How to Brown Butter
Brown butter delivers a sweet, nutty aroma and an underlying toasty flavor. This technique will make you a brown butter believer. It only takes a few minutes to prepare, but it adds its own special flavor and enhances the flavor of baked goods and sauces.
This looks like liquid gold because of the wonderful color it gets in the browning process. But this is brown butter!
What is brown butter? Also known as beurre noisette, which in French meals hazelnut butter. Simply heat a stick of butter in a skillet on the stovetop on medium-high heat until its solids turn light brown. The process makes butter stronger in both flavor and texture.
Brown butter enhances the flavor of baked goods and savory recipes. And the special technique produces a nutty and sweet taste packed with golden flecks of milk solids.
Why make your own brown butter?
- It is incredibly delicious with a wonderful nutty flavor that can take your baking recipes or sauces to the next level.
- You don’t need any special recipe to use this butter. In most cases, you can simply substitute regular butter for brown butter.
- And while you can also buy this butter, which can be pretty expensive, the truth is you can make it yourself in just minutes!
Ingredients and substiutes
You need only one ingredient, of course, butter! And, yet, it is important to note that you can use high-fat butter with less moisture. More moisture in the butter simply means more foam and splattering. Please also note, margarine, though often substituted for butter, is not butter, but made with vegetable fat. Hence it won’t work here.
And while you can use both salted and unsalted butter, the salted butter tends to burn easily, so unsalted is usually recommended.
Step-by-step: How to brown butter?
Stovetop
- Melt – In a small saucepan or pot over medium heat add the butter. Let the butter melt gradually, and swirl the pan to distribute heat evenly.
Pro tip – Use a light-colored saucepan or skillet so you can see the butterfat go from light yellow to a deep golden brown. - Moisture – Once the butter has melted, turn the heat to medium-high. It should now start to foam and sizzle around the edges. Gently stir with a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or whisk.
Pro tip – Adjust the heat from medium-high to medium heat as necessary. You don’t want the milk solids to burn. - Browning process – Once the milk solids have separated the mixture will start to brown. Now, reduce to medium-low heat and let the milk solids turn to a golden brown.
Pro tip – It is important to keep a close watch on the color as it can go from brown to black in seconds. - Cool – Take it off the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes in the saucepan. Then, pour into a heat-proof bowl or mason jar making sure to scrape all the brown specks from the bottom of the pan.
Pro tip – Don’t strain the butter as those brown specks are delicious.
Microwave
- Place the butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave for 4 to 5 minutes until the milk solids are a brown color.
Pro tip – Use a deep light-colored bowl to leave enough space for the butter to foam and rise up during the process as well as to keep an eye on the color of the butter.
Instant pot
- Use the same process as the stovetop but using the instant pot as the source of heat. Make sure to adjust the heat to prevent the butter from browning.
Slow cooker
- Place the butter in the slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours stirring every 30 minutes.
Pro tip – The base of the slow cooker is dark, which makes it difficult to see the color of the butter.
How do you store browned butter?
You can store it the same way you store regular butter in the fridge. I pour my brown butter into a mason jar. But you can also pour it into an airtight container lined with parchment paper. Chill it, then cut it into portions to use as required. You can also freeze BB in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How do you use browned butter?
The same way you use regular butter. The prepared butter will solidify as it cools and become firm when put in the refrigerator. You will need to thaw it at room temperature to ensure it softens before using.
Also note, that the butter will be reduced in volume as 15% of water content gets evaporated. So you will need to measure the butter again before using it. For example, one cup of regular butter will give you about 3/4 cup browned butter.
What can you do with browned butter?
As you can see it is very simple and easy to make this butter. And, it is equally easy to use it in almost anything. Substitute regular butter with BB in baked dishes or savory dishes.
- Cookies such as brown butter snickerdoodle and bars or brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
- Brownies, or blondies – Try chocolate brownies, pecan pie brownies, or blondies.
- Cakes – Replace butter in any cake recipe to make a brown butter cake. It is absolutely delicious with pumpkin. Try my pumpkin cake or pumpkin bread.
- Banana bread – Brown butter banana bread is one of the most wonderful flavors you will try.
- Cinnamon rolls – Next time you make cinnamon rolls, use browned butter. it is an amazing combination with cinnamon.
- Frosting – You can replace regular butter in almost any frosting to make brown butter frosting. Just take note that you will have brown specks in your frosting.
- Rice krispies – The next time you make a rice kripsy treat – use this instead of regular butter.
- Breakfast toast – The next time you make French toast or waffles use BB instead of regular butter.
- Sauces – Use it to flavor pasta such as ravioli. Or try brown butter sage and gnocchi.
- Soups – Add a wonderful nutty flavor to soups such as pumpkin or sweet potato.
- Scallops – Brown butter sauce with scallops and a few fresh herbs is wonderful. Try it over steamed fish or veggies too.
- Vegetables – Brush steamed vegetables with BB and a little brown sugar for caramelization.
- Potatoes – Next time, instead of regular butter use BB over your roasted, baked, or mashed potatoes.
- Meat – Brush BB over grilled chicken, beef or pork at the end of the cooking time to enhance the flavor.
- Brown butter desserts – You can easily replace regular butter in any desserts such as pastry cream fillings, chocolate glazes, profiteroles, croissants, Danishes, and choux pastry filling.
