This Cajun Shrimp Cornbread Bites with Roasted Red Pepper Aioli is southern and football inspired. Perfect for this up coming Super Bowl party. My inspiration stems from many different areas of the culinary world. Even Paula Deen is a huge inspiration.
This recipe was thought up after an episode of Home Cooking with Paula Deen that featured her stuffing cornbread muffins with BBQ chicken. Sounds delicious right? But I wanted a much bigger flavor than just opening up a jar of BBQ sauce and shredding chicken. Nothing against Paula Deen, we have a lot in common being butter lovers and all. However, I love Cajun flavors and Cajun shrimp in cheesy cornbread just seemed to be a match made in heaven for each other. It also just seemed fitting with the Super Bowl being in New Orleans and all.
These little treats are easy and simply scrumptious. They are so cute to serve for any get together or party. I highly suggest investing in a mini muffin pan because the options and recipes are endless. I made this recipe two days in a row because it was such a huge hit with my honey. This recipe would also make a great cast iron skillet bread too. Play around with the flavors, I always encourage you to make it your own and if you want more heat by all means add a couple more dashes of cayenne pepper in there.
Cajun Shrimp Cornbread Bites with Roasted Red Pepper Aioli
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cornmeal
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 whole Egg, beaten
- 1 cup Milk
- 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
- 1 pound Medium Raw Shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons Cajun Seasoning
- 2 whole Red Bell Pepper {You can use jarred roasted red peppers too}
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 1/2 Lemon, juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Step 2 In a medium bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cayenne, and paprika. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, milk, vegetable oil and cheese. Slowly whisk in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until fully incorporated and mixed.
- Step 3 Toss shrimp with the Cajun seasoning.
- Step 4 Grease your mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Fill the cups about three-quarters full with 1 batch of batter.
- Step 5 Add one shrimp to each of the cups on top of the cornbread batter.
- Step 6 Bake until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn out muffins from pan. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Step 7 While cornbread is cooking prepare the aioli. Roast red peppers on a preheated grill over high direct heat until the peppers look charred and skin is blistered. Remove from the grill and immediately place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Sweat peppers for 15 minutes. Rub off skins, remove stems and seeds. Place peppers in a blender or food processor with mayonnaise, lemon juice, kosher salt and Sriracha. Blend until smooth.
- Step 8 Serve Roasted Red Pepper Aioli on top or on the side of the Cajun Shrimp Cornbread Bites. Enjoy!
Savor and Enjoy!
