Baked jalapeno poppers

By JoyT

Ingredients

• 12 to 14 fresh Jalapeño peppers
• 6 tbs(6 ounces) light cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups crumbled Greek feta cheese
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbs buttermilk
• 1 cup panko crumbs, or fine dry breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from thecoveredbiscuit.com

Preparation

Step 1

You may be thinking, “what’s up with the garlic powder?” I know some people turn up their noses, but for a few recipes garlic powder is the flavor I want. (I can probably chalk this up to my childhood in Jackson, Mississippi and my mom’s style of cooking but I still say there’s a place for garlic powder.) Feel free to try fresh minced garlic if you prefer it.

This makes a good amount of cheese filling, so if your jalapeños are petite, you can easily stuff fourteen or fifteen of them without increasing the other ingredients.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set it aside. Cut each jalapeño pepper in half lengthwise, cut off the stem, and scrape out the seeds. Set aside the peppers and then rinse your knife and fingers.

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and the buttermilk and set the bowl aside. Pour the panko crumbs into a wide, shallow dish or plate. In a third shallow dish, combine the flour, salt, and pepper.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture into the middle of each jalapeño half. Dredge the jalapeno half in the seasoned flour, dip it into the egg mixture, then dredge in the panko crumbs, pressing lightly so the crumbs coat the pepper all the way around. If the coating isn’t sticking the first time, just repeat all three steps - flour, egg, crumbs -until you have a nice thick coating in place. Gently set the coated peppers, cut side up, on the prepared baking sheet. When you’ve dipped and coated every pepper, bake until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden, about 40 minutes. (Start checking at about 30 minutes to make sure these don’t overcook.)