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Brown butter frosting is rich, delicious, and has a slightly nutty flavor that is a nice balance the sweetness of frosting.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
Brown Butter Makes Everything Better! I am a total fan of brown butter. Not only do I love adding it to my frosting but I love putting it into baked goods and using it with pasta. This brown butter pasta is one of my favorites. I honestly can’t think of anything I don’t like it on. This one simple ingredient can transform your baked goods.
Easy to Make. It only takes a couple of minutes to make brown butter buttercream frosting and you can use my easy to follow how to make brown butter tutorial here.
What is Brown Butter?
Brown butter is basically regular butter that has been cooked, just long enough, to brown or toast the milk solids in the butter. You are taking the butter to just past its melting point and allowing it to turn golden brown without burning it. You end up with an amazing aroma and a nutty, delicious flavor.
Ingredients Needed
- Butter, browned and cooled to room temperature. I have a tutorial on how to make brown butter with a lot of great tips. I use salted butter.
- Powdered Sugar
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Pure Vanilla Extract
How to Make Brown Butter Frosting
- Make brown butter following these directions. Allow the brown butter to cool to room temperature. You don’t want it to cool down too much or it will begin to solidify again. If this happens, just put it over a low heat and it will melt quickly. You just don’t want the butter too hot when you add it into the sugar.
- Mix the brown butter and powdered sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment.
- Add in vanilla extract and enough whipping cream to get the consistency you want. If the frosting gets too runny, add in some more powdered sugar. You want it soft enough to spread or pipe but not too soft so that it won’t hold a shape.
How to Frost A Cupcake
I like to use a piping bag to frost my cupcakes. The disposable ones are super handy, just throw them away when you are done. I also use a large decorating tip, one of my favorites is a large star tip. Just place the tip inside the piping bag and trim off the end. Place your piping bag with the tip inside, into a tall drinking glass. Then fill the bag with frosting. This is an easy way to get the frosting into the bag without making a mess.
Then just twist the top of the bag closed. Hold the bag straight up and down and gently squeeze as you move the bag around in a circle on top of the cupcake. I eat cake so I can have frosting so I like a lot of frosting on my cupcakes.
Pair This With:
- Spice Cupcakes
- Almond Toffee Cookies
- Caramel Cake. You will need to double this recipe for a cake.
- Pumpkin Cookies
- One Hour Cinnamon Rolls
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need to refrigerate brown butter frosting?
It does not need to be refrigerated but to prolong the shelf life you can keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.
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Brown Butter Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter browned and cooled to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Add powdered sugar and brown butter together and mix.
- Add in vanilla and enough whipping cream to get desired consistency.
Tips & Notes:
Recommended Products
Nutrition Facts:
Deb says
I want to try this right away for a cookie exchange