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    Home » Kitchen Tips

    How to Brown Butter (with Video!)

    Updated: Sep 21, 2022 • Published: Sep 21, 2022 by Sam Merritt • 41 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video
    collage on how to brown butter, top image is a close up of spoon resting in browned butter, Bottom image is a birds eye view of pan with browned butter

    Today I’m sharing a simple tutorial on How to Brown Butter in less than 10 minutes! Add it to your favorite baking and cooking recipes for instantly elevated flavor. Includes a how-to video!

    overhead view of a spoon resting in a stainless steel pan of brown butter

    A Baker’s Liquid Gold

    If you’ve never browned butter before, you are in for a treat! This French technique is not only quick and easy to do, but it also makes your kitchen smell amazing and adds tremendous flavor to any dish. I love incorporating it into my toffee cookies to complement their toffee flavor, but don’t count it out for savory recipes, too — it’s also a key component in my garlic butter shrimp!

    Brown butter (or “browned butter”) is simply butter that has been cooked until the milk solids are toasted to a nutty, golden brown color. At the same time, we’re cooking out most of the water (and American butter typically contains about 20% water, so there’s quite a bit to cook out!). This is often done on the stovetop and takes just a few minutes to do.

    This technique is simple, but it does require a watchful eye and near-constant stirring–so stay diligent! I’m also including several tips and a how-to video to make sure you’re successful.

    Let’s get into it!

    What You Need

    sticks of salted butter scattered across a dark gray surface

    You only need one ingredient (and it doesn’t have to be fancy!):

    • Butter: The type of butter you need depends on your recipe. If your recipe doesn’t specify, I generally recommend using unsalted butter and adding salt separately. If you’re simply making browned butter for a dipping sauce for veggies or meats, salted butter is best.

    SAM’S TIP: I recommend using a light-colored saucepan so you can see when your butter actually starts to turn brown. Using a dark-colored pan isn’t impossible, but it will make the process more difficult and could lead to burned butter.

    Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

    How to Brown Butter

    melted butter that is foaming and bubbling on the stovetop
    1. Melt butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium-low heat (don’t bump up the heat to speed up the process, as my mom always says, “haste makes waste” and that’s so true here!).
    2. Increase the heat to medium and stir frequently as the butter starts to foam, pop, and sizzle.
    3. As the popping and sizzling slows, keep swirling and stirring until you see browned bits forming in the bottom of your pan.
    4. Remove the butter from the heat and pour into a heatproof container. Use as desired or as indicated in your recipe.

    SAM’S TIP: Don’t let your butter turn from brown to burnt! Watch it carefully (don’t walk away from it!) and stir or swirl the pan frequently so the milk solids cook evenly. Frequent motion is the best way to prevent burning!

    metal spoon scooping out golden brown melted butter from a stainless steel pan

    SAM’S TIP: Once you see brown bits (toasted milk solids) forming, remove your skillet from the heat. The pan will still be hot, so immediately pour your butter into a separate heatproof container to stop the cooking process.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can I use brown butter in any recipe?

    Unfortunately it won’t always work as an even substitute for regular butter. The browning process ends up cooking out a lot of the water in the butter, and many recipes count on that water to turn out properly.

    Unless you’re up for experimenting, I recommend sticking for recipes that have been developed specifically for brown butter, like my brown butter blondies, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, or banana nut muffins.

    What does brown butter taste like?

    It has a toasted, almost toffee-like flavor with strong nutty undertones. In fact, brown butter’s direct translation in French (beurre noisette) is hazelnut butter!

    You’ll often find it paired with toffee, chocolate, nuts, or caramel in baked goods or with seafood, lemon, sage, or pasta in savory dishes.

    Can brown butter solidify?

    As it sits, it will solidify like regular butter, but it will take longer. If you refrigerate it, it will solidify even quicker. You can also freeze brown butter for later use.

    chocolate cupcake in a white liner topped with a pile of piped brown butter frosting
    Cupcakes topped with brown butter frosting (see the beautiful brown flecks?!)

