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On Brown Butter

September 19, 2013 by Joy the Baker 69 Comments

On Brown Butter

Thank you for indulging me while I wax on about butter this week.  It’s like that time I wouldn’t shut up about toast.

While we’re here with butter on the brain, can we brown it and stir it into flour and sugar?  I mean… might as well.

Now… Brown Butter (which I indiscriminately call Browned Butter sometimes) is this:  butter that is melted in a small pan over low heat until the butterfat and milk solids separate and the milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and begin to brown to a nutty color, flavor, and fragrance, at which point the butter (brown bits and all) are transferred to a small bow, honored, appreciated, and then stirred into batter.

Try to say that sentence three times fast.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m not just adding more dish and extra stress to your baking process.  Brown butter really is the secret sparkle to so many baked goods.  Brown butter adds a depth, richness, and irresistible nutty flavor to cookies, cakes, and breads.  It’s a simple pleasure that feels like a luxury.  I love when that happens.

Let’s start with a classic:  Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Bring these cookies to a party and I swear you’ll leave with three new friends, like it or not.

Brown Butter Banana Bread with Rum and Coconut

Brown butter and light rum happen to be the same color. Coincidence?  I think not.  

Brown Butter Banana Bread with Rum and Coconut 

Brown Butter Strawberry Banana Bread

Put strawberries in the mix before they go out of season.  I love the sweetness of this bread.  Slice it too thick, and then go back for seconds:  Brown Butter Strawberry Banana Bread.  

Brown Butter Baked Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

You already know what’s up with Brown Butter Baked Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze.  

This recipe is like making cartoon doughnuts in your own kitchen.  It’s like Homer Simpson is in the next room waiting for a plate piled high.

Brown Butter Rosemary Orange Cornbread

Savory, sweet, buttery and delicious.  Some things are just right. Brown Butter Rosemary Orange Cornbread.  Please note aggressive use of honey.  Cool, thanks.

Brownies Two Ways

Butter in a brownie incarnation.  Not browned, but still delicious: Ginger Walnut Chocolate Chip Blondies + Triple Chocolate Black Bean

Put some butter in your weekend.  Also consider sleeping in, holding someone’s hand, two cups of coffee, and one of those 3:30 to 4:45 ugly naps.

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Filed Under: Beyond the Kitchen

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  1. Robert Dines

    October 4, 2020 at 6:56 pm

    Hi….. you’re not supposed to drink the whole sticks worth of brown butter are you? Anyhow, guess I’m off to make more for brown butter pancakes with homemade brown butter brown sugar syrup. What can brown do for you?

    Reply
  2. Janelle | fchem101.com

    October 13, 2014 at 7:05 pm

    I’ve been on a pretty good browned butter kick as of late, and I definitely blame you. I mean what couldn’t be improved with a little browning action? Most recently, pastry cream and cupcakes. Whoa.

    Reply
  3. Angelina

    October 9, 2013 at 3:43 pm

    I’ve made pretty much a thousand of those browned butter toasted coconut chocolate chip cookies that you have on here (and some of the one in your cookbook!), but I often wonder if a recipe calls for melted butter- can I just brown it and make my life better?

    I’m making David Lebowitz’s French Apple Cake tonight and am tempted to melt the butter a little too long. What could go wrong?

    Reply
  4. Jacqueline

    September 28, 2013 at 6:21 pm

    I love your brown butter recipes, they make me (and my family) so happy :)

    Reply
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Trackbacks

  1. Bakeology: On Browned Butter | Daisy Bites says:
    December 5, 2013 at 9:31 am

    […] On Browned Butter – Joy the Baker […]

    Reply
  2. Day Seventeen – Small Talk about Big Food | coffeesnob318 says:
    October 18, 2013 at 11:22 am

    […] I have to take a moment to fangirl about Joy the Baker.  I inherently trust anyone who loves brown butter, particularly one who uses it when she makes her coffee Irish.  She has a cookbook out.  You […]

    Reply
  3. Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread | Emphatic Hands says:
    October 3, 2013 at 10:37 am

    […] banana cream pie, but I am ALL ABOUT baking with brown butter. Luckily, Joy the Baker had a great brown butter recipes roundup recently and I’m determined to bake my way through all of them. This week I tried her […]

    Reply
  4. 10 Link Tuesday: Fall Dishes to Drool Over | Dietitian Debbie Dishes says:
    October 3, 2013 at 5:49 am

    […] Today, Joy the Baker taught me to love brown butter… […]

    Reply
  5. TGIF | the bitch corner says:
    September 27, 2013 at 6:02 pm

    […] things brown butter and all things […]

    Reply

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