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Whipped Brown Butter

Makes about 1.5 cups| Ready in 15 mins
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Deliciously nutty and caramelised brown butter, whipped to soft, creamy peaks. Ready to add a flavour bomb to anything from sourdough to steaks to sweets!

Whipped Brown Butter

If you’re looking for a condiment that’s level 10 fancy that you can 'whip up' in 15 minutes, whipped brown butter is the secret ingredient, flavour bomb, gourmet hack you’ve been looking for. Best news, it’s so easy. Not kidding, after I made this whipped brown butter recipe for the first time, I was actually sad that I had lived so much of my life without it, because it’s so simple to make and damn tasty.

After you make this, you’ll be looking for reasons to add it to everything. The great news is, you can! Butter goes with basically everything, and this whipped brown butter takes the flavour to a new level of deliciousness. Just avoid using it in recipes where you need butter before the water has been cooked out, e.g some baking. But use liberally on things like fresh bread, finishing cooking meat like steaks and seafood, add to veggies, like this charred corn recipe, and even adding to sweet things like crumpets and omg, whipped brown buttered noodles - a revelation.

A note on the brown bits. I leave them in! They taste caramelly and delicious. You can take the butter to a very dark (quite burnt) level when cooking and strain out the burnt bits with a coffee filter for a completely smooth whip, but we want the EASY version, so instead, I like to take the butter to a nice deep brown colour and whip it all together as it.

Frequently asked questions
What is brown butter?

Brown butter is literally just butter that is melted down, and cooked so that the water evaporates and the milk solids cook in the fat and become toasted and caramelised.

Can I add flavour to whipped brown butter?

Absolutely! You can add maple syrup, vanilla, spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, or go for a savoury brown butter and add roasted garlic or herbs.

Do you use salted or unsalted butter?

I use salted in this recipe. I like the level of salt that permeates the butter. But you can also use unsalted butter and add in your desired salt amount.

My butter went solid when I was whipping, help!

Don’t worry, you’re good. To get it back to the soft whip stage, just put the bowl over a pot of boiling water, and allow the steam to melt the butter slightly, take it off the heat as soon as it begins to soften and whip. If it becomes tooo melted, chuck it back over the ice bowl until it begins to thicken up.

How do I store whipped brown butter?

Store on the bench if the weather is mild enough, or in the fridge. It will become solid in the fridge, so I advise rolling it on some baking/parchment paper so that you can cut off rounds of butter as you need them.

Ingredients and substitutions

Butter and Ice
Butter
I prefer salted but you can use unsalted butter and add salt
Ice
to chill the butter

How to make it - step by step!

Ice in a bowl
1. Get your ice

Fill a large bowl with ice.

Butter starting to melt in a pan
2. Melt the butter

Melt butter in a pan on medium low heat, stirring occasionally.

Melted butter bubbling
3. Caramelise the butter

The butter will begin to bubble and crackle, then foam and brown specs will begin to form on the bottom. Stir the butter at this point to keep an eye that it doesn’t go black. You want a dark brown colour but not so dark that it is burnt.

Melted butter being added to a bowl
4. Add melted butter to bowl

Place a clean bowl over your bowl of ice. Pour your butter into the clean bowl.

Whipping melted brown butter over ice
5. Whip butter

Whisk for a couple of minutes until you have a slightly thickened creamy mixture with a little bit of structure but not fully whipped. Remove from the ice bowl, if you leave it too long it can solidify. (If it does, it’s easy to bring back to a soft whip texture.

A bowl of whipped brown butter
6. Serve or store

or store on the bench or in the refrigerator if the temperature is hot. Note it will go hard in the fridge (like butter normally would).

Watch the how to video

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Whipped Brown Butter

Cook Time
15 mins
Prep Time
0 mins
Makes
about 1.5 cups
Deliciously nutty and caramelised brown butter, whipped to soft, creamy peaks. Ready to add a flavour bomb to anything from sourdough to steaks to sweets!
  • 250g salted butter (or as much as you like)
  • 3 cups of ice
Category - Cooking basics
Cuisine - French inspired
Skill Level - Super easy
Other categories -
Cooking basics, Appetizers, Entertaining, Sides, Christmas, Vegetarian
Nutritional information
Calories 224.1 kcal11%
Carbohydrates 0.0 g0%
Sodium 205.4 mg9%
Magnesium 1.5 mg0%
Protein 0.3 g1%
Sugar 0.0 g0%
Calcium 10.2 mg1%
Vitamin A 16%
Fat 25.3 g39%
Fiber 0.0 g0%
Iron 0.0 mg0%
Vitamin C 0%

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