    I know many of you already know how to do this, but I’m hoping is helpful for some of our newer cooks and bakers 😊

    Enjoy!

    Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

    brown butter in sauce pan with a spoon

    How to Brown Butter

    Browning your butter is a simple way to elevate the flavor or your favorite baked goods to new heights. Today I'm sharing a simple tutorial on How to Brown Butter and walking you through all the steps for easy browned butter. It takes less than ten minutes to do!
    5 from 11 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Author: Sam Merritt

    Ingredients

    • Butter

    Recommended Equipment

    • Medium-sized light-colored saucepan

    Instructions

    • Place butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Ideally you should use one that is light-colored (like stainless steel rather than black cast iron) as this will make it easier for you to see once your butter has begun to brown.
    • Heat butter over medium/low heat until butter is completely melted.
    • Increase heat to just a notch over medium. The butter should begin to bubble, sputter, and pop. Use a wooden spoon or a heatproof spatula to stir and swirl the butter frequently (make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan while doing this). Do not take your eyes off of your butter.
    • Watch your butter very carefully and continue to swirl and stir. Once the sizzling/popping slows down, you will begin to notice bits of brown forming on the bottom of your pan.
    • Once you see the butter beginning to brown, remove from heat and immediately pour into a heat-proof bowl.
    • Use brown butter as indicated in your recipe, but keep in mind it is very hot after browning and most recipes will require that it cool back down to room temperature before using.

    Notes

    Here are some recipes you can make with brown butter!

    • Banana Nut Muffins
    • Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
    • Toffee Cookies
    • Browned Butter Blondies
    • Butter Bites

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

    Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sadie

      July 23, 2020 at 1:33 pm

      I think I might have taken the butter off the stove a tiny bit too early haha… it was a bit intimidating and I was scared I was gonna burn it all, lol! Hopefully it will work with the recipe anyway. I’m making your brown butter toffee cookies 🙂

      Reply
      • Sam

        July 23, 2020 at 9:38 pm

        Hi Sadie! I hope you love the cookies! It can be a little intimidating to brown butter. You can really tell it’s done when you see those little brown flecks in the butter and you start to smell that nutty aroma. 🙂

        Reply
    2. Bunny

      February 23, 2020 at 4:46 pm

      I brown my butter in the microwave, in a large glass bowl. It’s so easy to keep an eye on how brown it’s getting, and so much easier than standing over a saucepan on the stove. 1 1/2 cups butter takes about 7 minutes in the microwave.

      My favorite recipe that uses browned butter is ‘Crumbly Cranberry Shortbread Bars’. It’s often requested when I cater Holiday Parties. The browned butter makes the flavors over the top.

      Reply
      • Sugar Spun Run

        February 23, 2020 at 7:19 pm

        Thanks for sharing the method that works well for you, Bunny! 🙂

        Reply
    3. louise bennett

      January 07, 2020 at 7:22 pm

      Hi Sam , I use browned butter when making my pecan pies, instead of just melting it. Tip: don’t add the eggs until the butter has cooled, as not to cook the eggs.

      I love your videos

      Reply
      • Sugar Spun Run

        January 07, 2020 at 9:11 pm

        Browned butter in pecan pie sounds perfect, Louise! Thank you for the tip and your sweet comment. I am so glad you have enjoyed my blog and videos. 🙂

        Reply
    4. Silvia Garcia

      January 07, 2020 at 1:14 pm

      Hi, do you happen to have recipes that used Brown Butter? Cookies, Muffins, Biscuits, etc..I would love to experiment the Brown Butter . Thank you, Silvia

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 07, 2020 at 1:50 pm

        I do! If you check in the post above the recipe I have a section titled “Some Recipes to Try”, you’ll find some great starting points there 🙂

        Reply
    5. LILIANA

      January 07, 2020 at 9:21 am

      Do you also use the scrapings from the buttom in, for ex, a brownie or a cookie?

