Brown butter is having a moment. That is certainly true in my kitchen. I’m enjoying the nutty flavor of the stuff in all sorts of ways.
I recently posted a Brown Butter Cookie recipe on Blue Cayenne. The cookie soars with brown butter deliciousness. You’ll find the recipe here. There is also some information in that post about the chemistry at work when you make brown butter. Worth a read.
This recipe is for a sort of savory take on the ingredient: Brown Butter Cornbread.
I grew up with cornbread made off the recipe on the cornbread box. Pretty basic and pretty boring. This Brown Butter Cornbread incorporates buttermilk, maple syrup and brown butter into the mixture with delicious results. The texture of the cornbread is cakelike and the flavor is…well…brown butterish.
The recipe is from Melissa Clark at the New York Times. You can find the original recipe here.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
It is just the sort of thing you need on your plate as you enjoy a bowl of hot soup and celebrate the coming of fall.
Brown Butter Cornbread
Ingredients
- 12 T. unsalted butter
- 1/2 C. maple syrup
- 2 1/4 C. buttermilk (I used lowfat)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 C. yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 C. whole wheat flour
- 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 T. baking powder
- 1 1/2 t. kosher salt
- 1/2 t. baking soda
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Step 2 Melt butter in large (11-12 inch) cast-iron skillet. Heat the butter until it turns a rich dark brown. Take the skillet off the heat so that you don’t overcook the butter and burn it. Pour the brown butter from the skillet into a small bowl. Add the maple syrup to the brown butter and whisk. Then, add the buttermilk and whisk that into the mixture.
- Step 3 Once your butter/buttermilk mixture has cooled, whisk in the eggs. Add the cornmeal, flours, baking powder, salt, and baking soda to the batter and stir to combine.
- Step 4 Check your skillet to be sure it is still hot or, if it is not, put it back on the burner for a short time. Put the batter into the hot skillet and then put the skillet into your preheated oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Your cornbread is done when it springs back to the touch and when a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cornbread comes out clean. You want the baked cornbread to be a soft brown on top.
- Step 5 Cool the cornbread for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
