Just 10 minutes and you can have the best brown butter to add a nutty, deep richness to both sweet and savory recipes.
If you ask me what the best thing you can do for your baked or savory goods that only takes an extra 10 minutes, it’s to use browned butter.
If you’ve tasted the toasty, nuttiness of browned butter, then you know that it’s a certain kind of magic. This step-by-step tutorial will show you the best way to brown butter and all the best ways to use it!
What is brown butter?
Brown butter, also known as beurre noisette (hazelnut butter in French), is an out-of-this-world delicious concoction originally used in savory French foods but is now used everywhere butter is used. It’s deeply golden, flecked with brown bits, nutty, and incredibly aromatic. Browned butter is perfection. To make it, butter is slowly melted down, separating butter fat and milk solids. The milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and toast, caramelize, andbrown, making it smell nutty and wonderfully aromatic.
Browned butter brings so much flavor to both sweet and savory goods for just a tiny bit of extra effort. It adds a nutty caramel roundness and highlights both sweet and savory flavors making everything it touches taste more deep, rich, and intense. I just LOVE it!
Ingredients
All you need for this amazing ingredient is butter. Usually if I’m using brown butter for something sweet I go for unsalted butter. For savory dishes, I use unsalted too, but I have used salted butter. You can use either but because the flavor of the butter concentrates, salted butter is definitely more intensely savory.
Aside from the butter you’ll need a skillet or saucepan and something to stir with.
How to make brown butter
Melting unsalted butter over very low heat, allows it to separate into butter fat and milk solids. The milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan where they start to brown until they reach the color of hazelnuts. Here’s a step by step!
- Warm: start your butter, cut in in small pieces, in a cold pan and warm it slowly so that it melts evenly.
- Sputter: once the butter has melted, it will start to bubble and foam as the water cooks off and the fat left behind begins to sputter. The butter will still be yellow. Stir gently and turn down the heat if it starts to splatter too much.
- Foam: the butter will foam and the foam will change from pale to very yellow as the water cooks off even more and you’re left with the milk solids, which you should see floating near the bottom of the pan.
- Brown: the butter will start to look deeply yellow and start to become golden and brown. The milk solids will become even more visible and your place will smell amazingly toasty, nutty, and caramel-y.
- Remove: Once your butter is to your liking, take it off the heat and pour it out into a heat proof bowl or liquid measuring cup as the milk solids will continue to toast in the residual heat. Be sure to scrape the toasted brown bits at the bottom of the saucepan. They are the toasted milk solids and are what gives brown butter its amazing flavor.
Tips and tricks
- Use a light colored saucepan so you can see the color of the butter change. An enamel milk pan is perfect for this. This is the one we own.
- Stir the butter so that it melts and heats evenly.
- Butter can burn quickly. Once your butter is the right color, transfer it out of the pan so it doesn’t continue to heat up.
Salted or unsalted butter
It’s up to you, I use unsalted mostly, but for savory dishes salted butter works too!
How long does it take to brown butter?
It really varies because different brands of butter have different amounts of water. Generally I say it takes between 4-8 minutes.
What kind of pan
A light colored saucepan is best so you can see the brown butter bits. If you have a white milk pan that will work, also, regular stainless still saucepans work too.
Does browned butter solidify?
Yes! You can make brown butter then pop it into the fridge where it will turn into solid brown butter. You can cream solid brown butter for frosting, cookies, cake, and basically anywhere you use regular butter.
How to store browned butter
If you need to keep your browned butter for later, just pour it into an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to 1 week. It will solidify in the fridge. If you need it at room temp, you can leave it out, just like regular butter. You can also melt it again for sauces, just be sure to do it over very low heat so it doesn’t brown again.
How to use brown butter in any recipe
You can use browned butter in any recipe in a direct 1 to 1 swap. If your recipe calls for sold butter, be sure to pop the brown butter in the fridge so it turns solid. For recipes that call for melted butter, you can gently melt it or use it straight after you brown it.
Brown butter adds so much flavor to every dish. Honestly I’ve eaten it just drizzled over vegetables, it’s THAT good. Here are some ideas to get your started:
Sweet brown butter recipes
- The best ever chocolate chip cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Brown butter brownies
- Macadamia dark chocolate cookies
- Pumpkin cupcakes with browned butter frosting
- Blueberry oat bars
Savory brown butter recipes
- Garlicky mushroom risotto
- Garlic parmesan noodles
- Sage and butter spinach pasta
- Steak with a drizzle of browned butter is amazing
- Brown the butter in this garlic lobster pasta for umami overload
-xoxo steph
How to make brown butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter cut into 1 inch pieces
Instructions
- Add the butter to a small sauce pan (try to use a light colored sauce pan if you can).
- Melt the butter over medium heat, stirring. The butter will melt then eventually foam up.
- After a couple of minutes, the butter will separate into milk fat and milk solids. The milk solids will start to brown on the bottom of the sauce pan. Keep stirring and use your nose, once it starts to smell nutty and turn amber, it’s time to take the pan off the heat.
- Carefully pour the browned butter in a heat proof container, being sure to scrape up the brown bits. Let cool for 10 minutes and use in your recipe as directed. If you need solid brown butter, cool in the fridge until solid.
