Ahh, browned butter! It elevates the flavor of many a recipe. Not a lot of work but it sometimes requires that you pre-plan the inclusion of Browned Butter for your dish.
If the butter is going into a hot recipe you can brown it at the time that you are assembling your other ingredients for mise en place.
If you will use it cold, as with cookie dough, it will need enough time to cool down to a creamable texture.
I have posted in my Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe that I brown my butter much darker than is generally called for. The darker browning brings out a stronger caramel like flavor that is a great enhancement to many sweets, and anything chocolate. You can brown your butter as dark as you like but I would recommend not to the point where it smells burned. If you end up burning the butter you will just have to throw it away and begin again.
Browned Butter
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Place cold butter in a small saucepan.
-
Turn on heat to medium low.
-
Let butter melt, then observe when it begins to foam.
-
Stir with a heat proof silicone spatula, moving the butter solids around in the bottom of the pan until they are a light caramel color. The foam will begin to subside.
-
Remove butter from heat and immediately pour into a heat-proof bowl. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate.
