Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread

Are you loving all of the posts I've been able to do since school is out? I usually put up one per week, but now I have a record four in one day! Whoo hoo! (Side note 1: It was silly of me to start this thing at the end of the school year when things are busy, but apparently that's how I roll--making things unnecessarily complicated. Side note 2: It's a good thing I have four posts from today. I have nothing else to show for the twelve hours I've been awake. Zero. Nothing.) As nice as all the posts are, just being able to cook this much since school is out is even better, so now we're moving on to the cheesy cornbread muffins (from scratch!), another Barefoot Contessa recipe.

I halved the recipe, and it fit perfectly into a 12-cup muffin tin. This accompanied the soup nicely, but it would go well with a lot of dishes. They weren't really that spicy, but the change of extra color and flavor to the cornbread was well worth it. Very good.

Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread (the halved recipe)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/8 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 scallions, chcopped
2 Tbsp seeded and minced jalapenos

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are gone. Don't overmix! Mix in the Cheddar, the scallions, and the jalapenos. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray the muffin tin with cooking spray (or an 8"x8" pan, if you don't want the individual muffins).

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, and sprinkle with any remaining cheese or scallions, if desired. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.