillet size was not specified in the recipe and that’s probably important. My cast iron skillet is 12 in. size and it worked, but the cornbread was not quite as thick ( and a little drier ) than it should have been.
Everyone loved it, raved about it actually. I took one poster’s advice and made it in the waffle iron. Perfect! I was surprised how much the cheese flavor actually came through.
seems like a 5 star, but I would like to know what size of frying pan was used, like another reviewer – could someone say?
Always heat up your skillet in the oven with an oil coating before pouring the batter in. This is an old Southern trick. This cornbread is a nice change from plain cornbread. Buttermilk is best but if you don’t have it pour a little apple cider vinegar in your milk before adding it to the recipe. YUM.
Wicked good. I subbed a few things, and overdid it (what timer? Look! A butterfly!). It is delicious anyway. I have some horribly hot peppers, so used only one, and it’s plenty spicy. Thanks!
This is a phenomenal recipe. But I admit I forgot the scallions. Not sure if I will add them next time too, I so loved my version.
This is the best recipe that I have used so far. I shredded ham instead of bacon and omitted the jalapenos and added chilli powder, the result was delicious. I am so impressed with this recipe that I will be making it again without worrying about a heavy, horrible result. Thank you so much for such a wonderful bread that I was so proud of, and was loved by us all.
I used regular milk and AP flour, but mainly if you like crispy cornbread, make it in a waffle iron. Fast and don’t have to heat up the house.