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.
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.
Add the milk powder now, if using.
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.
Video
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.