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Baking 101: How To Brown Butter

March 18, 2015 by Joy the Baker 90 Comments

How To Brown Butter

Browning butter is one of those life skills that should be taught to everyone alongside things like:  how to change a tire,  how to tip at a restaurant, how to ride a bike with no hands, and how to mince garlic.  Everyone should know.  

It’s a good thing I’m here.  I don’t know how to change a tire… but I’m here with butter.  

We talk about Browned Butter a lot.  I’m always trying to wrestle you into adding it to Banana Bread, Baked Donuts, and Grapefruit White Chocolate Cookies. 

Browned Butter is butter cooked until it has melted into a liquid, the water has cooked out, and the milk solids begin to toast and brown to a delicious and nutty state.  

When incorporated into desserts like breads, donuts, and cookies, it subtly deepens the flavor from delicious to ‘ohmygod who made these cookies!?!?’.  That’s the power of browned butter.  Here’s how to make the magic.  

How To Brown Butter

Step One:  Butter (cold or room temperature, preferably unsalted) meets a lightly colored, medium skillet or saucepan.  

It’s important that the bottom of the pan be lightly colored so you can actually see the butter browning.  In a black-bottom pan, you’re left guessing (and probably burning).  A white or silver-bottomed pan is best.  

Place the butter in the pan and place the pan over a stovetop set to medium heat.  Gently place your arms on your hips, assume a good attitude and peaceful face, and standby.  

How To Brown Butter

Step Two:  Allow to butter to melt.  No stick of butter has ever browned without melting first.  

No need to stir of swirl.  Just let the business melt.   

Daydream a bit.  That might be nice.  

Whatever you do, do not multitask.  As soon as you step away from your pan, it’s scientifically proven, you’re going to burn your butter.  

Step Three:  Now we’re going places!  

Once the butter has melted into a liquid, it will start popping and crackling.  That’s the water cooking out of the butter.  Once the water cooks out, the milk solids in the butter will begin to brown.  

So… first popping, then browning.  

Swirl the pan around if you’re feeling restless or chef-y.  Don’t even think about stepping away from your butter. 

How To Brown Butter

Step Four:  Getting there!  

Once the crackling subsides, the butter will begin to brown.  This means that little brown bits will start to appear on the bottom of the pan.  The actual melted butter liquid won’t brown, but rather, the milk solids will begin to brown at the bottom of a pan.  

Use a heat-proof spatula to stir the browning milk solids off the bottom of the pan so they brown more slowly and evenly.  

Once you see the butter browning on the bottom of the pan, the rest of the process will move pretty quickly.  But don’t forget you’re in charge!

To prevent the butter from browning too quickly and burning, simply remove the pan from the heat source.  The heat of the pan alone will slowly brown the butter.  Leaving the pan over the heat source will brown the butter much more quickly, forcing ninja-like reflexes upon you.  

Once the butter solids are browned to golden, immediately remove the pan from the heat (if you haven’t already), and remove the butter from the pan.  The pan is still hot, even when it’s not over direct heat, and will quickly burn the butter solids.  So remove the butter from the pan!  Burnt butter is not as good as Browned butter.  That’s also been scientifically proven. 

How To Brown Butter

Just as the butter browns to golden, a trombone parade should be passing by your house, confetti should fall from your kitchen ceiling, the bathroom will magically clean itself, kittens will trot by wearing party hats, and a unicorn with a bag of hot french fries should be waiting at your front door.  

If those things don’t happen, you’ve done it wrong.  

Golden, nutty, fragrant browned butter is now ready for your favorite recipes!  I humbly suggest The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Known To Man… but maybe I’m biased.  

Happy butter browning! 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. T7

    March 18, 2015 at 6:09 am

    This has go to be one of the most excellent explanation of browning butter that I have ever read! Especially taking it off the heat and also removing the butter from the pan when the browning has finished. I’ve never seemed to be able to get browned butter right, no matter how diligently I watched over the process, and now not only do I understand why, I’m not so worried about trying it again. Great post! Thanks Joy!

    Reply
    • Shalamar

      January 17, 2016 at 8:18 pm

      I found a delicious looking recipe for browned butter peach cupcakes, but had never heard the term browned butter. So I googled it, and this site was at the top of the search results, and I see why. Great directions, even to the subconscious!

      Reply
  2. the Painted Apron

    March 18, 2015 at 6:05 am

    Thank you! Great [and funny] tutorial! Browned butter is my new best friend!
    Jenna

    Reply
  3. Clementine Buttercup

    March 18, 2015 at 6:05 am

    I love sole meurniere which uses browned butter. SO delicious with thin-cut french fries. Yum!

    Reply
  4. Natalie

    March 18, 2015 at 5:57 am

    I feel a little ridiculous for not thinking to use a light colored pan before this – no wonder browning butter hasn’t seemed as easy as it should!

    I love reading your blog. Thanks for all your pep and cheerfulness!

    Reply
  5. dc

    March 18, 2015 at 5:54 am

    Learned the hard way by using a dark pan the first time! lol. Brown butter in Rice Krispie treats…so yummy!! Thanks for sharing this!

    Reply
  6. megbollenback

    March 18, 2015 at 5:49 am

    Thank you for the tips! A unicorn with fries sounds pretty fantastic. Maybe a leprechaun with a pot of gold will show up, too. :)

    Reply
  7. Debra Watson

    March 18, 2015 at 5:44 am

    thank you! am so glad that you explained the process of how to brown butter. I always enjoy your posts and blog.

    Reply
  8. lemonseleven

    March 18, 2015 at 5:41 am

    Now I feel like I need a white-bottomed pan. Losing my ability to distinguish between want and need.

    Reply
  9. Jillian

    March 18, 2015 at 5:38 am

    Is the measurement still the same? E.g., if the recipe calls for half a stick of butter and you brown the butter, there will be less of the butter to go in to the recipe because of the cooking off of the water. Do you simply use the half a stick you browned or do you add slightly more butter to brown to compensate for what is going to burn off?

    Reply
  10. sue

    March 18, 2015 at 5:32 am

    Question, do all the browned bits go in the recipe, or just the clear part?

    Reply
    • joythebaker

      March 18, 2015 at 12:18 pm

      Thanks for the question, Sue! Everything goes into the recipe! Those browned bits are the best part!

      Reply
  11. Rebecca

    March 18, 2015 at 5:28 am

    Thank you so much for going through this step-by-step. I’ve never managed it properly I think because I wasn’t sure what to actually do, hopefully this will take my baking to new levels finally!

    Reply
  12. cateinthekitchen

    March 18, 2015 at 4:42 am

    Bookmarking this! Thanks for such a detailed explanation with step-by-step pics, very useful and beautifully written (as are all your posts) x

    Reply
  13. zarrahjaneamagan

    March 18, 2015 at 3:33 am

    Great post.
    Thanks for sharing this tips.
    XO

    Reply
  14. Richa Gupta

    March 18, 2015 at 3:00 am

    I guess this is exactly the same as making Ghee or Clarified Butter. Every Indian Household does this at least once a month :)

    Reply
    • jeff

      November 22, 2016 at 4:21 am

      Richa Gupta, the difference is, with clarified butter or ghee, you don’t use the brown bits. You clarify the butter. Hence the name.

      Reply
  15. Beth

    March 18, 2015 at 2:43 am

    Excellent! Thank you! Can you post a picture of butter that’s gone too far?

    Reply
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