Today we’re all about how to brown butter. Browned butter is one of the joys of the kitchen that brings so much flavor to baking and cooking.
Learn how to brown butter, and anything you use it in will just taste better.
And then use some browned butter to make brown butter blueberry buckle or maybe some silky cream of cauliflower soup.
What’s the Big Deal?
Some of you may be asking why you’d want to brown butter in the first place.
The answer is to heighten the flavor of the butter, making it both nutty and a bit butterscotchy.
The French call this nutty goodness beurre noisette, which means hazelnut butter.
This of course has to do with the nutty aroma, but I would also say that the color of the browned milk solids are about the color of hazelnut skins as well: a deep, almost mahogany color.
But not black. Black equals burned.
What Is It?
Browned butter is really a misnomer, because we’re not browning the butter itself so much as we are browning the milk solids in the butter and then infusing that caramelized flavor into the remaining butterfat.
That’s a bit of a hair-splitting distinction, but now you know so you can be That Smart One who knows a bunch of awesome stuff about cooking.
How to Use
Since beurre noisette has a deeper flavor than “regular” or whole butter, it of course will deepen the flavor of everything you put it in.
It works especially well with recipes calling for brown sugar—chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, blondies, etc–because it reinforces the toffee-ish/butterscotch flavor profile that you get when you mix butter and brown sugar.
On the savory side of things, browned butter works really well with fall flavors: butternut squash and pumpkin come immediately to mind.
There is a reason that pumpkin ravioli in browned butter and sage is such a beloved dish.
Add a bit of beurre noisette to sauces and gravies whenever you want to heighten caramelized flavor.
Brown butter also has a higher smoke point than whole butter since we no longer have to worry about the milk solids burning because they’re gone.
Try pan frying fish in browned butter, tilting the pan and spooning the hot fat over the fish as it cooks.
Take a look at this post on how to make beggar’s linguine. There is no recipe, but you just use up bits of this and that and bind all the ingredients together with brown butter to make a delicious and easy pasta sauce.
How to Substitute Brown Butter for Whole Butter
Keep in mind that, because your butter after cooking is 100% fat and whole butter is only about 80% fat, if you want to substitute browned butter for whole butter in baking without any change in the texture of the finished dish, you’ll have to decrease the amount by 20% and increase the liquid by the same amount.
If a recipe calls for 4 oz (1 stick) of butter, substitute 3.2 oz browned butter (4 oz times 80%) and add an extra .8 oz liquid (4.0-3.2=0.8).
Process
- work over medium heat, swirling the pan often
- once the milk solids sink, it will not take long for them to brown, so keep an eye on it
- once the solids have turned a medium brown, immediately strain the butter into a waiting bowl
This brown butter post is the result of a reader request.
If you have any requests or questions on any baking or cooking techniques, please don’t hesitate to ask.
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How to Make Browned Butter
When you know how to brown butter, you have the ability to bring incredible toffee-like, nutty notes to everything you bake and cook with it.
Making browned butter is not difficult. It requires a watchful eye, a heavy bottomed saucepan, and medium heat. Don't try to brown it too quickly, and don't walk away, and you will be rewarded with deliciousness, I promise.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 oz or 4 sticks) unsalted butter
Instructions
- Place the sticks of butter in a medium sauce pan and melt over medium heat.
- Cut the butter into pieces to help it melt more evenly.
- Once the butter has melted, keep it over the heat.
- Swirl the pan occasionally as the butter cooks.
- You will notice it start to sputter and boil after a couple of minutes. This is the water in the butter boiling away. Some foam will collect on top of the butter, too.
- Keep swirling the pan and cooking the butter until you can see deep golden brown bits (milk solids from the butter) on the bottom of the pan. The butter will smell rich and nutty and kind of like toffee.
- Carefully pour the butter through a fine mesh strainer and into a heat proof bowl. You can leave the browned bits in the butter or carefully spoon the browned butter into another container, leaving the browned milk solids behind.
- Cool to room temperature and then store in the freezer for 2 weeks. For longer storage, browned butter freezes very well and will stay fresh for several months.
Notes
The best pan to use to make browned butter in is one that is white inside, like a small enameled cast iron pan. If you don't have one, use a stainless steel pan. Don't use a pan with a dark interior, because you won't be able to judge the color of the milk solids.
You can brown a lot of butter at a time without issue. Just make sure your pan is large enough. to hold the butter and be careful not to burn yourself.
