Tutorial Tuesday: How to Brown Butter

I haven’t done a Tutorial Tuesday in a long, looooooooooong time. I sort of gave them up, to an extent, because a lot of the stuff I do on a regular basis is filled with tutorial instructions, so they were spread out over time, rather than just on Tuesdays. However, today is an actual tutorial.

A lot of people have asked me how to brown butter since I posted my Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, so that’s another good reason for a real life Tutorial Tuesday.

Now, I realize there’s about two million and one tutorials all over the inter webs that tell you how to brown butter, but it’s nice to have all of the information in one place. Plus, I’m posting a crazy-good new recipe tat uses browned butter later this week, so this is a good thing.

Let’s get started.

Pick a pan. If you have a cute little pan that you never get to use for much of anything, except making browned butter, then I suggest you use that one.

A lot of people tend to use larger, shallower pans, which I get; the butter tends to brown a bit faster since it’s more evenly distributed over the heat.

But I like my witto enamel pan. The end.

Oh…also, I like to cut the butter up into chunks. You don’t have to, but it does melt a lot faster if you do. Your call. I prefer to use unsalted butter, but you can use either. I like the versatility of unsalted butter.

Turn the heat on your burner to about medium high heat. You’re going to need to cook the water out of the butter before it will start to brown, so you need to bring it to a light boil.

As soon as the butter starts to simmer, grab a whisk and start stirring. I whisk the whole time, because it keeps the butter solids moving and allows them to brown more evenly.

Just before all of the water cooks out of the butter, it will become very foamy. Don’t worry…totally normal.

After 30 seconds or so, the foaming with subside and the butter will become a little more condensed and yellow in color.

You can see here the difference in color and volume from the moment just before it starts foaming to the moment afterwards.

Keep simmering and whisking; you’ll start to see browned bits int he pan, and on the sides. Once you have a consistent golden brown color in the butter, remove the pan from the heat.

The butter will continue to brown as it sits in the pan, and it may have a bit of foam on top. Keep stirring the butter for about 30 seconds after you’ve removed it from the heat. Don’t worry if it gets very dark, it’s not burnt. You’ll know if it’s burnt. Trust me.

After a few minutes, the foam will dissipate, and you’ll be left with beautiful, caramely…

…fragrant, delicious browned butter.

You can use the butter immediately, for pretty much anything you want. I prefer to allow it to cool at least to room temperature before adding it to baked goods or frosting. Adding it while it’s still hot tends to cause a runnier batter or frosting, so I like the consistency I get from cooled butter.

You can also store the butter and use it as needed. I like to keep some in the refrigerator, and scoop out a teaspoon or two to cook with on occasion. Or I’ll nuke it for about 15 seconds, just long enough to liquify it, and mix up some cookies. Which is what I suggest you do. Today.

Might I suggest these?

Enjoy!