Browned butter

Butter that has been cooked until its milk solids turn golden brown, giving it a nutty, toasty flavor. Also called brown butter or beurre noisette.

Browned butter: A light-colored saucepan of nutty browned butter with golden-brown milk solids at the bottom
  • Baking ingredients and additives

Also called: brown butter, beurre noisette

As butter cooks, its water boils off and the milk solids brown through the Maillard reaction. Butter loses roughly 15 to 20% of its weight as water evaporates, so some recipes add a little milk or water back when swapping it for regular butter.

To brown butter, melt it in a light-colored pan over medium heat, swirling, until it smells nutty and the solids turn golden brown, then pour it into a bowl to stop it from burning.

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Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Browned butter (Q1364507), Wikidata