Browned Butter Recipes

What Is Browned Butter?

Browned butter (called hazelnut butter or beurre noisette in French) is exactly what it sounds like: butter that’s been cooked until golden brown in color.

Regular butter has three components: butterfat, water, and milk solids. To brown butter, it has to be cooked over medium heat until the milk solids change color and become gently toasted.

The result is butter that’s a beautiful golden color with a rich, nutty flavor.

Unlike ghee or clarified butter, browned butter still contains all three of its original components — it’s simply been toasted for a few minutes.

What Does Browned Butter Taste Like?

Browned butter is lightly nutty in flavor, with all the richness of regular butter. This subtle nuttiness works well in both sweet and savory recipes.

However, if your browned butter tastes at all burnt, that’s because it is burnt! Always taste browned butter (after it’s cooled slightly) before adding it to a recipe, because if it’s burnt then you need to throw it away and start again.

Why Does Butter Become Brown?

Butter browns when the milk solids within it undergo the Maillard reaction, which simply refers to the breakdown of animal proteins.

As the butter is heated, the milk solids break down and begin to toast, which is what turns them brown.

How to Brown Butter

Browning butter is incredibly easy, but you need to watch your pan like a hawk. Butter can go from perfectly browned to burnt in a matter of seconds if you’re not careful! Check out this tutorial to learn how to brown butter.