The Best Brown Butter Buttercream Frosting
Our Brown Butter Buttercream Frosting is a creamy and delicious buttercream frosting with an added nutty, toasty butter flavor that only can come from Brown Butter. So yummy and perfect for Fall desserts!
Brown Butter is so good. Buttery, nutty, and delicious. We tried it in our super popular Buttercream Frosting and WOW did it taste amazing! Rich and creamy and unique. Brown Butter Buttercream frosting would taste great on so many fall desserts. We can’t wait to try it on an apple cookie or a pumpkin cupcake! We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
How to Make the Brown Butter
Step 1: The first step is to make a batch of Brown Butter. Place 1/2 cup of butter in a skillet on medium heat. Melt the butter and then allow it to continue to simmer on medium heat. The melted butter will start to bubble and foam will appear and then brown crystals will begin to form. This is the good stuff.
Step 2: Stir every 30 seconds for about 6-7 minutes. This is what it should look like when it has reached the “brown butter” stage. It will be golden brown, with yummy bits of brown butter goodness floating in the melted butter. When you reach this stage take the brown butter off the heat and pour it into a glass bowl or measuring cup to cool on the counter, not the refrigerator. It should be ready in about an hour.
How to Make the Frosting
Step 3: Add the butter and the brown butter to a mixing bowl. Use a spatula and make sure you get every bit of the yummy brown butter solids into the mixing bowl. That’s the stuff that makes this frosting taste sooooo good. The regular butter should be “slightly softened” which is somewhere between just out of the refrigerator and room temperature.
Step 4: Mix the butter and the brown butter together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.) You really want the brown butter to meld with the butter to enhance the flavor of the frosting. Use a spatula to scrape the butter mixture down from the sides of the bowl.
Step 5: We use a food scale to measure 1 Pound of Powdered Sugar. If you don’t have a food scale, measure 4 cups instead. We normally do not sift the powdered sugar and instead rely on the mixer to do that work for us.
Step 6: Add the powdered sugar to the brown butter mixture in the mixing bowl.
Step 7: Here is a Two Sisters Tip – cover the mixer with a towel during this part of the mixing process to keep the powdered sugar from flying out of the mixer.
Step 8: Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy. If necessary, add 1 tablespoon of milk and mix until it is the frosting right consistency. Continue to add milk a teaspoon at a time until it is the right consistency.
Step 9: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS taste your frosting. You are trying to determine if the consistency is wrong and if it needs more milk.
How to Serve
How much frosting will you need? That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough Brown Butter Icing to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake or a two-layer 8″ cake. If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 24 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife. If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag, you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.
Expert Tips and FAQ’s
Frosting stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator should be good for up to a week. If you carefully wrap the frosting in order to avoid freezer burn, the frosting should be fine in the freezer for 3-4 months.
No, the frosting does not need to be refrigerated. For example, brownies frosted with this Brown Butter Frosting would be fine left out on the counter for 2-3 days if the pan was tightly covered with aluminum foil. That said, we usually refrigerate our frosted desserts to keep the baked good from going stale even if the frosting would be fine. We think frosting tastes best at room temperature so we will then remove the item from the refrigerator a couple of hours before we will serve them.
Add another teaspoon of milk and mix again. Continue to add the milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the frosting is the consistency that you like it
Temperature plays a big part in the consistency of frosting. A thin frosting could mean that the butter has gotten overworked and is too melted. The first thing to do is refrigerate the frosting for an hour and then check to see if the frosting has set back up again. If not, the next step is to add more powdered sugar or cornstarch. Start with either 1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar or 1 tablespoon of Cornstarch. Mix again and see if the consistency is better.
Yes. You can use Half n’ Half or Whipping Cream or even almond milk or another milk substitute.
Other Frosting Recipes You Will Love
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The Best Brown Butter Buttercream Frosting
Our Brown Butter Buttercream Frosting is a creamy and delicious buttercream frosting with an added nutty, toasty butter flavor that only comes from Brown Butter. So yummy and perfect for Fall desserts!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup melted Brown Butter
- 1/2 cup Softened Butter (We use Salted Sweet Cream Butter)
- 1 pound (4 cups) Powdered Sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons Milk (as needed)
Instructions
- The first step is to make a batch of Brown Butter. Place 1/2 cup of butter in a skillet on medium heat. Melt the butter and then allow it to continue to simmer on medium heat. The melted butter will start to bubble and foam will appear and then brown crystals will begin to form. This is the good stuff.
- Stir every 30 seconds for about 6-7 minutes. This is what it should look like when it has reached the "brown butter" stage. It will be golden brown, with yummy bits of brown butter goodness floating in the melted butter. When you reach this stage take the brown butter off the heat and pour it into a glass bowl or measuring cup to cool on the counter, not the refrigerator. It should be ready in about an hour.
- Add the butter and the brown butter to a mixing bowl. Use a spatula and make sure you get every bit of the yummy brown butter solids into the mixing bowl. That's the stuff that makes this frosting taste sooooo good. The regular butter should be "slightly softened" which is somewhere between just out of the refrigerator and room temperature.
- Mix the butter and the brown butter together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.) You really want the brown butter to meld with the butter to enhance the flavor of the frosting. Use a spatula to scrape the butter mixture down from the sides of the bowl.
- We use a food scale to measure 1 Pound of Powdered Sugar. If you don’t have a food scale, measure 4 cups instead. We normally do not sift the powdered sugar and instead rely on the mixer to do that work for us.
- Add the powdered sugar to the brown butter mixture in the mixing bowl.
- Here is a Two Sisters Tip – cover the mixer with a towel during this part of the mixing process to keep the powdered sugar from flying out of the mixer.
- Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy. If necessary, add 1 tablespoon of milk and mix until it is the frosting right consistency. Continue to add milk a teaspoon at a time until it is the right consistency.
- Taste your frosting. You are trying to determine if the consistency is wrong and if it needs more milk.
Notes
How much frosting will you need?
That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough Brown Butter Icing to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake or a two-layer 8″ cake. If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 24 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife. If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag, you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.
Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