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 07, 2020 at 9:42 am

        Hi Liliana! I never usually need to scrape the bottom, but all of the browned bits that you see definitely stay in when I use this in brownies or cookies 🙂

        Reply
    6. Connie Patton

      January 07, 2020 at 8:04 am

      5 stars
      I have enjoyed watching your cooking techniques, ie browning butter! Thanks!

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 07, 2020 at 9:44 am

        You’re very welcome! I’m glad you found the post and video helpful, Connie! 🙂

        Reply
    7. Donna

      January 06, 2020 at 10:21 pm

      Love your recipes!!!
      I have learned a lot from you.
      Do you have a video on how to clarify butter?

      Reply
      • Sugar Spun Run

        January 07, 2020 at 7:22 am

        Thank you so much, Donna! I am glad you have enjoyed my recipes and have learned a lot. Unfortunately, I don’t have a video on How to Make Clarified Butter just yet. 🙂

        Reply
    8. Maria

      January 06, 2020 at 3:45 pm

      5 stars
      Very helpful video!

      Reply
      • Sugar Spun Run

        January 06, 2020 at 3:57 pm

        Thank you so much, Maria! 🙂

        Reply
    9. Bunny

      January 06, 2020 at 3:21 pm

      One of my favorite recipes is for Crumbly Cranberry Shortbread Bars, and is calls for browned butter. I prefer to make it in a microwave, in a large glass bowl. Is easy to keep an eye on how brown the butter is getting. 1 1/2 c. butter takes 7-8 minutes.

      Reply
    10. Leslie

      January 06, 2020 at 12:46 pm

      I use browned butter on popcorn. My granddaughter asks for the pieces with “extra brown fings.”

      Reply
      • Sugar Spun Run

        January 06, 2020 at 12:52 pm

        Yum! That sounds amazing, Leslie! 🙂

        Reply
    11. Liza

      January 06, 2020 at 12:44 pm

      Thank you for the tip about not substituting it! I know browned butter is made but cooking off the water, but for some reason I never thought to factor that in when I tried subbing it in cookies recently, and they didn’t turn out great. Now I know why and I’ll use your recipe!

      Reply
      • Sugar Spun Run

        January 06, 2020 at 3:08 pm

        I am glad that this recipe will help, Liza! 🙂

        Reply
    12. Jesse

      January 06, 2020 at 12:34 pm

      5 stars
      Great guidance on how to brown butter. I’ve never done it before b/c I was too intimidated, but now I’m confident I can do it! Thanks Sam!

      Reply
      • Sugar Spun Run

        January 06, 2020 at 12:45 pm

        Wonderful, I am glad I could help, Jesse! 🙂

        Reply
    13. Dzenana Basovic

      January 06, 2020 at 12:00 pm

      Is it supposed to be used in melted state only or it can be used in another way? Sorry for my evident lack of knowledge.

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 06, 2020 at 7:42 pm

        Hi Dzenana! I always use it in its melted state, and unless the recipe indicates otherwise I would recommend using it melted (but not while it is still hot). I Hope that helps! 🙂

        Reply
    14. Pla728

      January 06, 2020 at 11:35 am

      5 stars
      Thank you! I’m 57 years old and I’ve been baking for years but I never could get browned butter right. Now I see what I was doing wrong! Very helpful video.

      Reply
      • Sugar Spun Run

        January 06, 2020 at 11:47 am

        Thank you so much! I am glad you found the video post helpful. 🙂

        Reply
    15. MARy

      January 06, 2020 at 11:33 am

      WHenmaking brown butter, do you measure the butter after it’s browned to get he proper amount, thanks

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 06, 2020 at 9:55 pm

        Hi Mary! I always measure before browning, but it honestly depends on how the particular recipe is written.

        Reply
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