How to Brown Butter
Learn how to brown butter to use in baked goods and lots of other recipes too. It's a simple technique that yields the most delicious toasted (almost toffee-like) flavored butter. Yum!
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Melt one stick of butter (1/2 cup) slowly on medium-low heat in a saucepan or skillet. Choose a light colored pan so that you can tell once the butter begins changing color.
- Once melted, turn the heat up a bit and watch the butter closely while stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.
- The butter will be bubbling and popping as the water is evaporating away. Once this bubbling and popping slows down you need to keep a close eye as the next step is the toasting of the milk solids.
- Once the milk solids are beginning to toast, you’ll start to notice tiny bits of brown forming in the pan. Swirl the spoon around the pan a few times more and remove it promptly from the heat. You can keep going a bit longer as the butter will toast more and more--but the trick is removing it before it burns!Once the milk solids have started to brown, the butter can go from toasted to burnt very quickly. It’s important to keep a close eye and remove the pan from the heat a few moments after you notice the brown bits have formed.Transfer the butter into a heatproof bowl to prevent it from burning as the hot pan will continue to cook it.
- Use the butter as called for in your recipe--or, get creative and experiment with it!
Notes
How Much Brown Butter Will 1 Stick (1/2 cup) of Butter Make?
The answer may vary a bit depending on the butter you use and how brown it becomes, but it will likely be around 6 tablespoons of butter.
How to Store It:
Many recipes call for browning butter and using it (in its melted state) immediately or after a short cooling period. However, you can also refrigerate it (for 4-5 days) or freeze it (2 months or so) after preparing it to use in an upcoming recipe.
Nutrition Facts
How to Brown Butter
Amount per Serving
Calories
134
% Daily Value*
Fat
15
g
23
%
Saturated Fat
10
g
63
%
Trans Fat
1
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
4
g
Cholesterol
40
mg
13
%
Sodium
120
mg
5
%
Potassium
4
mg
0
%
Carbohydrates
0.01
g
0
%
Sugar
0.01
g
0
%
Protein
0.2
g
0
%
Vitamin A
466
IU
9
%
Calcium
4
mg
0
%
Iron
0.003
mg
0
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.