How to Make Honey Whipped Browned Butter

Whipped Honey Browned Butter made by Chef Matthew of Boarding Axe Kitchen displayed in a teal colored Le Cruiset decorative cocotte dish

This honey whipped browned butter is nutty, sweet, and luxurious—perfect for spreading on banana bread, muffins, or warm toast. Here's how to make it from scratch, and the whole process only takes 10-15 minutes.

What is Browned Butter?

Butter itself is an emulsification made up of mostly fat, water and some milk solids. It is often made by churning or agitating milk or cream. Think of an old fashioned butter churn, a stand mixer, or even just shaking a mason jar until the cream turns into butter in case anyone else has that grade school lesson burned into their memory.

Browned Butter, on the other hand, is much more than simply butter that has been given a brown color, and not to be confused with Clarified Butter. Through a gentle heating process, the water can be cooked out of the butter and the milk solids can be browned until they turn a caramel shade of brown. Light at first and darkening the longer that it is cooked.

Before researching for this recipe, I would have guessed that in French Browned Butter was probably called Buerre Brun, or something similar. However, my French is atrocious and it is actually called Beurre Noisette. Which is more like Hazelnut Colored Butter, or Nut-Brown Butter. This is more than just a neat factoid, but it gives us better insight into the color that we are hoping to achieve when making our Browned Butter because the change from beautifully browned and aromatic butter and a darker bitter mess happens fast if you are not careful.

The cooking process takes a solid butter and using heat, turns it into a liquid where the water is removed as steam and the milk solids settle to the bottom and brown, very quickly, if you are not paying attention, it is easy to burn.

Nutritional Information: Honey Whipped Browned Butter

The provided nutritional information has been compiled from various online sources and should be regarded as an estimate. Actual nutritional values may vary based on factors such as specific ingredients used, variations in portion sizes, and individual preparation methods. It is advisable to consider these numbers as general guidelines rather than precise measurements. For accurate nutritional information, it is recommended to consult with a registered dietitian or utilize specialized nutritional analysis tools based on the exact ingredients and quantities used in your preparation.

• Serving Size: Appx. 1 Tablespoon

• Calories: 105

• Protein: 0 g

• Fat: 11 g

• Net Carbohydrates: 1.5 g

Honey Whipped Browned Butter Ingredients and Utensils

Compared to the rich complexity of the finished product, browned butter has such a short and simple list of ingredients. You will need some butter, this recipe uses a whole stick. You will also need a pot or a pan to heat the butter in and you will need a stirring implement such as a silicone spatula. If you are in a pinch, or stranded on a desert island in some cooking reality TV challenge, you could get by with only this.

However, you can amplify your Browned Butter by whipping it and tailoring it specifically towards what you plan to pair it with. This can be done by pouring the Browned Butter off into a double bowl filled with ice to cool it off and stop the cooking process. Add your additional ingredients and then whip by hand or with a mixer. The butter will solidify as it cools, and you will have yourself a whipped and flavored browned butter. Honey makes an excellent addition.

Ingredients

• 1 Stick of Butter (1/2 cup), you could use salted or unsalted

• 2 tsp Honey

• A couple of drops of Vanilla Extract

Utensils

• Medium-Sized Saucepan

• Silicone Spatula

• Small and Medium Sized Mixing Bowls

• Whisk

• Crock or Cocotte

• Spreading Knife

How to Make Honey Whipped Browned Butter (Step-by-Step)

Before you start. For mise en place, set out a mixing bowl partially filled with ice, and add a second, slightly smaller bowl nestled on top. This will become the opposite of a double boiler, and make a…. double chiller? The ice in the bottom bowl cools the bottom of the top bowl where we will pour and whip the butter later. A jar of honey, and a bottle of vanilla will be used for this specific recipe and we will just whip it by hand with a whisk.

Step 1. Add 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter to a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. There is no need to preheat the pan. The butter will melt as the pan warms and allow you time to set out your other ingredients.

Step 2. As the butter melts, it is important to regularly stir both the melting butter and the liquid. The cooking process turns the solid butter into a liquid. The water then steams off while the milk solids settle to the bottom and brown. If you are not paying attention, it can burn quickly.

Step 3. After the butter has completely melted, you may begin to see the faint whisps and tendrils of steam rise as the water portion of the butter is converted from a liquid and released as steam. At this stage the top of the melted butter may also begin to foam.

Step 4. The milk solids will become visible at the bottom of the pan and will look almost like little balls. At this stage it is important to pay close attention and make sure that you do not let the milk solids burn. They will begin to brown lightly at first and then turn darker and darker the longer that you cook them.

Step 5. As the milk solids and the liquid fat begin to reach that almond, nut-brown color of Beurre Noisette, it will become fragrant. Once you begin to smell a rich and sweet caramel or toffee smell, it is the signal that browned butter is nearly finished cooking. From here, it is a matter of preference how long you continue cooking. The longer that you cook, the darker the butter will brown, just be careful not to burn it.

Step 6. Add the browned butter to the bowl waiting in the chilled ice. Scrape the saucepan clean because you don’t want to waste a drop. Browned butter is used to elevate so many cooking and baking dishes it is wild. From here you can add your extra ingredients and begin whisking. This recipe will add just a couple of drops of vanilla extract (I am partial to that stuff you make in the back of the cabinet by adding vanilla beans to cheap liquor and forgetting about it for 6 months), and 2 teaspoons of honey.

Step 7. Whip the butter. Using the whisk, whip in a circular motion that is more up and down than it is left to right. Similar to whisking scrambled eggs, because this is a whipped butter and we want to work air into it as it slowly begins to cool and solidify. This is finished once the browned butter is back into a solid state. This only takes a minute or two. If you continue whisking, the ice will continue cooling it down and it will go from light and fluffy, to hard solid butter like when you get a new stick out of the fridge. It will still taste magical, it will just not be the same texture.

Step 8. Because I am a sucker for presentations, I love transferring this into a decorative crock or cocotte dish with a fancy spreading knife. Then use this anywhere you would use honey butter. This specific dish was paired with Banana Bread, but it could top any number of muffins, scones or toast that you could think of.

The taste is sweet. It has nutty notes of toffee or caramel and you can see the little flecks of the browned butter solids in the crock. It is fancy and complements any number of baked goods, and if you don’t whip it, it elevates any cooking you replace the regular butter with browned butter in, cookies in particular are spectacular with this substitution.

Spread this Whipped Honey Browned Butter on: 

• All kinds of breads, sourdoughs, cinnamon raisin, banana, zucchini, etc. 

• Toast

• Muffins

• Scones

• Biscuits

• Croissants

• Most any handheld sweet baked good you can imagine