Beurre Noisette (Brown Butter) Recipe

Discover all the tips, tricks, and techniques of how to brown butter without burning and make perfect beurre noisette (aka hazelnut butter). Due to its delicate hazelnut flavor, it is perfect for adding to your favorite desserts. Grab a step-by-step guide on how to make brown butter like a pro!

If you ever decide to whip up French pastries like financiers or madeleines, you may stumble upon a peculiar ingredient in the recipe - beurre noisette or brown butter.

Jump to:

• What is brown butter?
• Brown butter vs. clarified butter
• Why you should try this recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make beurre noisette or brown butter
• Expert Tips
• Storing and freezing
• What are the brown specks in brown butter?
• Should you strain brown butter? 
• Substituting brown butter with butter
• Ways to use brown butter
• Recipe FAQ
• Love brown butter desserts? Try these next!
• Recipe card
• Comments

But do not panic if you do not have any on hand, as making it yourself is incredibly easy.

All you need is regular butter, a pan, a spatula, and 10 minutes of your time. Simply heat the butter until it turns deep golden brown and develops a nutty taste and aroma; voilà, you have a beurre noisette.

The nutty flavor adds an extra layer of richness to your baked goods and elevates them to a whole new level.

What is brown butter?

Brown butter (beurre noisette) is a heated caramelized butter that takes amber brown color with aromatic notes of roasted hazelnuts. During the cooking process, the water evaporates, and the milk protein (casein) caramelizes, giving in a delightful hazelnut flavor.

Brown butter gets its name from its color, hazelnut butter - from its particular taste.

Beurre noisette is a French term that means hazelnut butter, where 'beurre' means butter and 'noisette' - hazelnut.

Brown butter vs. clarified butter

Brown butter (butter noisette) is melted and gently caramelized butter with a unique roasted hazelnut flavor, while clarified butter is melted butter with the foam and whey removed.

Why you should try this recipe

• Beurre noisette recipe is a simple basic recipe, a must for home or professional bakers.

• It takes 10 minutes flat to make the brown butter.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Butter: Use sweet or salted butter with 82% fat content. However, be aware that salted butter produces more foam. So, closely monitor any color changes while heating. Avoid vegetable butter.

Note: Pay close attention to the butter as a recipe ingredient. The recipes usually list the butter amount in a solid state while requiring making brown butter out of it.

Due to water evaporation, the butter loses its volume: the final volume of brown butter is not identical to the initial volume of butter. A standard US stick of butter equal to 8 tablespoons (113 g) will yield approximately 5.5-6 tablespoons (83 g) of brown butter.

How to make beurre noisette or brown butter

Step 1. Start browning butter by cutting butter into equally sized small pieces. Butter pieces of equivalent size will melt faster and cook at the same rate.

Step 2. Place butter in a light-colored heavy-bottomed saucepan (or frying pan) to easily monitor the color changes and mild sediments.

Step 3. Melt butter over low or medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. At first, the butter will melt and get opaque (photo 1); continue stirring.

Pro tip: Alternatively, gently swirl the butter mixture in the pan, holding it by the handle in a circular motion.

Step 4. Then the butter will start to sputter or "sing" and turn yellow (photo 2). You will hear a crackling noise which will gradually decrease. 

This stage means the water evaporates, indicating that the water content is evaporating and the fat is popping.

Pro tip: Decrease the heat if necessary. Be careful with standing close: the butter may spit. Also, listen to the butter sounds: as long as it sings, it is not ready. But as soon as silence returns, get ready to stop cooking.

Step 5. The next stage of melting butter is forming a white foam out of casein, a milk protein. The butter will get a golden color (photos 3-4). Continue mixing it. 

Pro tip: If you have a cooking thermometer, you can follow the butter browning process. The melting point of butter is 104°F (40°C), it boils at 158°F (70°C), and water evaporates at 212°F (100°C).

Step 6. Finally, the butter will turn on a beautiful chestnut-amber color (aka noisette color) with golden bits on the bottom of the pan (photos 5-6) and a hazelnut flavor.

Pro tip: The butter at 248°F (120°C) turns on a brown color and hazelnut flavor. If heated over 248°F (120°C), it risks burning and becomes unfit for consumption. So it is wise enough to use a cooking thermometer.

