Jalapeño peanut butter quesadilla
On a trip to Florida a few years ago, while my friends and I were shopping at the local grocery store, a man offered us a recipe idea in the produce section. One friend was placing jalapeño peppers into a bag, and he asked her, “Have you ever stuffed those with peanut butter?” My friend, an excellent cook, admitted that she had not.
As this was happening, I was a few feet away picking up bananas. Another friend was grabbing fresh limes, and as he came to place them into the basket, he entered the conversation. “Tell us more!” He said, then gestured at me to join them. I was on my way.
The man, who said he was a local to the area, said he’d been stuffing plain jalapeños with peanut butter and then roasting them. The combination of the nutty spread and piquant peppers was both savory and complementary.
As one friend asked him more questions, saying that she was going to make these for the group that evening, I rattled my brain trying to recall if I’d encountered peanut-butter stuffed jalapeños before. Indeed, while I’d never prepared them myself, there had been a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan that had them on the menu.
The restaurant had been in operation since the 1950s, and while I’d visited it a couple of times, the peanut butter poppers had escaped my attention. As we continued shopping, I was excited for us to at last try this much-storied combination.
After some beach time, in the late afternoon my friend brought a platter of the jalapeños stuffed with peanut butter, as suggested. She had followed his instructions well, but not one person in the group was charmed. We all took a bite and then began discussing how this could be improved.
A few mentioned cream cheese blended with the peanut butter, since that cool, stiff cheese is a classic addition to stuffed jalapeños. Another suggested adding some shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, for more texture and pull. And one thought that using pickled jalapeños would give the combination more spark.
Some good ideas were shared, but we never got around to making the peanut butter jalapeño poppers with our improvements. Though when I was eyeing the peanut butter, pickled jalapeños, and cream cheese in my refrigerator, I considered the recipe again.
The act of creating individual bites wasn’t appealing. But what if I blended the ingredients into a quesadilla filling?
After softening at room temperature my block of cream cheese, I blended it with chopped pickled jalapeños, crunchy peanut butter, and shredded Colby-Jack cheese. After tasting, I added pinches of ground cumin and garlic powder for depth. The result was similar to a nutty pimento cheese or cheese ball filling.
To make the quesadillas, I spread the filling onto flour tortillas, and cooked them crisp and melty. With a sprinkle of salt and some jalapeños on the side, a complex peanut butter jalapeño quesadilla was born. And if you’re feeling adventurous, try serving it with jam for an especially sweet and savory bite.
Jalapeño peanut butter quesadilla
Ingredients
- 2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter, preferably crunchy
- 2 ounces Colby-Jack cheese, shredded
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 six-inch flour tortillas
- Sliced jalapeños, sour cream, salsa, or jam, for serving
Instructions
- To make the filling, in a mixing bowl add the cream cheese, peanut butter, Colby-Jack cheese, cumin, and garlic powder.
- Stir until well blended. Taste and add salt if needed and make any other seasoning adjustments.
- To make the quesadillas, in a skillet heated to medium, melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter, reserving the rest for later in the cook.
- Add a tortilla and cook it on one side until it puffs (about 30 seconds). Flip the tortilla over and spread a heaping tablespoon of the filling on one half of the tortilla.
- Fold the tortilla over so it’s a half-moon shape, and cook each side, about 30 seconds, until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is lightly browned and crisp.
- Remove the cooked quesadilla from the skillet, then repeat the cooking process for the remaining tortillas and filling, adding more butter as needed.
- Cut into slices and serve warm with sliced jalapeños, sour cream, salsa, or jam for toppings.
