Browned Butter Is the Key to Super Crispy Cornbread

When it comes to cornbread, I don’t play favorites. I have equal space in my tummy for sweet, cakey cornbread and the emphatically unsweetened, crumbly kind. I will, however, get distinct hankerings for one or the other, depending on my mood. Our Browned Butter Skillet Cornbread fits in with the latter group. It’s buttery, with corn-forward flavor, and a real treat for those who pine after crisp-edged slices of Southern-style cornbread.

While our recipe isn’t completely devoid of sugar, I certainly wouldn’t call it “sweetened.” The 2 teaspoons added to the batter are just enough to complement the corn and take the edge off of the tangy buttermilk. Being a New York/New Jersey dweller most of my life, this recipe is a welcome shift from Jiffy cornbread (which is basically a sweet breakfast muffin). And this cornbread is versatile—you can eat it with a bowl of beef chili, a smear of honey butter, or a cup of buttermilk.

The browned butter element may seem like lily gilding, but it makes all the difference. Water evaporates from the butter as you brown it, leaving behind toasted milk solids and pure fat. Pure fats, like lard, shortening, and bacon grease all are commonly used when baking cornbread. The lack of water means the fat can get scorching hot, giving your cornbread the crispiest crust. Remove the water from your butter, and it functions much like lard (or shortening or bacon grease), letting you achieve that same satisfying texture. And, as a bonus, browning the milk solids provides layers of toasty, caramelized and nutty flavors.

I should also mention that we’re using salted butter. That might not sound like a revelation, but it’s applied in a genius manner. Much of the browned, salted butter goes into the batter; the rest goes into the pan. The batter is poured directly into that browned and buttery puddle. When you knock out the cornbread later, the entire surface is imbued with a thin layer of salty, toasted flavor. It’s the first thing to hit the tongue, and that knocked it out of the park for me.

This recipe only uses 8 ingredients and takes four steps. (The last two “steps” are actually quick compound butter companion recipes.) It’s not complex in the least, but it is satisfying. This cornbread pairs best with meals that have deep, complex flavors, like a Fire-Roasted Tomato Chili Con Carne, Sichuan Red-Braised Beef, Pork and Red Chili Stew. But don’t let me stop you from whipping up the chipotle-honey or jalapeño-scallion butters at the end of the recipe.

Baking Tip of the Week: Playing with humidity

My friends frequently nudge me for help with pesky baking problems. A few weeks ago, my friend, originally from Alabama, asked me if he was missing anything with his cornbread technique. He knew it should look more like the cornbread his grandma used to make, and it wasn’t browning enough. After we addressed the browning (which was solved by preheating the pan thoroughly and a longer bake time), he came back to me with a textural issue. He was doing everything right, but he felt his cornbread should be coming out crispier.

Humidity plays a key role in baked goods, not just in the oven but after baking is done. At the end of our Browned Butter Skillet Cornbread recipe, once the cornbread is removed from the oven, you only let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes. A ripping hot skillet doesn’t cool off all that much after 5 minutes, and it shouldn’t, but it gives you enough time to gather your wire rack and oven mitts. Once the pan actually begins cooling down, humidity will become trapped between the cornbread and the skillet. And, as you probably know, humidity is the enemy of crispiness. In order to achieve a crisp bottom and sides, you need to knock it out of the pan while it’s still hot and releasing steam.

Now, not everything can be dumped out of a pan hot, but this cornbread is strong enough to survive the flip without breaking. There’s plenty of butter around the edges, so you don’t have to waste any time releasing the sides. Just carefully place a cooling rack over the skillet, don two oven mitts or folded dish towels, and flip the entire contraption in one swift motion. Boop the skillet a couple times (I punch the bottom or rap it against the countertop) and the cornbread will slip out.

It should be steaming away. If you touch it immediately, the bottom will be soft. Don’t worry! Let it cool completely. After about 20 minutes, you’ll notice the bottom and sides are crispy.

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Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Allie Chantorn Reinmann is a Digital Staff Writer for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street. She’s a Thai-American chef who earned her diploma for Pastry and Baking Arts at The Institute of Culinary Education and worked professionally for over a decade honing her craft in New York City at places like Balthazar, Bien Cuit, The Chocolate Room, Billy’s Bakery and Whole Foods. Allie took her know-how from the kitchen to the internet, writing about food full-time at Lifehacker for three years and starting her own YouTube channel, ThaiNYbites. You can find her whipping up baked goods for cafés around Brooklyn, building wedding cakes and trying her hand (feet?) at marathon running. She’s working on her debut cookbook and lives in Brooklyn, NY.