Persimmon and Thyme Cornbread

Still not convinced that you can bake with olive oil in place of butter? This recipe is sure to win you over.

Just in time for the holidays, we’ve got a recipe to add to your Thanksgiving collection: a fantastically moist, tender, and ever-so-slightly textured cornbread. And better yet, we’ve replaced the butter with heart-healthy olive oil and added a speckling of seasonal fruits.

For the oil, I chose one of my personal faves, our Clementine Olive Oil. Its bright, citrusy flavor complements the sweet nuttiness of cornmeal, and it actually lends an orange hue to the overall bread once it bakes up. Using an item or two from the local farmers market, I added fresh persimmons and thyme to the mix.

Persimmons are an autumnal fruit that are only available for a few months at this time of year—they taste somewhere between a pear, plum, and sweet pumpkin, and their texture ranges from firm to very soft, depending on how ripe they are. Thyme is a natural match for both persimmons and cornbread, as the herb is gentle, mild, and matches sweet flavors rather well.

Enjoy this seasonal cornbread over the holidays, and let’s all be thankful for a healthy, local food supply!

Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 3 tablespoons Clementine Olive Oil

• 1 egg

• 1 ½ cups diced persimmons (skin-on or peeled, your preference)

• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line with parchment a 9-inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, sift together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, and egg. Pour into dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in persimmons and thyme.
3. Transfer mixture to prepared dish. Bake 20 to 23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a baking rack; invert onto serving platter.