Baked Jalapeno Poppers

I have a new addiction to my cooking repertoire: jalapeno poppers. They are not too HOT and are so delicious. I see why they call them poppers; I could pop a dozen or so in my mouth right now. All these years of cooking I've avoided using jalapeno peppers because I thought they were too hot to use. Boy was I wrong. My local farmers market store had them on sale so I got some. I stuffed them with a cream cheese, sharp grated cheddar, some spices, and baked them. Oh so delicious!

I wore disposable gloves (just in case) to slice the peppers in half lengthwise and to scoop out the seeds and white flesh. I mixed 8 ounces of soften cream cheese with onion powder, garlic powder, dried cilantro and salt and pepper. I added the cream cheese mixture to the peppers and then sprinkled them with shredded cheddar cheese. Place poppers on a parchment lined baking sheet or a glass baking dish and bake them in a 375 F oven for 20 to 30 minutes. These take minutes to prepare and cook. Watch closely so they don't burn.

Most recipes called for bacon to wrap the poppers but I didn't have bacon so I did without. You could top them with panko or bread crumbs or add any number of colorful ingredients to the cheese mixture. Perhaps roasted peppers, pimentos, corn, or black beans, who knows, let your imagination go wild. I am going to make jalapeno peppers a staple product in my refrigerator from now on. I may have to grow jalapenos this coming summer along with my usual shishito peppers. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.