Brown butter buttercream is a classic buttercream recipe with the added nutty, caramel-y flavor of brown butter. It goes perfectly with a variety of desserts and takes your buttercream up a notch!
There’s no better way to finish off a delicious dessert than with an excellent buttercream. It can fade into the background, or it can be center stage and truly add something to your masterpiece, which is exactly what this brown butter buttercream does. Take my classic vanilla buttercream and step it up by browning the butter before you turn it into buttercream. Use it just like any other buttercream to frost your cakes, cupcakes, cookies and more.
What is Brown Butter?
If you’ve never made brown butter before, it really isn’t hard, but it does require your attention. You take butter, melt it and gently cook and brown it on the stove. As the melted butter cooks, the water content evaporates and the milk solids in the butter turn golden brown. It only takes about 10 minutes to make and has a nutty and caramel-like flavor and smell. Because the water evaporates, you lose about 20-25% of your butter volume, depending on the butter brand. That’s why this buttercream has more butter and less powdered sugar than my typical vanilla buttercream – to offset the loss of water and volume.
When you make buttercream with brown butter, that nutty, caramel-y flavor becomes center stage. This buttercream is decadent and delicious. It takes a little longer than regular buttercream, because of the cooking and cooling of the butter, but it’s totally worth it. It’s perfect for piping, frosting cupcakes and cookies, covering cakes and more.
How To Make Brown Butter Buttercream
You can find more extensive instructions in the recipe card below, but here’s a look at the process. You’ll start by browning the butter.
Add butter to a light-colored pan over medium-low heat and melt, stirring continuously.
Turn the heat up to medium and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. The look of the butter will change as it boils.
The butter will develop a dense foam on top once the water has all evaporated. Stir constantly so that the butter browns evenly and milk solids don’t settle on the bottom of the pan and burn.
The foam will subside a bit and you’ll see brown bits on the bottom. Stir so you can see through the foam to see when the butter starts to brown. It’ll smell buttery and nutty. I like to stir a touch longer to get plenty of brown bits, just be careful not to burn it.
Set aside to cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools and become more solid. The butter usually settles on top, with the brown bits on bottom. (hot brown butter on left, cooled brown butter on right)
Add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
Add half of the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, then, 1-2 tablespoons of cream. Add the remaining powdered sugar and more cream until desired consistency is reached. Add salt, if desired.
Tips for Best Results
- Temperature – Make sure the brown butter is at room temperature. If too warm, your buttercream will be too soft. If too cold, it won’t mix properly.
- Heavy cream – I like using heavy whipping cream in my buttercream, but you can also use milk, or even water. You just won’t need as much of either of those. They will thin the buttercream out more quickly.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter and add my own salt, but feel free to use salted butter and leave out the added salt. Just keep in mind your buttercream may be little on the salty side.
- Vanilla – I like the brown butter to shine, so I don’t use a lot of vanilla. Feel free to increase it to your liking.
- Adjust consistency – If your buttercream is too thick, add another tablespoon or so of heavy whipping cream. If it’s too thin, you can add additional powdered sugar. If it seems too thin, also notice if it’s too warm – then you’d want to refrigerate it.
How Much Does It Make?
This recipe makes about 2 1/2 cups of buttercream, but if you were to adjust powdered sugar amounts, it could be more or less. For cupcakes, that should cover about 12 cupcakes, if you swirl it high onto the cupcake. If you just use a thinner layer of frosting on your cupcakes, it should cover about 24 cupcakes. As for cakes, this heavily depends on the size of the cake and how much frosting you typically use. I use a lot, so I’d likely double (or more) this recipe for a three layer 8-inch cake.
Ways to Use Brown Butter Buttercream
The flavor profile goes especially well with fall-flavored desserts, but there are a variety of ways to use this buttercream throughout the year, as well.
- Use it with apple desserts, like my apple snickerdoodle cupcakes, applesauce cake or cinnamon apple cake.
- For seasonal desserts, like my pumpkin cupcakes, easy pumpkin cake, gingerbread cupcakes, or spice cake.
- With other great treats like my banana cupcakes, carrot cake, sugar cookie bars or oatmeal raisin cookie cake.
- Add it to your vanilla cake, vanilla cupcakes, molasses cookies or sugar cookies.
How To Store
- Room temperature – The buttercream can sit at room temperature for up to 48 hours, then should be refrigerated.
- Fridge – Store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a month. It will get very firm when cold. Bring it back to room temperature and stir it up before using.
- Freezer – It can be frozen in an air-tight container for up to 3 months. Thaw it and give it a good stir before using.
Brown Butter Buttercream
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (336g) unsalted butter
- 3 cups (345g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Note: The butter will brown quickly once it starts to turn brown, so don’t walk away from the stove. Have a bowl ready to pour it into once it’s done, so it doesn’t continue to cook and burn.
- Add the butter to a light-colored pan over medium-low heat and allow to melt, stirring continuously. Turn the heat up to medium and allow it to come to a boil, again stirring constantly.
- The butter will change as it boils, finally getting a dense foam on top once the water has all evaporated. Stir constantly so that the butter browns evenly and milk solids don’t settle on the bottom of the pan and burn.Stirring also allows you to see through the foam to see when the butter starts to brown. The foam will subside a bit and you’ll notice brown bits on the bottom of the pan. It’ll smell buttery and nutty. I like to stir a touch longer to get plenty of brown bits, just be careful not to burn it (keep stirring!).
- Immediately remove from the heat and pour the brown butter into a heatproof bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools and become more solid, but still be soft, at room temperature. Ify ou want to prep the brown butter ahead, you can refrigerate it and bring it room temperature before using it. The butter usually settles on top, with the brown bits on bottom.
- To make the buttercream, add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Add about half of the powdered sugar and the vanilla extract and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of cream and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add more cream until desired frostingconsistency is reached. If you’d like, add a pinch of salt. It cuts backthe sweetness a bit and brings out the flavors in the buttercream.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Hi Lindsay,
In making the buttercream, when you say butter, does it mean the whole
mixture including the brown bits? I just want to make sure I understand it this
way.
Thanks.
I’m not sure I understand your question. The butter before being browned would not have brown bits. After being browned, yes, I would be referring to the butter including the brown bits. You want to include the brown bits in the buttercream. Does that help?