This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Butter is delicious but have you tried whipped brown butter? This is so incredibly delicious, you will be making this on repeat once you’ve tried it. Brown butter is a game changer – cooked until it takes on a gorgeous nutty flavour. This is amazing added to cookie dough, or banana bread but works equally well in savoury dishes. It can transform a plain piece of fish into something truly spectacular. So you could stop there but why would you when you could then whip it? By whipping it you get this thick and creamy texture. It’s so easy and so good. Sprinkle in a little flakey salt, and slather on toast or Hot Cross Buns this Easter. It’s so simple and only takes less than 10 minutes to make it.
You can either do this by hand or use an electric whisk. I would recommend using an electric whisk because it does take 5 minutes or so for the butter to thicken so it’s a fair amount of elbow grease.
You can use salted or unsalted butter. Whenever I’m cooking, or baking in particular, I tend to use unsalted butter and then add in salt as and when I need it. I just find this is the best way of being able to control the amount of salt in the finished dish but of course, you can use salted butter if that’s what you have to hand.
For browning the butter it is really very simple. You are going to melt the butter over a gentle heat until it begins to foam. It will bubble away and you will begin to smell a slightly nutty flavour, this when the browning happens and when you will get the amazing flavour that comes with brown butter. Be confident and allow it to brown enough so you get a rich dark colour and flavour. But be warned that there is a fine line between browned butter and burnt butter, so as soon as you’re happy with it, remove it from the heat and pour into bowl to stop the cooking process. You can either then pop it in the fridge or freezer to cool down, or place it over a bowl of ice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Brown butter is melted butter that has been taken just past the point of melted to “brown it”. When you melt butter, you tend to get a separation of the milk solids (the white specks) and the yellow liquid, the butterfat. When you brown the butter, you toast the milk solids so they turn a golden brown which gives the whole thing a nutty flavour. You also see this method in baking, like in this chocolate chip cookie skillet.
Brown butter works well with sweet and savoury; whipping it gives it a delicious thick texture that smears beautifully onto toast, banana bread, hot cross buns, crumpets. It would be delicious on pancakes or waffles. You could also baste a lovely piece of fish or meat with the brown butter or melt it into pasta. It fits into lots of different categories. Of course, if you’ve added cinnamon to it or vanilla, I wouldn’t recommend adding it to savoury dishes.
Other recipes you may like
Whipped Garlic Brown Butter
Garlic Butter Chicken Thighs
Brown Butter and Sage Gnocchi
Fluffy Banana Pancakes
Classic Crumpet Recipe
Easy Whipped Brown Butter
Ingredients
- 250 g unsalted butter
- pinch of Maldon sea salt
- you could also add a splash of vanilla, a dash of maple syrup or small pinch of cinnamon – these all work really well and are so good.
Instructions
- For the butter, heat it gently in a pan. It will melt and then foam. Keep stirring and after a few minutes you will get a lovely nutty smell and the butter will begin to turn brown. It’s easiest to use a light coloured pan so you can keep an eye on it. There is a fine line between a dark beurre noisette and it getting burnt – so keep an eye on it!
- Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Place this bowl over ice, or you can pop it in the fridge or freezer to cool down.
- Then simply whisk for about 5 minutes by hand or quicker with a electric whisk until it goes lovely and creamy and thick.
- Add a sprinkling of Maldon flakey sea salt if you like and enjoy!
