How to Brown Butter

A closeup of a spoon filled with browned butter.

Browned butter adds such a rich and toasted flavor to cookies, cakes, sauces, and more! You can learn how to make brown butter with a few simple steps. It only takes 10 minutes to make!

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Condiments

Cuisine: American, French

Diet: Gluten Free

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 10

Servings: servings

Calories: 100kcal

Author: Megan

Ingredients

▢ 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (113g) (room temperature)

Instructions

Cut the unsalted butter into small pieces.
Heat a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Place the pieces of butter into the skillet.
Cook, stirring frequently, as the butter melts. It will begin to foam up. Keep stirring.
Cook for an additional 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly. The foam will subside and the milk solids will settle to the bottom of the pan and turn brown. Stir to prevent the milk solids from burning.
Once the butter turns an amber color and has a nutty aroma, remove it from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl.
Let cool and use in liquid-form or store in the refrigerator to let it solidify to use in baking recipes.

Notes

You could use salted butter instead of unsalted butter if you prefer. I like to use unsalted because then I can monitor how the amount of salt I’m adding to the recipe after.
Cutting your butter into small pieces helps it melt more evenly. If you place the whole stick of butter in the skillet, the bottom of the butter will melt while the very top is solid. You don't want the milk solids to brown at different times because you'll be more likely to burn the butter.
For best results, a light colored pan to make brown butter. It is very hard to monitor the how dark the butter has turned if you are also using a dark pan.
Do not leave the butter unattended as you need to continually stir to make sure that the butter does not burn. It is very easy to burn the butter as it will turn from amber to burnt in a matter of seconds. Burnt butter has an almost bitter taste, whereas browned butter will taste rich and nutty.
I like to take my brown butter to a deep amber color that is just on the brink of almost burning (but it doesn’t!). After the milk solids have browned, I keep cooking a minute or so until the color of the melted butter has turned a deep amber. Some people like a light golden color, which is perfectly okay. It doesn’t have as strong of a nutty flavor, but you can pull it earlier if you prefer.

Nutrition

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