Brown Butter Frosting
This brown butter frosting is smooth, creamy, and made with just five ingredients! It pipes beautifully making it perfect for chocolate or vanilla cupcakes, but it’s also delicious spread on top of my homemade applesauce cake!
Say hello to my current frosting obsession – brown butter frosting!
This delicious creation is adapted from my homemade buttercream frosting, which has been a huge reader favorite for years. But, instead of just using regular butter we’re incorporating some browned butter.
The end result is a creamy frosting with a delicious toasted, nutty flavor. The best part? It’s made with just five ingredients (that’s including some vanilla and salt!) and it pipes like a dream.
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter: I recommend sticking with unsalted butter for this recipe. I found that only browning half of the butter added tons of flavor without being overpowering.
- Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioner’s sugar this is used to thicken and sweeten the frosting. If your sugar is lumpy, it helps to sift it before mixing it with the butter.
- Heavy Cream: This creates a thick and creamy frosting. Heavy cream is always best, but you may substitute it with half and half or milk.
- Vanilla Extract: Make sure to use pure vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla.
- Salt: To enhance the flavor of the brown butter and balance out the sweetness of the frosting. Feel free to add a little extra, if desired.
How To Make Brown Butter Frosting
To start, slice one stick of butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and place it in a light-colored skillet.
Place the skillet over medium-low heat until the butter is completely melted. Continue cooking and stirring often until the milk solids brown on the bottom of your skillet and you smell a nutty aroma.
Immediately remove the butter from the heat and pour it into a separate heat-safe dish (make sure to scrape out all of those tiny brown bits too!). Transfer to the refrigerator uncovered until the butter has solidified, but it’s not too cold.
Place the other stick of butter on the counter as well so that it can come to room temperature during this time.
If you’ve never browned butter before, I have a full tutorial on how to do it here. I promise it’s not too difficult.
Once the brown butter has solidified and the other stick of butter is softened, add them to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl) and beat until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar in two additions, making sure to mix well after each addition. The mixture will be pretty thick at this point, this is normal!
Next, add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt and continue mixing on low speed until fully combined.
If needed, use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and around the bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed together.
Smooth, creamy perfection!
The full recipe is enough to generously frost 12 to 14 cupcakes or a 9×13 cake. For a layered cake, I recommend increasing the recipe by half or even doubling it.
Different Ways To Use This Frosting
This brown butter frosting pairs well with so many different desserts! Here are a few different recipes that you can try it on:
Brown Butter Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter divided (230 grams; 2 sticks)
- 3 cups powdered sugar (360 grams)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream (30 to 45 ml)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Tiny pinch of salt
Instructions
- Slice ½ cup (115 grams) of the butter into tablespoon sized pieces and place it in a light-colored skillet or saucepan.
- Place the skillet over medium-low heat until the butter is completely melted.
- Continue cooking, stirring the butter often with a rubber spatula. Once the butter is melted it will start to bubble/sputter, then become foamy. After that, small bits of milk solids will fall to the bottom of the pan, then quickly start to brown. The butter is browned once you see these brown bits of milk solids on the bottom of the pan and smell a nutty-aroma. If needed, you can increase the heat to medium to speed up the browning process.
- Immediately remove the skillet from the heat and pour the butter into a heat-proof dish. Make sure to scrape out all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as well, this is where all of the flavor is at!
- Transfer to the refrigerator uncovered until the butter is solidified, but not too cold. If the browned butter gets too cold, just place it back on the counter so that it can come to room temperature before mixing together the frosting. Place the other stick of butter on the counter to soften during this time.
- Once the browned butter and butter have come to room temperature, add them to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer). Beat the butters together on medium speed until smooth.
- Mix in half of the powdered sugar on low speed until fully combined, then mix in the remaining half of the powdered sugar.
- Add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and salt and mix on low-medium speed until fully combined, making sure to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Use to frost cupcakes, cakes, etc.
