Cheese & Chilli Cornbread
This easy quick bread is light, fluffy and so tasty as a side to chillies, soups, salad, BBQ etc. Or simply enjoy it warm and buttered as a delicious snack. Great sliced and toasted too.
Ingredients
- 175 g cornmeal or polenta (see Recipe Notes below)
- 175 g self-raising flour (or plain flour + 2 level tsp baking powder)
- 1 - 2 tsp mild or hot chilli flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 250 ml plain yogurt (if using thick Greek-style yogurt you may need a little more)
- 125 ml milk
- 2 large eggs
- 110 g butter, melted (plus extra for greasing)
- 160 g tinned sweetcorn (drained weight)
- 175 g mature cheddar cheese (divided 125g / 50g)
- 30 g pickled chillies, chopped (can be replaced with fresh chillies or left out)
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 200°C / 180° Fan / Gas 6 / 400 F with a shelf in the middle position.
Butter and/or line a deepish non-stick baking tin that's 20 cm x 20 cm.
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In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to mix together the cornmeal or polenta, flour, chilli flakes, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and black pepper.
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In a jug whisk together the yogurt and milk then crack in the eggs and whisk until combined.
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Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture then pour in the contents of the jug followed by the melted butter. Stir well to combine into a thick batter.
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Gently fold in the drained sweetcorn, 125 grams of the grated cheese, plus the chopped pickled or fresh chillies if using.
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Tip the mixture into the prepared baking tin, smooth down the top, and sprinkle with the remaining 50 grams of grated cheese.
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Transfer to the preheated oven and bake until set, risen, golden, and a skewer or cocktail stick comes out clean (approximately 20 - 25 minutes).
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Leave to cool for around 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serving with extra butter if liked.
Reheats very well in a microwave (if you want to crisp the top, follow with approx. 2 minutes at high heat in an air fryer). Can also be sliced and toasted.
Best eaten with 2 days or frozen.
Recipe Notes
Cornmeal. This is the yellow flour milled from corn or maize. It's sold as fine, medium or coarse. The coarser type is also sold as polenta for making the Italian dish of that name and it's polenta you see in this post.
Note that cornflour (corn starch in the US) is a completely different product (a white, very fine tasteless powder) and is NOT suitable for making cornbread.