– 8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature – 1 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar block cheese preferred – 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder – 1/2 teaspoon onion powder – 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper about 12 turns from a grinder – 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt – 12 fresh whole jalapeno peppers each 3 inches long – 12 slices uncooked thin sliced bacon or 24 thin slices pre-cooked bacon

– Sour cream for serving – Scallions or chives for serving

– Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil – Place the cream cheese, grated cheddar, garlic powder, onion powder, ground pepper and sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir together with a rubber spatula. Fold together several times to make sure all the ingredients are well dispersed. Cover and set aside. – Slice the jalapenos in half lengthwise. Put on gloves and scoop the seeds and ribs out with fingers, or use a 

them out. Place the hollowed pepper halves on the prepared baking sheet. – Fill the pepper halves with spoonsful of the cheese mixture, heaping them a little higher than the edges of the peppers (don’t overfill or the cheese will bubble out). – If using uncooked bacon, cut the slices in half so you have 24 pieces of bacon. Wrap each filled pepper with a bacon half so that the ends of the bacon meet underneath the peppers (seam-side-down, so to speak).

– If using precooked bacon, wrap one whole piece of bacon around each filled pepper so that the bacon ends meet underneath the peppers. – Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the bacon is browned and the peppers are softened. – Serve peppers warm with sour cream and chives. These are also great at room temperature.

Bacon can be crisped further under a broiler for 2 minutes. Watch carefully! Larger or smaller peppers will change the yield of the recipe. My peppers were huge, but were still fully cooked at 20 minutes. Bacon pieces can be secured with toothpicks prior to baking, if they don’t want to stay put.