Brown Butter

Brown butter is butter heated until its milk solids toast and turn golden brown, creating a nutty, caramel-like aroma and flavour. In French cuisine it is called beurre noisette, meaning “hazelnut butter.” The flavour comes from browning the milk solids, not from adding nuts.

How to prepare brown butter

1. Cut butter into even pieces and place it in a saucepan over moderate heat.
2. Allow it to melt and foam as its water content evaporates.
3. Continue heating while swirling the pan; the milk solids will settle and begin to turn golden.
4. Remove from the heat when the solids are nut-brown and smell toasted.
5. Transfer promptly to stop residual heat from burning the solids.

Uses in savoury and sweet cooking

Brown butter is used with sage for pasta and gnocchi, as a finish for fish and vegetables, and in baking for financiers, madeleines, cookies and cakes. Its toasted flavour can add depth to both sweet and savoury dishes.

Brown butter versus clarified butter

Brown butter retains its toasted milk solids, which provide much of its flavour. Clarified butter has the water and milk solids removed and has a higher smoke point than whole butter. Brown butter and beurre noisette are the same basic preparation; beurre noir is a darker, more intensely cooked variation.

Chef’s tip: Use a light-coloured pan and watch the solids closely near the end. They can move from golden to burnt very quickly. If a recipe requires only the flavoured fat, strain the brown butter while it is still warm.

Key distinction: Brown butter is butter with toasted milk solids; it is not simply melted butter or clarified butter.