Jalapeno Cornbread

This week's Meatless Mondays from A to Z begins with the letter J and was made with the ingredient Jalapenos!

I have never used jalapenos to cook with before so was excited to give this ingredient a try.  The most typical recipe to make with jalapenos is probably a salsa, hummus, or maybe even some kind of chili.  For my recipe, I had just remembered looking through the Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook and seeing a recipe for jalapeno cornbread.  Ooh, cornbread sounded delicious and since I still do not have a kitchen I knew this cornbread would pair well with an easy crockpot chili, my Hominy Chili that I made two weeks ago!

 This recipe is adapted from Everyday Happy Herbivore.  Here is how I made my Jalapeno Cornbread:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup gf all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 cup frozen yellow corn (can also use fresh or canned)
• 1 jalapeno, minced (use 1 tbsp for much less spicy taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line an 8x8" baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and sea salt and whisk together.
3. Add almond milk, applesauce, and agave and gently stir to incorporate all ingredients together.
4. With a spatula, gently fold in the corn and jalapeno until everything is just combined.
5. Pour into your prepared pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I wanted a denser cornbread so I altered the original recipe and added 1/2 cup extra cornmeal and reduced the flour by 1/2 cup.  Play around with the ingredients to determine how you best like your cornbread: 

• More cornmeal = more dense cornbread
• More flour = more cakelike cornbread

You could also try a different flour to give this cornbread a slightly different taste.  Just keep the total amount of grains at 2 cups and you're cornbread should turn out great!

If you want a sweeter cornbread, try adding about 2 tablespoons of raw sugar.  I didn't think I would like a sweeter cornbread so I did not add it originally, but I am definitely going to add it next time.  I think the extra sweetness will really help bring out the flavor.

Enjoy this cornbread as a snack, or serve it alongside some warm chili, stew, or soup during these cooler fall months!



This recipe yields 9 squares.
Based on 1 square:
Approximately 140 calories and 2g protein.