Layered Mexican Cornbread

I am a lover of all bread.  I don't serve bread at every meal, but I definitely serve bread for special meals and when we have guests for dinner.  It adds a finishing touch to the meal much the same as dessert.  As I was looking for a bread to serve with a meal the other day, I finally decided on cornbread.  Since I cannot, for the life of me, make cornbread like my grandmother's (even though she gave me the recipe and her cast iron skillet), I decided to branch out and look for a different recipe.  I am a follower of Paula Deen on Facebook, and the very afternoon that I was thinking about cornbread, that was the subject of her post.  I found a recipe called Layered Mexican Cornbread that looked very good and decided to give it a try.  Here is the recipe.

Layered Mexican Cornbread (Paula Deen)

1 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
2/3 c. milk
2 T. baking powder
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. all purpose corn meal
1 c. chopped jalapeno peppers
1/2 t. salt
1 (14 oz) can creamed corn
butter or non-stick cooking spray, for greasing pan

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and 8x8 or 9x9 square pan with softened butter or nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, mix together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, milk, eggs, salt, and oil.  Stir in onion and creamed corn.  Pour half of batter into prepared pan.  Top with cheese and peppers, spreading onto batter.  Pour remaining batter on top of cheese and peppers.  Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool slightly before cutting into squares. 

Notes:  I have a round cast iron skillet, so I used it rather that a square pan.  It is about 9 or 10 inches in diameter, and it worked fine.  I only used about 1/4 cup or maybe even less onion since my family is not crazy about them.  I also only used one medium sized jalapeno.  You can adjust onion and jalapeno to individual taste.  As I have said before, I like to grate my own cheese, so I got a block of medium cheddar and grated it myself.  Of course, if you want to save time, you can get the preshredded.  As you will see in the pictures below, I think that I may have poured a little more than half of the batter in for the bottom layer.  I was afraid that I had messed up, but it turned out fine.  Sometimes it is hard to tell how much you are pouring.  The cornbread was pretty thick, but very moist.  Here are some pictures.

This was the only jalapeno that I used.  Of course, you need to remove the ribs and seeds and chop as finely as you like.  REMEMBER TO WEAR GLOVES!!

First layer of batter with jalapenos and cheese on top

Second layer of batter on top - It didn't quite cover, but it turned out fine!

Out of the oven

I wish that I had a picture of a cut piece.  It is very pretty on the inside with the green peppers and the cheese.  It was very tasty!  I plan to make this in the fall to go with chili or soup.