Baked Jalapeño Poppers

Over the weekend I made tortilla soup (the recipe will be posted soon) which calls for a jalapeño pepper. Trader Joe's was only selling jalapeños in 8 ounce packages, which was far more than I needed. The package of jalapeños was less than $2, so I purchased it anyway thinking that finding a way to use the extra would be a fun challenge.

The first thing that came to my mind was jalapeño poppers. Probably because there aren't many recipes that call for that many jalapeños. Being a fan of jalapeño poppers I decided to give it a whirl (can you tell I watched Home Alone last night?). The combination of baking instead of frying and low fat cheeses make my version healthier than the original. While this is a pretty easy recipe, cutting the jalapeños does take about 30 minutes.  From start to finish these took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to prepare, including the bake time. These were a big hit, Charles said that he likes this version as much as the fried poppers.

You will need:
12 jalapeños peppers, sliced in half, stems, seeds, and membranes removed (read the previous post for a tip on chopping peppers)
1/2 cup 1/3 fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup grated low fat cheese (I used a cheddar, mozzarella, and monterey jack blend from Trader Joe's)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup plain bread crumbs


Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Then mix the cream cheese and the cheese together.

Step 2:
Scoop the cheese mixture into the jalapeños.

Step 3:
Get 3 bowls.  Put the flour in one bowl, the bread crumbs in another, and beat the eggs, salt, and milk together in the third.

Step 4:
Individually take each jalapeño and dredge it in the flour, egg, and then bread crumbs.  Then place filling side up on a baking sheet.

Step 5:
Bake for 30 minutes.  Then broil for 2 minutes to brown the top of the poppers.