Homemade corn bread with green chilies and served with honey butter
Intimidated by yeast bread? I’m actually not a great baker and find myself on the verge of tears every time I attempt a yeast recipe. My bread either doesn’t rise or it is way too chewy and dense. Corn bread is a very quick and easy bread that is virtually foolproof for the novice baker. It’s sweet, delicious and requires very few ingredients!
There are a lot of corn breads out there on the internet, but I have always struggled to find a good recipe using green chilies. Usually the recipe has you add soggy canned green chilies and cheddar cheese. Why cheese?? Maybe it’s a regional thing, but I am a purist and love sweet and moist corn breads. This skillet cornbread has added diced sautéed fresh green chilies that give it an extra pizazz! In the south, corn breads are typically more savory, using little to no sugar. In the north, corn breads are typically sweeter and cake like. This recipe is the best of both worlds- sweet and savory!
What is in the Green Chili Skillet Corn Bread
Green Chilies- The tiny little green chilies give a spicy balance to the sweet corn bread. I find poblanos most accessible, but you can use Anaheim or jalapeno peppers. Poblanos and Anaheim are much milder than jalapenos, so beware. Make sure you de-stem and deseed the chilies, because this is where the majority of the spice comes from.
Corn Meal- The recipe combines corn meal and flour for the perfect texture. Southern cornbread recipes use a courser cornmeal, but I prefer the more cake like texture.
Sugar- To me, cornbread isn’t cornbread without some sweetness. Feel free to reduce to 1/4 cup if you prefer a less sweet bread or trying to cut back on sugar.
Butter- Used in both the bread and honey butter served on the side.
Sour Cream- The secret ingredient to make this bread EXTRA moist.
Eggs, baking soda, salt
Honey– Used in the honey butter. Nomnom!
How to make green chili skillet corn bread
Cornbread is super easy, quick, and simple to make. It requires very few ingredients and is almost foolproof. If you don’t have a cast iron pan, in can easily be put in an 8″ square baking pan. You can also make them into muffins, but cut the cook time in half.
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat a 10″ cast iron pan with vegetable oil. De-stem and Deseed the green chilies using a paring knife. Dice the chilies into 1/4 inch pieces.
2. Saute the diced green chilies for 4-5 minutes, or until the chilies are soft. Allow the pan to cool for at least 5 minutes before putting the corn bread batter in. This allows the cornbread to cook evenly and doesn’t get too brown on the bottom.
3. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients- cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the sour cream, whisked eggs, and melted butter and stir until combined. It’s important to not over-mix batters because it can over develop the gluten and make the final product tough and chewy.
4. Pour the batter into the cast iron skillet with the cooked diced chilies. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick or sharp knife comes out clean when stabbed through the center.
5. To make the honey butter, stir together the honey, softened butter and salt. Serve the corn bread hot out of the oven or room temperature.
What if I don’t have a cast iron skillet
I am married to my cast iron skillet, but i understand not everyone owns one. You can use an 8×8 inch square baking pan or something similar. You can also make corn bread muffins. Bake batter in a 12 cup muffin tin lined with muffin papers for about 15 minutes.
Green Chili Corn Bread
Ingredients
Corn Bread
- 1/3 cup green chilies, de-stemed and deseeded and diced (anaheim or poblano)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream
- 5 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 eggs, whisked
Honey Butter
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a 10" cast iron skillet, saute the diced green chilies in oil for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before pouring batter into pan.
- In a large bowl mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
- Add the sour cream, melted butter, and whisked eggs into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Do not overmix. Some small lumps are ok.
- Pour batter into cooled cast iron pan with the chilies. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Using a toothpick or sharp knife test the center for doneness.
- To make the honey butter mix together the butter, honey and salt. Serve at room temperature.
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