Jalapeno Jack Cornbread

Today we decided that since the weather forecast predicted less than hellish temperatures in Florida, it was finally time to bust out the crock pot and dust off the chili recipes. We set it all up this morning and went on our way to work. I decided on the way home from work that nothing tastes better with chili than cornbread, so I pulled out my corn meal and got to work.

We LOVE spicy foods in our house, so jalapeno was a necessary ingredient. The inspiration came from my the supervising teacher during my teaching internship in Georgia in 2008. She was such an amazing cook-- she always made sure I was fed, and fed well.

Having grown up in the South, I have had my fair share of cornbread, but I will go out on a limb here to make the claim that this is BY FAR the best damn cornbread I have ever had!

Ingredients:

•   1 medium size jalapeno (remove seeds and chop finely)
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup corn meal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup shaken buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese (grated) 

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 and seed and dice up jalapeno.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, jalapeno, and grated cheese. 
3. In a small mixing bowl whisk together milk, buttermilk, oil, and egg.
4. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir together (just until dry ingredients are moist).
5. Spray muffin tins and fill 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm and ENJOY!