Tips for Success
- Use a shallow saucepan or skillet to ensure it has enough time for the liquid to foam and rise up as it cooks.
- You can easily double or triple the amount of butter. But, don’t double or triple the time. It may still get done in just about 7 to 10 minutes.
- The butter starts to cook and brown faster once all the water has evaporated.
- And keep a close eye on the butter once it starts to brown because those specks go from brown to black within seconds.
- Cool the butter and bring it to a solid state. Then, soften it to room temperature before using it in cakes, cookies, and other recipes that call for softened butter.
- Also, if your recipe calls for 8 oz of butter, and you intend to use brown butter, you will need more than 8 oz because as the water content evaporates the butter will be reduced in volume.
- And if you need the added moisture in the recipe you can add 1 tbsp water for every 4 oz of browned butter in your recipes.
Frequently asked questions
Brown butter is made from regular butter. It has been browned on the stovetop until all moisture has been evaporated and the milk solids are separated, then toasted leaving brown specks in the melted butter. It has a wonderful nutty and caramel flavor.
It really only takes minutes. Depending on the quantity of butter, a small batch of butter can be browned in just 5 to 10 minutes.
Brown butter has a nutty caramel-like flavor with brown specks in it. Burnt butter does smell burnt and the specks will be almost black in color.
The process of browning butter goes through a few stages. It will first melt all the butter into liquid. Then, as the moisture in the fat evaporates, it starts to foam. This is normal and the only thing you need to do is keep the heat low and make sure it does not overflow. As you continue, the foam will disappear and you will start to see the milk solids separate as they gently cook and start to brown. The smell during this process also starts to change from a wonderful buttery flavor to a sweet nutty caramel flavor.
How to Brown Butter
Brown butter delivers a sweet, nutty aroma and an underlying toasty flavor. This technique will make you a brown butter believer. It only takes a few minutes to prepare, but it adds its own special flavor and enhances the flavor of baked goods and sauces.
Video
Ingredients
- 8 oz (226 g) Butter preferably unsalted
Method
- Melt – In a small saucepan or pot, over medium heat, add the butter. Let the butter melt gradually, swirl the pan to distribute heat evenly. Pro tip – Use a light-colored saucepan or skillet so you can see the butterfat go from light yellow to deep golden brown.
- Moisture – Once the butter has melted, turn the heat to medium-high. It should now start to foam and sizzle around the edges. Gently stir with a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or whisk. Pro tip – Adjust the heat from medium-high to medium heat as necessary. You don't want the milk solids to burn.
- Browning process – Once the milk solids have separated, the mixture will start to brown. Now, reduce to medium-low heat and let the milk solids turn to a golden brown. Pro tip – It is important to keep a close watch on the color as it can go from brown to black in seconds.
- Cool – Take it off the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes in the saucepan. Then, pour into a heat-proof bowl or mason jar making sure to scrape all the brown specks from the bottom of the pan. Pro tip – Don't strain the butter as those brown specks are delicious.
- Place the butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave for 4 to 5 minutes until the milk solids are a brown color. Pro tip – Use a deep light-colored bowl to leave enough space for the butter to foam and rise up during the process as well as to keep an eye on the color of the butter.
- Use the same process as the stovetop but use the instant pot as the source of heat. Make sure to adjust the heat to prevent the butter from browning.
- Place the butter in the slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours stirring every 30 minutes. Pro tip – The base of the slow cooker is dark, which makes it difficult to see the color of the butter.
Notes
- Use a shallow saucepan or skillet to ensure it has enough time for the liquid to foam and rise up as it cooks.
- You can easily double or triple the amount of butter, But, dont’ double or triple the time. It may still get done in just about 7 to 10 minutes.
- The butter starts to cook and brown faster once all the water has evaporated.
- Keep a close eye on the butter once it starts to brown because those specks go from brown to black within seconds.
- Cool the butter and bring it to solid-state. Then, soften to room temperature before using it in cakes, cookies, and other recipes that call for softened butter.
- If your recipe calls for 8 oz of butter you will need more than 8 oz of BB because as the water context evaporates the butter will be reduced in volume.
- If you need the added moisture in the recipe you can add 1 tbsp water for every 4 oz of butter in your recipes.
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
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This was a great step-by-step tutorial, and it came out really well. I used it in a cupcake recipe and they turned out so well! This recipe is a game-changer for my baking recipes.
Thank you so much for your lovely feedback, Heidy.
I love to use brown butter in cookies. This recipe is so much easier. Thank you for sharing.
Great tips and instructions for making brown butter. I agree that it makes all the difference in the world. And yes, it does make even sweets taste better. Instead of making it per dish, I’m going to make a big batch of it. This will certainly save me time later on. You did a great job with the post.
Browned butter is such a delight, and thanks to your recipe its easy to make! We enjoyed it our asparagus last night.
Ah! Browned butter asparagus is delicious. Thanks for the feedback, Denise.
I have never browned butter before. What a great idea! I will have to give this a try! Thanks for the share!
I love brown butter. The process is so easy and I love your pro tip about straining. I always remove brown bits but now I think I’ll just stop doing that. Thanks.
Homemade brown butter sounds really awesome and cheaper. Thanks for the detailed recipe and I will look forward to making this.
Brown butter has such an incredibly enticing aroma, I know of no dish, sweet or savory, that brown butter can’t improve! You provide such helpful tips, which will for sure help everyone else discover this classic technique.