How to Make Brown Butter
First things first, butter is delicious. Straight out of the wrapper, it has the ability to add wonderful flavor and silky texture to anything I add it to. It’s so versatile and is one of the ingredients I do my best to always have on hand.
Butter doesn’t need for me to transform it into something else. Yet I often do. Why? The answer is simple. While butter may not need for me to amp up its flavor, brown butter allows me to with very little effort.
Brown butter is simple and delicious. When butter is heated until the natural milk solids separate and caramelize, a simple stick of butter is transformed into brown butter. That’s when the magic happens.
Making brown butter really is a simple process. You don’t need any special equipment or skills. You can make a small amount for immediate use or brown up a pound of butter to use as needed. I keep a small glass container full of it in the refrigerator so that I have it at the ready.
Once the butter has become brown butter, you can toss pasta or sautéed vegetables in it as I do with Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage or you can drizzle it over a piece of cooked fish or thick sliced heirloom tomatoes. I use it in Brown Butter Bourbon Applesauce and my favorite recipe for Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats.
You can also chill the brown butter back into a solid state and incorporate it into baking recipes. The caramel, nutty flavors are delicious in baked goods that highlight the delicious flavor of butter and could benefit from a caramelly, nutty boost of flavor.
I have been working on a new recipe for Brown Butter Shortbread Biscuits inspired by Ted Lasso which seemed like the perfect opportunity to put brown butter to delicious use. I was right. The flavor added to the first batch I made with brown butter was exceptional, so much more flavorful than the recipe I had been working on using plain butter.
Once you start using brown butter, I am willing to bet that you’ll be dreaming up delicious ways to put it to use. I can’t wait to hear your favorite ways to use it.
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Brown Butter
Making brown butter is a simple process. You don’t need any special equipment or skills. You can make a small amount for immediate use or brown up a pound of butter to chill back to a solid state and use as needed. I keep a small glass container full of it in the refrigerator so that I have it at the ready.I have used both salted and unsalted butter to make brown butter. I recommend using whatever sort of butter you keep in your refrigerator for cooking and baking. While it is easy to make brown butter, it can burn if the heat is too high or if it is kept over the heat too long. This is a quick process that works most reliably when you give it your full attention while it is on the stove.A wider pot that allows the melted butter to settle in a shallow manner will help the butter to brown a bit faster. A deep pot slows down the evaporation process a bit. I like to use a skillet. A cooking pot with a lighter interior makes it easier to visually see when the butter solids have separated and begin to brown. You can use a darker colored pot, but it will require more vigilance to ensure that it doesn’t burn.
Ingredients
- Butter
Instructions
- Add the butter to your cooking pot set over medium-low heat. Warm the butter until it is fully melted. Once it has melted, you should watch it closely and stir occasionally to prevent it from burning.
- As the water begins to boil and evaporate, the butter will bubble. Lower the heat, keeping the bubble steady. Continue to stir. The bubbling will bring the milk solids to the surface and the butter may take on a foamy appearance. As the foam dissipates, the milk solids will settle to the bottom of the pan and begin to brown.
- As the milk solids brown, the butter will begin to turn golden brown and take on a toasted, nutty scent. This signals that the brown butter is ready. Remove the pot from the heat unless you are using the brown butter immediately.
- Pour the brown butter into a heat proof storage container to stop the browning process. Chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to use. Once it is chilled, you can use the brown butter in baking recipes in equal measure to the butter called for. I find that mixing brown butter and regular butter in a 50/50 ratio creates the most delicious results.
Notes
Brown butter can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks under the same storage conditions you would normally keep your butter in.
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I keep both brown butter and garlic butter in the fridge for both backing and cooking.
I wanted to add, especially when browning butter fr the first few times, using a pan with a light color interior makes it much easier to jusde when the butter is browned but not burned. burning butter makes it terribly bitter.
I have some cast iron enamel pans with a white interior and they are what I use to brown butter.
I agree that a light colored interior makes it easier to judge when the solids have browned but are not burnt. It’s a great tip for anyone, but especially for someone who hasn’t made brown butter before.