Here is a step-by-step for making brown butter. You get butter with a deep, nutty, toasty flavor unlike anything else. It's so easy, and the results are fantastic! I've been making it for years and using it as a substitute for regular butter in sweet recipes and some savory ones.
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Exceptional flavor
This recipe is what the name implies: butter that is browned.
Also known as the French beurre noisette (translates as hazelnut butter due to the nutty flavor and amber brown color), it's salted or unsalted butter that is heated or cooked long enough on the stove for the water (yes, butter has water in it, sometimes a lot) and moisture to evaporate.
This leaves behind the solids that start to brown, turning golden or amber in color, and with a beautiful nutty aroma (hence the hazelnut reference).
Truly worth making, even though it's an extra step.
Recipes with brown butter
This unique butter is fabulous for baked goods and frostings, but also amazing with pasta dishes and vegetables. Brown butter and sage are a classic sauce. I also use it for breadcrumbs, like in this asparagus pasta.
Testing notes
Paula's tips that make a difference.
It colors quickly at the end: Be very careful during the last stage of the recipe, when the butter stops chirping, and a thick foam gathers on the top. The butter starts to burn quickly at this point, so make sure you separate the foam with a spatula and check that the bottom is not burning. The darker the color, the deeper the flavor. Just make sure you don't get a burned flavor!
Solids: as the butter browns, the solids burn and pool at the bottom of the pan. You can use brown butter with or without solids or browned bits. Your choice. Sometimes the solids are almost burnt, so it's better to leave them behind.
Bulk browning: I make this recipe with 1 pound of unsalted butter at a time. I refrigerate it until I need it and use it as regular butter. It will have a different consistency, of course. But the results in cakes, muffins, and cookies are exceptional.
Storing: keep it refrigerated in an airtight container. It lasts for a week, but always check it before using it. Don't use it if it has a rancid smell or a weird texture. It can also be frozen. Thaw it in the refrigerator the night before.
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How to make brown butter
If you've never made brown butter (where have you been?!), it's a simple process.
Yield: it depends on the amount of water in the butter you use. I estimate roughly 20-25%. So, per pound of regular butter, you get about ¾ pound of brown butter.
Foaming butter
Melt butter at low heat in a saucepan. Tiny bubbles will appear around the edges, and then foam will cover the surface, and large bubbles will start to appear.
Noisy bubbling
Bubbling will take over the foam and make a chirping sound, depending on how much water content the butter has.
Butter browning
The bubbles will get smaller as the sound subsides and foam appears again. This is the crucial moment when you have to check under the foam for the color of the butter, while stirring constantly, as it can go from amber to burnt in seconds.
Cooling down
Transfer to a bowl so it stops cooking and cools down completely.
Room temperature
It's softer than regular butter and bright yellow with brown specs that are the browned milk solids.
Even when you take it out of the refrigerator, it will be spreadable and unctuous, so it's easier to use in recipes because you don't have to wait until it's softened.
How deep should the brown color be
You want a light hazelnut or amber color. The shade goes from light to dark in seconds, just like that.
The flavor deepens as it colors, but be aware that, just as it happens with caramel, it goes from wonderfully dark-colored and deep-flavored to burned, bitter, and useless.
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How to Brown Butter (10-minute recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 pound unsalted butter
Instructions
- Melt 1 pound unsalted butter in a medium saucepan with tall sides (a few inches or so, depending on the amount of butter you're browning) over medium heat.
- It will foam at first and spurt, so be careful! Don't stand too close to the saucepan. It will melt and will start to bubble and make a furious noise (this will be louder depending on the amount of water the butter has).
- The bubbles will become smaller, and it will gradually stop chirping (really, it's a chirping noise, you'll see) and will foam quite a bit. Be careful, as it will start browning underneath the foam. You will smell a nutty aroma.
- It's very important that you split the foam with the spoon or spatula you're using and see that it doesn't burn. You want it to be an amber color. Similar to caramel, it goes from amber to burned in a short moment, so be careful.
- Take it out and put it in a shallow pan so it stops cooking. The shade goes from light to dark amber in seconds, just like that, so watch carefully! The flavor deepens as it colors, but be aware that, just like it happens with caramel, it goes from wonderfully dark-colored and deep-flavored to burned and useless.
- Allow to cool and refrigerate until cold. Read the recipe carefully, because usually butter is used at room temperature, so it doesn't need to solidify completely.
mark says
What's the difference between brown butter and ghee?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Mark, ghee is clarified butter where you melt it and remove the solids. Brown butter is cooked until the solids are browned, giving it the color and nutty flavor. Ghee is a neutral flavor and, since the solids are removed, doesn't burn like regular or brown butter.