Loaded Cornbread

With all the soup flying out of the kitchen this season (sorry if you're sick of my soups already - but we're just getting started!), there's no shortage of wondering what I'm going to serve along with it. When I was growing up, chili and cornbread was a frequent dinner at our house, and I loved soaking up all that juicy hearty broth with a soft slice of crumbly cornbread. It was like peanut butter and jelly, to me; the perfect combo. 

Instead of just baking up a quick box of cornbread in a, well, jiffy (haah), tossing in a handful of goodness was definitely a no-brainer when it came to this loaded cornbread.

Really, you could toss just about anything into this cornbread and it would be awesome - I think we'll try bacon next time! This time, we tossed in some sweet corn, a handful of onions for a teeny bit of that soft bite, and then we decided pepper jack would be the perfect little taste of heat for this cornbread. I can't believe we've never tried this until now. It was SO. EASY. and we couldn't stop nibbling on the cornbread pieces even after our chili bowls were practically licked clean!

Loaded Cornbread

makes 4 servings

ingredients:

1 package corn muffin mix (8.5oz) + ingredients to make it (eggs, milk, etc)

1/3 lb pepper jack cheese, grated

1/2 C frozen corn kernels

2 scallions, thinly sliced

method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 glass dish with cooking spray. 

2. Prepare corn muffins in a bowl according to directions on the package. Stir in cheese, corn, and scallions (reserving a tablespoon of corn, scallions, and cheese for sprinkling. 

3. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 15-18 minutes (until center is cooked through). 

recipe source: classic rachael ray, 30-minute meals, cracked cornbread cheese squares