Browned Butter
Prep Time
1 min
Cook Time
7 mins
Total Time
8 mins
My How to Brown Butter guide shows you how to turn butter into a rich, nutty flavor booster for sweet or savory recipes in under 10 minutes.
Servings: 0.75 cups
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) butter , diced
Instructions
To Make Brown Butter
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Place a small heatproof bowl near the stove.
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Warm the butter in a small, light-colored saucepan over medium-low heat until melted, about 2 minutes.
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Simmer gently, while whisking constantly, until the butter turns a medium brown color and smells nutty, about 5 minutes. (Do not let the butter smoke, or the fat solids to turn black).
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Immediately transfer the browned butter to the bowl to stop the cooking.
To Use and Store Brown Butter
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Use according to the directions in your recipe. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It also can be frozen in a freezable container, or in ice cube trays for up to 6 months.
Recipe Notes
- Use a light-colored pan. This makes it much easier to see the butter browning.
- Watch carefully as the butter is browning. If you're wondering how long to brown butter, note that during the cooking process the milk solids can go from toasted to burned very quickly. Take the pan off the heat as soon as it's browned and smells nutty.
- Follow your nose. The best indicator of properly browned butter is the smell—it will smell warm and nutty when it’s done.
- Don’t strain out the browned bits in the butter. Those toasted milk solids give the Brown Butter its nutty flavor.
- Water evaporates when browning butter. Butter loses volume as water evaporates during browning.
- My recipe was tested with American-style butter, where about 3 tablespoons (1 ½ fl oz / 45 ml) of water boiled off.
- If you use European-style butter, you will likely lose less water weight.
- Weigh for precision. If you are browning butter for a recipe that calls for unbrowned butter, I suggest weighing the butter before browning, and then weighing it again after browning.
- Add a splash of milk or water to make up the difference in lost weight so you don’t throw off your recipe.
- Technique for cold brown butter. If you need cold, solid brown butter for your recipe, line a small bowl with foil and then pour in the brown butter.
- Once cold, you can easily lift out the butter and peel off the foil.
- Cook low and slow. Do not try to speed up the process by turning up the heat, or you will burn the butter.
- As soon as the butter browns, remove from the pan. Transfer the brown butter out of the pan right away, or it will keep cooking, blacken, and burn.
- Using brown butter. Experimenting can be fun and rewarding, but for the best results, it’s always safest to use a recipe that specifically asks for browned butter.