Joy the Baker

On Brown Butter

by 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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robert Dines

    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

  3. Angelina

    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

  5. Anne

    My family loves butter. My daughter eats it like it is the equivalent of a piece of chocolate…savoring each bite. What are your thoughts on Irish Butter? We love it but haven’t baked with it. I really want to recreate the scones we had in Ireland and I was told that the butter was the key.

    Reply

  8. Sam TH

    Great Ideas here!!! I am totally going to try the brown butter rum coconut banana bread. I’ve been making a version of shutterbean’s salted brown butter rice krispie treats but adding a little chocolate to them. I featured them on neurotic kitchen recently and they are getting a ton of traffic. On thing’s for sure, Joy, the people want brown butter so you are SPOT ON! Amazing work.

    Reply

  10. Anna

    Joy, I just made your brown butter chocolate chip cookies and they were simple delicious! Probably just found my new favorite cookie recipe and my go-to recipe. Thank you for showing me the joys of brown butter!

    Reply

  14. Sarah

    SO. I’ve always been afraid of browning butter because everybody is like “oh it goes from brown butter to BURNT in like 2 seconds so basically you’re going to burn it!” So I have always been afraid to make it. I also used to over bake/burn all of my cookies growing up (as a result my mother thought I liked crispy cookies until a couple of years ago when my brother ratted me out. Soft and chewy for this girl!). ANYWAY your post gave me the encouragement and confidence I needed to make some DELICIOUS brown butter chocolate chip cookies. I want to put brown butter in/on everything now … and I think I will. I also no longer over bake things for the record. So thank you for the enlightenment and satisfaction – I’m pretty sure I have eaten half the dough. Let’s hope the rest makes it into the oven so I can try the finished product! Can’t wait to brown butter for everything forever!

    Reply

  15. Sagan

    Oh. Yum. I want it all!

    Wish I would have read this 15 minutes ago BEFORE I started making brownies. Bet that browned butter would add a whole lot of flair to the recipe!

    Reply

  16. Monica

    I’ve really got to get more adventurous on the brown butter beyond just using it to make financiers. You are very convincing, Joy. I’ve already bought that donut pan thanks to your last mouthwatering post and I’m looking forward to making some donuts with my little one soon. : )

    Reply

  17. Alissa

    Yes! I will trying the Chocolate Chip Cookies & the Black Bean Brownies in the coming weeks! I never knew about Brown Butter until you :) Thank you for opening my eyes to a whole new world.

    Reply

  18. Bob Brooks

    Hi Joy,

    I just added your site to my favorite blogs list. A message came up saying there was no RSS feed available. Also, a favicon did not appear.

    I love cooking and baking and am pleased I found your site.

    Bob Brooks

    Reply

  19. Becca from Cookie Jar Treats

    I’ve worked with browned butter on a couple of occasions and boy oh boy does it taste amazing! I’m looking forward to those donuts ;)

    Reply

  20. Ann

    Joy, brown butter is just the tip of the iceberg on of milk solids love. So many recipes say discard the milk solids of melted butter. ALL YOU’RE DOING IS THROWING AWAY THE ESSENCE OF BUTTER FLAVOR! If you’ve ever dip your lobster in clarified butter and then tried it dipped in unfiltered melted butter you’ll know the flavor difference. Michael Ruhlman (of cookbook Ratio), Chef Susan Feniger, among others in the food industry have discussed this flavor enhancement. I also read of one adding milk solids to butter to amp up the butter flavor. Save those milk solids (maybe this should be on a bumper sticker or on a pin!) stick on rice, pasta, or veggies or just leave it with the butter. Sorry for the caps and the soapbox rant.

    Reply

  28. Susan

    My first introduction to brown butter was in the late 60s when my first quacamole recipe had you mix the ingredients and pour browned butter carefully over the top. let it stay just that way until you stir it in before serving. I never thought much of the butter part. It was just a fabulous guac! I’ll get busy on your suggestions for sure.

