Name: 5-Minute Brown Butter for Desserts and Pastries
Prep time: 1 min
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter (80% butterfat or higher, such as European-style); ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped*

Learn how to make delicious golden brown butter (called beurre noisette in French) in 5 minutes to use in your favorite dessert and pastry recipes. The secret? Adding a touch of vanilla bean to the browning butter, which amplifies its addictive flavor.

I'll show you how with my foolproof guide honed in over 20 years as a pastry chef. You'll be adding this exquisite baking component to chocolate chip cookies, madeleines, and other brown butter recipes in no time!

vanilla bean browned butter is in a measuring cup, cooling — Adding vanilla bean to brown butter is a total game-changer!

If you want to make any baked good taste absolutely amazing, you need brown butter in your baking repertoire. Cooking butter until the milk solids brown gives the butter notes of caramel, butterscotch, and toasted nuts thanks to the maillard reaction. Adding vanilla bean elevates its rich flavor with sweet, floral notes.

I learned to make brown butter at my first pastry cook job in the early 2000's. Called beurre noisette in French, named for its warm, nutty flavor with notes of hazelnut, this golden goodness adds beautiful depth to even the simplest of recipes.

Several years later, I tried adding vanilla bean to browning butter per The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle (affiliate link) and used it in these coconut macaroons and gluten-free hazelnut cake. Once I tried making it this way, I never looked back!

This vanilla bean brown butter is:

mind-bendingly delicious
filled with notes of caramel & butterscotch
redolent with sweet, floral undertones
easy to make in 5 minutes
so versatile – add it to any baked good you want to elevate!

I included this recipe in my cookbook where I used it in a creme fraiche peach tart and chestnut flour chocolate chip cookies. And now I'm happy to give it a home on TBG!

You can whisk this golden goodness into any dessert you like. I've shared it in chocolate chip cookies, gluten-free apple cake, and even brown butter granola – see below for more brown butter recipe inspiration. Tell me how you use it in the comments section, below!

warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies — Brown butter elevates these thick, chewy oat flour chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients

This golden deliciousness uses just 1 or 2 ingredients. The vanilla bean is optional, but it adds the most addictive flavor, so very worth splurging on here!

See the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.

Butter: be sure to use a high-fat, European-style butter. My favorite butter to use for browning is Straus, which is organic, about 80% grass-fed, and made in California. but Kerrygold is a great option that's widely available too.
- Can you brown vegan butter? Sometimes you can! Try this with Miyoko's plant butter, which is rich and delicious, much like dairy butter.
Vanilla bean: a little of this expensive ingredient goes a long way, but they're much more affordable if you order them in bulk rather than buying a single bean in a grocery store.
- If you don't have one or want to cut costs, brown the butter by itself, and add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to recipes to replace 1 vanilla bean along with the liquid ingredients in the recipe.

TBG Tip: reuse the vanilla bean by rinsing and drying it, then stick it in a jar of sugar to flavor it, or use it to make vanilla extract.

Method

Browning butter is so easy to do and it only takes about 5 minutes. Just be sure to watch the butter closely so you don't end up with burned butter (which happens to the best of us!) See the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.

a vanilla bean is being split in half — If using a vanilla bean, carefully cut it in half lengthwise, then use the back of the knife to scrape the seeds from half of the pod.

vanilla and butter are in a pot, ready to brown — Place the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan (this will help prevent scorching) along with the vanilla pod and seeds. TIP: use a light-colored pan so you can see the color of the butter more easily.

the finished brown butter is golden, with dark specks from vanilla bean — Place the pot over medium-low heat and cook, swirling the pot occasionally, for 3-5 minutes, or until the butter foams up, smells nutty, and looks golden with some dark brown flecks on the bottom of the pan.

butter has been transferred to a measuring cup to stop the cooking — Pour the hot butter into a heat-proof vessel to stop the cooking. Let cool, then removed the vanilla pod and reserve for another use, such as vanilla sugar or vanilla extract.

What does brown butter taste like?

Brown butter has notes of caramel, butterscotch, and hazelnut thanks to the maillard reaction of the milk proteins combined with heat. When vanilla bean is added, sweet, floral notes elevate its rich flavor.

What does brown butter do in desserts?

Brown butter adds rich, deep flavor and notes of umami, caramel, and butterscotch to any dessert. Since browning the butter evaporates moisture, it also causes the butter to have a higher butterfat content.

How do I sub brown butter into other recipes?

Brown butter can be used interchangeably with butter in most recipes. For baked goods that are highly sensitive to small changes, such as drop cookies, it's best to measure the browned butter and add in a small amount of milk or water if need be to make up for any steam lost in the cooking process. You should have 113 grams or 1/2 cup of brown butter plus milk for every 8 tablespoons of butter called for in a recipe.

For recipes that use melted butter, let the brown butter cool slightly, 10-20 minutes at room temperature, then proceed with the recipe.
For recipes that use room temperature softened butter, place the brown butter in the fridge and stir every 5 minutes until it reaches the right consistency, about 30 minutes.
For recipes that use cold butter, chill the butter until solid, 1-2 hours.

How to Use

Beurre noisette adds massive depth of flavor to a variety of dishes. Here are some of my favorite ways to let it shine:

See more brown butter recipes.

Storage

Brown butter keeps beautifully refrigerated for up to 1 week and frozen for up to 2 months. At a restaurant where I worked in the pastry kitchen, we would make large batches and keep it chilled until needed. Then it was easy to use the butter cold, at room temperature, or melted.

brown butter has been placed in a jar to stop the cooking

Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this brown butter recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.

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