Smoked Cornbread? Yep, you can bake on the grill. Chock full of bacon, corn, chipotle peppers and cheddar, Smoked Cornbread has a super crunchy crust, lightly smoky flavor and is really very easy to make.
Because we use our grill almost every night in the summer. I challenged myself to bake right on the grill. I make pizza on the grill all the time. Let’s see what else we can bake on the grill.
I needed a recipe that was sturdy enough to take the heat of the grill and would be enhanced by the smoke flavor. So I turned to one of my favorites, cornbread.
Cornbread can be light and sweet, or savory and hearty. Because I wanted to emphasize the smoky flavor, I went the savory and hearty route with this recipe. This bread would be perfect served along-side smoked ribs, pulled pork or grilled fish.
How to make Smoked Cornbread on the grill
- I employed my trusty cast-iron skillet because I knew it could take the heat of the grill.
- If you’re using a smoker box or wood chip packet then you should have no problem having smoke during the entire baking process.
- Keep the pan on the hot side of the grill and monitor the temperature.
Watch the recipe video to see how to bake Smoked Cornbread on the grill.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider leaving a 5-star review.
Smoked Cornbread with Bacon and Chipotle Peppers
You can bake on the grill. Chock full of bacon, corn, chipotle peppers and cheddar, Smoked Corn Bread has a super crunchy crust, lightly smoky flavor and is really very easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (5 oz, 140g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (5 oz, 140g) stone ground yellow corn meal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz, 14g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 chipotle pepper, minced (see note 1)
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 4 slices of bacon, cooked crisp, chopped into 1/2" bits
- 4 oz plus 1 oz (140g total) cheddar cheese, shredded (approximately 1 1/4 cups packed)
- 1 cup (8 oz, 235 ml) buttermilk, room temperature (see note)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons reserved bacon fat
Instructions
Prep the Grill
- Preheat the grill and set up a smoking packet or box (see note 2).
Batter
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, salt, baking soda, sugar and cumin. Add the minced chipotle, corn, scallions and bacon and mix. Toss in 4 oz of the shredded cheese.
- Whisk together the buttermilk and eggs. Pour the reserved bacon fat into a 9" cast iron skillet. Swirl the fat to coat the pan. Pour the fat from the pan into the buttermilk mixture, whisk to combine. Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Pour the batter into the skillet and spread with a small spatula. Top the batter with the remaining 1 oz of shredded cheese. Bake the bread on the warm side of the grill until it is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
- Monitor the heat of the grill so it doesn't go much above 450°-500°F. If the grill is getting too hot move the pan to the cool side for a few minutes.
- It's best still warm but will keep several days at room temperature.
Notes
1. You can either use a chipotle in adobo or a dried chipotle pepper. Soften the dried pepper in boiling water before mincing.
2. Make a smoking packet by wrapping soaked wood chips in foil. Cut slits in the packet and heat up on the grill until the chips are smoking.
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Wendy Klik
Tuesday 27th of June 2017
Very creative use of the product. Good job.
Eileen Gray
Tuesday 27th of June 2017
Thanks, Wendy!