    Reply

  29. Megan K

    Question from a brown butter novice: if you want to brown the butter for a recipe, do you measure the butter then brown it, or brown it then measure it, or does it not matter?
    Thanks!

    Reply

  30. Raquel Somatra

    I made your browned butter choco chip cookies and added in coarsely chopped Twix bars instead of chips– everyone flipped out over them (in a good way). Browning butter is a magical and dare I say, sexy process.

    Reply

  31. Kristin

    May I just say … the ugly late afternoon weekend nap is equally a bane and a joy of my life. I have been fully done in by one many a time. Just last Friday, I slept from 5:45-8 pm. Wow. Raise your hand if you like waking up when it’s dark … in the evening … before you go to bed. (No hands are raised.) Sleeping habits aside, I love baking and have never browned butter (eeek!), so I think this post calls for giving it a try. Now, which recipe to choose …. ;)

    Reply

  42. Barbara

    Joy, in the 2005 issue of Gourmet, Celia Barbour wrote a magnificent article called “One Great Cookie: The tale of a woman kept awake at night by a ball of dough.” In it she tells how to achieve brown butter perfection (among other things). The recipe is for a heavenly concoction called spoon cookies. I found the recipe online but not the article, which I have carefully archived in my cookie notebook. Here is the recipe link…
    http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spoon-Cookies-233297

    (Tell me where to send .pdf if you want the article. You won’t regret reading it)

    Reply

  44. Kim

    We’ve been browning butter since before it was cool or we knew what to call it. I know you are Joy the Baker, but one of the oldest recipes in our marriage (38 years) comes from my husband’s maternal grandmother and is still lovingly called Grandma Haak Meat (and jokingly referred to as heart attack on a plate): place one pound of butter in a large cast iron skillet. Allow to foam and brown. Place cubed sirloin pieces in pan. Sear first side turn, sear second side, place in warm bowl. When all meat is seared, using a very sharp knife, cut meat crossways forming generous bite sized pieces. Pour hot butter over meat and serve with mashed potatoes (ladling generous amounts of the butter over meat and potatoes). If you feel too guilty eating just this, add a veggie to ease your conscience. Enjoy!

    Reply

  45. Kim

    We’ve been browning butter since before it was cool or we knew what to call it. I know you are Joy the Baker, but one of the oldest recipes in our marriage (38 years) comes from my husband’s maternal grandmother and is still lovingly called Grandma Haak Meat (and jokingly referred to as heart attack on a plate): place one pound of butter in a large cast iron skillet. Allow to foam and brown. Place cubed sirloin pieces in pan. Sear first side turn, sear second side, place in warm bowl. When all meat is seared, using a very sharp knife, cut meat crossways forming generous bite sized pieces. Pour hot butter over meat and serve with mashed potatoes (ladling generous amounts of the butter over meat and potatoes). If you feel too guilty eating just this, add a veggie to ease your conscience.

    Reply

  50. Maureen Abood

    Thank you for all of the brown butter joy, Joy! When I worked at Boulette’s Larder in San Francisco, we made huge batches; the scent drove me wild it was so good! I make a mean brown butter choc chip cookie and iced pound cake on my site, Rose Water & Orange Blossoms.

    Reply

  55. Averie @ Averie Cooks

    You’re the queen of browned buttery things and I love that! I love brown butter. I never know whether to say browned butter or brown butter. I tend to go with the former. But anyway – love it and try to use it as often as possible. I brown a couple sticks at a time so I always have some on hand :)

    Reply

  58. wb

    Do you think it matters if the pan you brown your butter in is non-stick? I’ve used a non-stick one before, but it makes me nervous that the teflon is somehow getting into the butter (moreso than when I’m cooking other things in the same pan) and it’s going to taste like plastic. But would a regular pan burnt the butter more easily? Maybe I’m over-thinking this one…

    Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll Up