The Reason You Should Brown Your Butter When Baking Brownies

There's really nothing better than a brownie fresh out of the oven. You may like your brownies to be on the fudgier, chewier side while your friend may like their brownies to be somewhat reminiscent of a denser, moist cake. In the end, however, as long as it's paired with a tall glass of ice-cold milk, a brownie in any other style is just as sweet.

Although a basic, no-frills brownie is perfectly fine on its own, there's no harm in trying to improve upon this fudge-filled baked good. The canvas of a brownie is perfect for any sort of confectionary experimentation, be it topping a warm brownie square with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or preparing them in the style of  Katharine Hepburn's personal recipe (via The New York Times). You may even be one of those people who have those specialty pans that give every brownie that chewy, firm edge. Hey, we're not here to judge.

But have you ever considered browning your butter before you add it to your brownies? In case you don't know what brown butter is, it's butter whose milk solids have been separated and browned after being melted over low heat and then re-solidified. But just what makes this kind of butter so much better than the usual butter you add in your average brownie mix?

If you have never tried brown butter before, you're probably wondering what the big deal is if you add it to your brownies. Why go through the trouble of browning your butter when you can just add the butter as it is and save yourself some time? Granted, there is no harm in adding plain butter to your brownies, but as RealSimple explains, you'd be missing out on plenty of extra flavor.

By adding brown butter, RealSimple elaborates, you add a rich and toasty flavor to your brownies that pairs perfectly with the gooey, melting chocolate of the final bake. SeriousEats even gives a recipe for "Brown Butter Blondies," in which the "toffee-like" flavor of the brown butter compliments the vanilla-and-brown sugar flavor profile of the blondie.

There is one small catch to making brown butter: You need to make it first. If you're not careful, or it's your first time making brown butter, then you can easily burn the milk fats and give the butter a bitter, unpleasant taste. This is nothing to worry about, however. As brown butter is generally easy to go about preparing, all you need is a bit of practice before you get the hang of it. As explained by Sally's Baking Addiction, you simply melt butter in a pan and stir it as it browns, ensuring the solids on the bottom of the pan don't burn. This can take up to eight minutes, but the flavor that develops is worth every second.

Ultimately, this is just one reason why you need to start using brown butter in brownies and beyond.