Confetti Pepper Cornbread

Ingredients

• 2 red or green chili peppers, like jalapeño or serrano
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1∕3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1∕3 cup sugar
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Non-stick cooking spray

Materials

• 9-inch square baking dish
• Cutting board
• Fork
• Large bowl
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Medium bowl
• Mixing spoon
• Rubber spatula
• Sharp knife

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Rinse, remove stems, and halve chiles. Scrape out seeds with the tip of a knife. Dice chiles.
3. In a medium bowl, beat egg slightly with a fork.
4. Add buttermilk, yogurt, and chiles to the egg. Mix until smooth.
5. In a large bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients. Blend with a rubber spatula or mixing spoon until just moist. Small lumps are OK. Do not overmix or cornbread will be too dense.
7. Coat the baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour in batter.
8. Bake on middle rack of oven until edges are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. This will be about 25–30 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before serving.

Chef’s Notes

• For spicier bread, do not remove chili pepper seeds. For cheesy cornbread, leave out chili peppers. Add ½ cup low-fat cheese to batter in step 6.
• Add 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels, if you like.
• In place of buttermilk, add 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk. Let sit for 5 minutes before adding to other ingredients.
• Crumble leftover cornbread and serve on top of chili or soup, such as Turkey Chili with Vegetables or Barley and Lentil Soup. Or, cut into cubes and toast. Use as homemade croutons for salad.
• Cut into squares, place in zip-top plastic bags, and freeze up to 1 month. Be sure to freeze while the bread is still fresh.
• Try making cornbread muffins instead. Add batter to a 12-cup muffin pan coated with non-stick spray. Bake as in step 8, about 20 minutes.