How To Make Brown Butter: An Easy Step-By-Step Tutorial

Glad you came on over for an easy step-by-step tutorial on how to make brown butter, also known as beurre noisette.

This is the simple method of butter browning in a small saucepan until it reaches a golden brown color and gets little brown bits packed with flavor.

Once it reaches that point, you can use it in cookies, cakes, on top of popcorn, or just about anything you can think of.

Why would you do that? Because it adds a wonderfully deep, nutty, hazelnut flavor that makes food burst with flavor.

A Stick Of Butter Turns Into A Nutty Flavor

I really haven’t known about brown butter for too long. I was a bit intrigued the first time I heard about it, had to know more, and wanted to learn how to make it.

Who knew you could take regular butter and make something so tasty?

You only need one ingredient to make the nutty brown butter and get some liquid gold with intense flavor. The best part is that it’s super easy.

What Is Brown Butter?

Brown butter is taking unsalted butter, adding it to a saucepan, and cooking it as the butter melts.

Once it melts, and you keep cooking it, the water will begin to evaporate and you are left with milk proteins and butter fat.

The result is butter that has a deep nutty flavor and it tastes great when you add it to different recipes, savory and sweet.

That is about as sciency as I get, but that gives you an idea of what it’s all about.

Savory Dishes Using Browned Butter:

You can just about use any of your favorite savory recipes along with brown butter.

• Pasta – toss the brown butter into a bowl with pasta, a little grilled chicken, some veggies, and sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and you’ve got a great meal.
• Eggs – brown some butter and then cook your eggs right in the pan.
• Vegetables – toss your cooked vegetables in some browned butter for a different taste.
• Chicken or steak – drizzle a little bit over your main dish for some added hazelnut flavor.
• Fish
• Mashed potatoes
• Green beans
• Carrots
• Asparagus
• Squash
• Sweet potatoes
• Pasta sauces

Dessert Recipes Using Browned Butter:

There are so many desserts that are based on brown butter. But, you can also add them to a large variety of others and you will love the results.

• Waffles – we all love waffles, so make a few and drizzle some brown butter and syrup right over the top for a flavor explosion.
• Blondies or brownies – adding brown butter to a dessert bar will add a richer and deeper flavor. Brown butter blondies with chocolate chips are a great recipe to make for family or parties.
• Cookies – it’s always fun to make cookies and change them up now and again. Adding brown butter to butter pecan cookies is a great addition that everyone will love.
• Pudding
• Chocolate chip cookies – the Girl Who Ate Everything has a wonderful recipe for brown butter chocolate chip cookies
• Poundcake
• Frosting or icing
• Caramel sauce
• Shortbread
• Sugar cookies
• Banana bread

Cooking Process

For this recipe, I used one stick of butter because I was making some cookies, but you can use any amount of butter, whether small or large.

The recipe calls for butter, and that’s it. It’s so easy.

Start by placing the unsalted butter into a skillet on medium heat. I sliced the butter into smaller pieces so it would melt a little faster.

Why unsalted? Because when the water evaporates, the salt can ruin the flavor of the brown butter.

Keep stirring while it cooks. You can use either a wooden spoon or a metal spoon. Either one will be fine.

The butter will bubble as it cooks.

While the butter cooks it will begin to get foamy and go through several stages and color changes.

It only takes a few minutes for the butter to cook, so don’t walk away or you will end up with burnt butter and it won’t taste good at all.

You can see the butter is starting to get darker.

Keep a close eye on the butter while it cooks because it will be done in mere minutes and it can burn fast.

The water will begin to evaporate and you will be left with brown specks at the bottom of the pan.

The brown specks will sort of bubble up to the surface when it’s done.

As soon as you see the brown specks, take it off the heat and pour it into a heat-proof bowl before using. The specks will have a dark caramel color.

If you have a recipe that calls for a certain amount of butter, some of it will evaporate, so be sure to measure again when it’s done cooking.

Once the brown butter is done, it will be ready to use. It will have a wonderful nutty aroma and you can use it in all kinds of recipes.

You will want to use the brown specks and the liquid.

Be sure to let me know in the comments how you used it.

Can You Save Brown Butter For Future Use?

Yes, you can put it back into the refrigerator and it will solidify again. Just plan to use it within one week and keep it in an airtight container.

How To Make Brown Butter

Share your comments below and share a picture of your brown butter on the Pinterest Pin!  Be sure to share what you used it on with us so we can try it, too!