Queso Cornbread Lava Cakes

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Total: 1 hr 50 min (includes freezing time)
  • Active: 20 min
Because everyone loves a molten chocolate cake, we decided the world needs a savory one too. This tender cornbread muffin is filled with spicy, gooey cheese that flows like lava when you cut into it.
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Ingredients

6 ounces processed cheese, such as Velveeta, at room temperature

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for serving

2 canned chipotles in adobo 

Nonstick cooking spray, for the ramekins

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (see Cook's Note)

1/2 cup white cornmeal

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg

Directions

  1. Combine the cheese, cream cheese, butter and chipotles in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Scoop the cheese mixture into 4 balls on a baking sheet using a medium ice cream scoop. Freeze until hard, about 1 hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 4 tall 8-ounce ramekins (ours were 2 inches tall on the outside and 3 1/2 inches wide) with nonstick cooking spray and dust lightly with flour. 
  3. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the milk, oil and egg in a small bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until smooth. 
  4. Put 2 tablespoons of the batter into each prepared ramekin to coat the bottom. Put one cheese scoop in the middle of the batter in each ramekin, making sure there is a 1/4-inch border all the way around the cheese mixture (you do not want it to touch the sides). Divide the remaining batter among the ramekins and place on a baking sheet. Bake until puffed and slightly golden around the edges, about 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Invert onto a plate, top with a pat of butter and serve. 

Cook’s Note

When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)

Let's Get Cooking!

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claibu

To all the pseudo-foodies that say Velveeta isn’t real cheese: it IS, and it’s SPECTACULAR! Any cheese expert will assure you of its authenticity. But if your snobbery persists, I suggest you add baking soda before melting whatever conspicuously overpriced cheese it is that meets your high standards, otherwise it will turn into an oily mess.

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