Brown Butter Cornbread

Brown Butter Cornbread is a very tender cornbread with great flavor. The added fresh thyme and the ricotta are wonderful additions.

Green Chile Cornbread used to be my all time favorite, but this cornbread is unique and tender, and it has since moved to the top of my list. It definitely enhances the any chili that you choose to serve it with!

🛒 Ingredients Needed:

• all purpose flour
• stone ground cornmeal
• baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt
• buttermilk
• vegetable or canola oil
• egg
• granulated white sugar
• corn
• ricotta cheese
• fresh thyme
• unsalted butter

✏️ How to make Brown Butter Cornbread:

*The complete, printable recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post.

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, egg, sugar and baking soda. Gently fold wet ingredients into dry ones until just combined. Fold in corn, ricotta and thyme.
3. Melt butter in a 9 inch cast-iron skillet over medium high heat, tilting pan to coat bottom and sides completely. Cook butter 2 to 3 minutes, until it starts to color and smell nutty. Scrape batter into skillet; smooth surface with a rubber spatula.
4. Bake until bread is golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

➡️ Tips and Substitutions:

• You can use regular cornmeal, but I like the crunch of stone ground.
• Sour cream may be used in place of buttermilk.
• You can used crumbled queso blanco in place of ricotta cheese, if you’d like.
• Use fresh, canned or frozen corn kernels.

❤️ What I love about this recipe:

1. The flavor is incredibly different than a classic cornbread recipe.
2. Fresh thyme is a great addition.
3. Brown butter is just about the best thing on earth, and it works fabulously in this cornbread!

Brown Butter Recipes:

• Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
• Roasted Winter Squash with Brown Butter and Sage
• Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Brown Butter
• Cheese Ravioli with Brown Butter and Fresh Tomato Sauce
• Brown Butter Toffee Pecan Blondies

5 from 2 votes

Brown Butter Cornbread

By RecipeGirl.com (adapted from The New York Times)

This is a very tender cornbread with great flavor. The added fresh thyme and the ricotta are wonderful additions.

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 50 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 cup stone ground cornmeal
• ▢ 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1¼ cups buttermilk
• ▢ ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 cob (about ¾ cup) cooked corn, kernels removed
• ▢ 4 ounces (¾ cup) ricotta cheese
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, oil, egg, sugar and baking soda. Gently fold wet ingredients into dry ones until just combined. Fold in corn, ricotta and thyme.
• Melt butter in a 9 inch cast-iron skillet over medium high heat, tilting pan to coat bottom and sides completely. Cook butter 2 to 3 minutes, until it starts to color and smell nutty. Scrape batter into skillet; smooth surface with a rubber spatula.
• Bake until bread is golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes

• If you don't have a 9-inch cast-iron skillet, you can substitute a 9 inch square (or round) pan for baking. If you use a separate pan, just brown the butter in a small pan and then transfer it to your desired pan for baking and scrape batter on top.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 395kcal, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 69mg, Sodium: 469mg, Potassium: 190mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 612IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 217mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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