How to Make Brown Butter

white saucepan of brown butter surrounded by chocolate chips, sugar and eggs.

5 from 1 vote

Brown butter is one of the easiest ways to level up all of your baked goods. It adds a nutty, caramel-like flavor to almost anything you bake. Our step-by-step guide walks you through how to make it perfectly every time. I’ve included the visual and sensory cues to look for. Use browned butter in cookies, blondies, pancakes, frostings, and quick breads - once you start baking with it, you’ll never go back.

Prep Time2

Cook Time8

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings: servings

Calories: 136kcal

Author: Amanda Smallwood

Equipment

light colored saucepan or frying pan
spatula
heat-proof bowl or container

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

Instructions

Cut 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and add them to a light-colored skillet or saucepan.
1 cup unsalted butter
Place the pan over medium heat. The butter will melt in 2 to 3 minutes. Swirl the pan or mix with a spatula to keep the butter moving.
Once the butter has melted, it will start to foam and bubble. This is the water cooking off, you want to keep going. Continue to mix every 30 seconds or so.
As the foam begins to disappear and the bubbles get smaller and quieter, watch closely. The milk solids will sink to the bottom of the pan and begin to toast. You’ll start to see golden brown specks form and you will smell a nutty, hazelnut-like smell.
Once the butter is a deep amber color and all of the specks are golden brown, immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl. The butter will quickly go from browned to burnt. Get it out of the pan right away.
Be sure to scrape every brown speck out of the pan as that's where the flavor is. Use right away, or cool and store for later.

Notes

Use a light-colored pan. A stainless steel or light-bottomed skillet lets you see the color change as the butter browns. Dark or non-stick pans make it nearly impossible to tell when the butter has browned.

Don’t walk away. You can go from perfectly browned to burnt in under 30 seconds. Stay at the stove from the moment the foam starts to settle down.

Mix often. Stir or swirl the pan every 30 seconds to keep the milk solids moving around so they toast evenly. Once the butter begins to brown, use your spatula to move the spots stuck on the bottom of the pan around.

Get all of the brown specks. When you pour the brown butter out of the pan, scrape every toasted brown speck into the bowl as that’s where the deep, nutty flavor lives.

Nutrition