Step 7. Immediately transfer the butter to a cold heatproof bowl to stop cooking from the residual heat. You can also add a small piece of cold butter to stop the cooking.

Pro tip: Alternatively, you can immerse the bottom of the saucepan in icy cold water.

Step 8. To remove the brown bits of the liquid butter, let it sit for 3 minutes so the suspended particles settle to the bottom. Then pass it through a fine-mesh sieve or Chinois strainer into the bowl.

Pro tip: Alternatively, strain the browned butter with a coffee filter.

Step 9. Leave it to cool to room temperature. Use it in a liquid state, or reserve it in the refrigerator and use it in a solid state.

Expert Tips

1. Opt for a light-colored heavy-bottomed saucepan. The light-colored pan makes it easy to see the color changes, while the heavy bottom ensures even heat distribution.
2. Make sure to cut the butter into pieces for even cooking.
3. Always heat the butter over medium low heat and watch the cooking closely. 
4. Continue stirring all the time to see the color of the mixture under the bubbles.
5. Keep an eye on the butter and trust your senses: watch out for the butter color change, the appearance of browned milk solids, and the smell of roasted hazelnuts.
6. Be careful with butter spits and splashes. Do not touch the contents of the pan. Wear a long-sleeve shirt.
7. Take the pan off the heat once the golden brown color is reached. You must stop cooking; otherwise, it will continue to brown and thus burn. Carbonization will result in burnt butter or black butter (beurre noir). You cannot use it for baking.
8. Remember that the best way to brown butter without burning is to use a cooking thermometer.

Storing and freezing

Store brown butter in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Can you freeze brown butter? You can freeze it for up to 3 months. Pour beurre noisette into an ice cube tray and let it freeze. Place the cubers in a freezer bag, label them, and store them in the freezer for up to three months. 

When you need it, melt the cubes of butter gently in the microwave oven or in a saucepan over low heat.

What are the brown specks in brown butter?

Brown specks in brown butter are caramelized milk solids. They result from the amalgamation of milk proteins (casein) through precipitation and caramelization reaction of the sugars (lactose).

It is called a pyrolytic chemical reaction (different from the Maillard reaction), which brings typical brown color and unique aroma to the butter.

Should you strain brown butter? 

You can take an extra step and filter brown butter to remove residual brown flecks. But should you strain it not?

If you use hazelnut butter for baking or in a cooked preparation, you don't need to filter brown butter solids. Make sure to scrape those from the bottom of the pan for the most beautiful aroma. Filter beurre noisette when coating the dishes for an appealing aesthetic.

Substituting brown butter with butter

Use brown butter in any recipe that calls for butter, melted or solid.

• If a baking recipe calls for '100 g melted butter,' swap it for brown butter in a 1:1 ratio.
• If a recipe calls for '100 g butter, melted,' keep in mind that browning the butter will result in some moisture loss. The amount of melted butter out of 100 g of solid butter isn't the same as that of brown butter out of 100 g of butter. To compensate, add 1-2 tablespoons of butter before browning or 1 tablespoon of water or milk after browning.

To substitute softened butter in a recipe, use brown butter in solid form. Simply make brown butter, pour it into a jar, and let it solidify in the fridge.

Ways to use brown butter

Brown butter is a delicious and versatile staple of French cuisine.

• It is used in many preparations, such as classic financiers, French madeleines, crepes, and other recipes requiring regular melted butter.

• Beurre noisette is amazing for making chocolate chip cookies, scones, muffins, blondies, a pie crust, and even brown butter buttercream.

• Adding noisette butter to a cake batter (instead of melted butter) brings a wonderful nutty aroma and taste.

• On the salty side, hazelnut butter is perfect for flavoring meat, accompanying pan-fried fish, roasted or pureed vegetables, or making beurre noisette sauce (brown butter sauce).

• Add some lemon juice to make the famous meunière sauce, which goes well with white fish, shellfish, scallops, etc.

Recipe FAQ

Love brown butter desserts? Try these next!

• Pistachio financiers
• Raspberry financiers
• Blackberry friands
• Raspberry friands
• Or browse all the teacake recipes

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.