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The nuttiness of brown butter pairs with the sweetness of powdered sugar in this decadent brown butter frosting. It’s incredible any time of year, but especially when used to top your favorite fall cakes and cupcakes.
I’m a big believer in taking my recipes and making them your own.
This is especially true with my cakes and cupcakes. I often give you cake and frosting pairings, but you should just consider those to be suggestions or starting points.
It’s the reason why I have so many different frosting recipes for you, from buttercream and cream cheese frosting to strawberry frosting and whipped cream frosting.
And today I’m sharing my newest favorite: brown butter frosting. I’ll give you some suggested ways to use it later in this post, but I really hope you’ll get creative. Feel free to use it however you like and make something brand new with it – that’s really the whole point of baking, after all!
NUTTY BROWN BUTTER FROSTING
I’ve got some really good news for you, friends. If you love my homemade buttercream frosting, I found a way to make it even better.
That’s right. My buttercream frosting has hundreds and hundreds of 5-star reviews, so you know it’s a big hit. So what could possibly make it even better?
Browning the butter.
If you’ve never browned butter before, the process caramelizes the milk solids in the butter and gives it a deep golden color and a nutty flavor. It is absolute liquid gold.
When you pair the nuttiness of brown butter with the sweetness of the powdered sugar in this frosting, you get something really special. I personally think the browned butter helps balance out the sweetness, so this might be a great option if you typically find buttercream to be a smidge too sweet for your liking.
I love the flavor of browned butter any time of year, but especially during the fall. I mean, it pairs so well with apples, pumpkin (like in brown butter pumpkin bread), maple (like in brown butter rice krispie treats), and more.
That means this brown butter frosting is incredible any time, but especially in the fall. I think it needs to make an appearance on your Thanksgiving dessert table this year!
HOW TO MAKE BROWN BUTTER FROSTING
If you know how to make buttercream frosting then you’re most of the way to knowing how to make this brown butter frosting. It’s so easy, I know it’ll become a popular recipe at your house!
Ingredients you’ll need
The list of ingredients for making brown butter frosting is the same as for making my standard buttercream. It’s the method that will make the difference in this recipe.
You’ll need:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
- Tiny pinch fine sea salt
- 1 ½ pounds powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Since we’ll be browning the butter, you don’t need to worry about letting it come to room temperature. Which is always nice for me, since I often forget to set my butter out ahead of time!
If you run out of powdered sugar, learn how to make powdered sugar so you can still enjoy this frosting any time.
When making buttercream, I often use clear vanilla extract to maintain the bright white color. Since we’re using browned butter in this recipe, we don’t need to worry about that. So feel free to use your favorite vanilla extract or even vanilla bean paste.
Cream or milk both work equally well in this recipe, so use whichever you have on hand or prefer.
Making this frosting
Before you begin, make sure you know how to brown butter. Add the butter to a saucepan over medium heat; once it is browned, pour it into a bowl and let it cool completely at room temperature.
Cooling the brown butter will take at least an hour. The butter will solidify but won’t harden.
Once the brown butter is solid again (but still soft), add it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or to a large mixing bowl paired with an electric hand mixer.
Add the salt and the powdered sugar to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture will come together as you mix it.
Add the vanilla and the milk or the cream. Mix on low until incorporated, then bump the mixer speed to medium-high and beat the frosting for 5 minutes. You want it to be light and fluffy.
If the frosting is thicker than you’d like, simply add a bit more milk one teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
Now you can use your delicious brown butter frosting however you like!
Halving this brown butter frosting recipe
This recipe makes enough frosting for 24 cupcakes or a 9-inch layer cake. It can also thickly frost a 13×9-inch sheet cake.
If you don’t need that much frosting, you can either freeze the rest for later (see below under “storage and freezing”) or just make a half batch.
For a half batch of brown butter frosting, you’ll need:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- Tiny pinch fine sea salt
- ¾ pound powdered sugar
- ½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Simply follow the same instructions as above, using these halved ingredient amounts.
USES
So how should you use your brown butter frosting?
You can pair it with any cake or cupcake recipe you like, but I think it goes really well with spiced cakes or any cake that would pair well with walnuts or pecans. (Remember, brown butter has a nutty flavor to it!)
It would be delicious on top of zucchini cake, banana cake, or banana cupcakes.
I think it’s amazing with apples and would be incredible on caramel apple cake, too.
I know that cream cheese frosting is the traditional choice for carrot cake, but this brown butter frosting would be a nice change of pace!
And we can’t forget pumpkin. Pumpkin spice cupcakes, pumpkin bundt cake, pumpkin bars, and even my nana’s pumpkin roll would all be extra delicious with brown butter frosting.
STORAGE AND FREEZING
If you want to make this brown butter frosting ahead of time, or have leftovers you want to keep, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Before using it, bring the frosting to room temperature and beat it with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes. This will help revive the texture and make it perfect for using again!
You can also freeze the frosting. Place it in an airtight container and press a layer of plastic wrap against the frosting for some extra protection. Freeze for up to a month.
Let the frosting thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Let it come to room temperature, then beat with an electric mixer for a few minutes. Add a splash of milk if needed to make it nice and smooth.
If you’re freezing a cake that’s already been covered with brown butter frosting, follow my directions for how to freeze cake.
Brown Butter Frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter
- Tiny pinch fine sea salt
- 1 ½ pounds powdered sugar 24 ounces; sifted
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, brown the butter per the instructions on how to brown butter. Once browned, pour the butter into a bowl and let cool completely at room temperature, for at least an hour. Butter will solidify but will not harden.
- Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or to a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer. Add the salt and powdered sugar and mix on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture will come together as you mix.
- Add the vanilla and the milk or cream; mix on low speed until incorporated, then increase speed to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- If the frosting is too thick, add in a bit of milk, one teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
Video
Notes
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- Tiny pinch fine sea salt
- ¾ pound powdered sugar
- ½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
can you a different kind of salt beside Tiny pinch fine sea salt
A small pinch of any salt will be just fine. :)