Note that even though you start with a pound of butter, you will end up with about 13 oz of butter. This is because the water in whole butter, which accounts for roughly 80% of the weight of butter, will boil off during the browning process.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 13 Serving Size 1 ozAmount Per Serving Calories 250Total Fat 28.3gSaturated Fat 17.9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 75mgSodium 201mgCarbohydrates 0gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein .3g
The stated nutritional information is provided as a courtesy. It is calculated through third party software and is intended as a guideline only.
Thank you so much for spending some time here today.
Have a lovely day.
PS Keep an eye out for all the Fundamental Friday posts.
MrsJennyK says
Thank you SO much for showing how long it takes. I get very frustrated watching how-to videos where the person just cuts to the result without giving me an idea of what amount of time to expect. 1 minute? 10 minutes? 20? I’ve tried making browned butter before but I knew I wasn’t getting it quite right. I think I was stopping too soon. Now I know what I’m looking for in the appearance. Awesome!
Jennifer Field says
Yay! Knowledge is power! =)
Barbara | Creative Culinary says
I want to brown pounds of butter and always have it on hand; I love what it does to SO many dishes. Nice video Jenni; I think too often the first time trying this people get burned butter; with mine I always seem to have bubbles on top so have to go by scent and when I start to see a bit of brown bubbling up in the center I’m watchful. Very watchful.
My favorite chocolate chip cookies have brown butter and molasses. Wish I had some right now and it’s all your fault! 🙂
Jennifer Field says
Brown butter and molasses, you say? Hmmmm…. =D I am the worst. I am sorry to have fed your addiction. But not really, Donna! 😉
Betty Ann @Mango_Queen says
What a great video and tutorial on how to make browned butter correctly. This is a great base to those blondies from another food blogger and I will give this one a swirl! Thanks for patiently teaching us how to do it right, Jenni! Hope your weekend is going great!
Maggie says
Wow, Jenni, thanks for getting to my request so quickly — I feel like I have my own personal culinary instructor!
This was so, so helpful — especially, as Mrs.JennyK said, by being so specific about the timing. I think it points out where I was often going wrong: being too impatient with the heat, and not swirling sufficiently. I’ll try again real soon on something with a pronounced butter flavor and report back on whether my skills have improved.
Thanks again, so very much. You’re a peach.
…Maggie
Jennifer Field says
Yay! I was hoping you’d see this–I’m so glad you found it helpful!
Maggie says
Forgot to mention: I also really appreciate you giving the ratios for substituting browned butter for regular in baked goods. I didn’t know any of that, and I’m sure it’ll come in handy.
Jennifer Field says
If it’s only a small amount, it probably won’t make too much difference, but when you’re talking about large recipes with 3 and 4 sticks of butter, it definitely comes in handy to have the substitution. =)
Sandy says
Thank you, Jenni!
I was wondering – does the brown butter turn solid again, and can I use it in cake or cookie recipes like I would regular butter, creaming it with sugar, and then add the dry ingredients? Thanks!
Sandy
Jennifer Field says
Hey, Sandy! Good question. Yes, browned butter does get solid in the fridge. You can use it in place of whole butter in cookie recipes for sure. Your final results will be a bit more fragile since brown butter is 100% fat and whole American butter is only about 80% fat or so with the remainder made up with milk solids and water. The flavor will more than make up for the slight increase in fragility, though. Enjoy!
Cindi says
For baking, you gave us the formula for the lost liquid (thank you), but when do you put the liquid back in? When creaming the butter and sugar or just add that little amount back in with the called for liquld in the recipe? If it’s when creaming the butter and sugar which liquid do you use, water or milk? Thank you so much for your post!
Jennifer Field says
Hi, Cindie! That’s a really good question. It is dependent upon the recipe and the end goal you have.
So maybe in a cake where I want the same texture but with the added richness of browned butter, I’d add in the lost liquid with the dairy portion. It’s usually dairy, but you can add that liquid back in in any form, really. Water, milk, even coffee. Also dependent upon your recipe and what you’re trying to achieve.
If it’s a recipe where I want not only that flavor but the extra tenderness from extra fat, I may just leave the lost liquid out.
I know that doesn’t really answer your question, but it’s too simple an answer to say always yes or always no. I guess a good rule of thumb would be if you’re using browned butter in place of whole butter strictly for flavor, add the liquid back in either with the fat (like whole but separated butter) or along with the rest of the liquid.
When you want to use browned butter both for flavor and a more tender product, leave the liquid out.
I may add this discussion to the post, because it could help other people. I hope this answer had been helpful to you!
Cindi says
That is perfect! I guess I didn’t specify before but his is for a cake, therefore I will add in the lost liquid amount by increased the dairy. Thank you for the prompt reply.
Jennifer Field says
You’re very welcome. Would love to hear how your cake turns out! Thanks again for the excellent question–gave me something to think about, which is always welcome!