Brown Butter Icing Recipe

This is my all-purpose brown butter icing recipe! If you haven’t tried it, brown butter icing adds an extra depth of flavor to a traditional buttercream. Use it on cookies and cakes that blend sweet and savory.

This is like the grown-up version of buttercream frosting!

Don’t be intimidated by the fancy sounding name or the fact that you have to use the stove for this one. It only adds a couple extra minutes of work to making icing.

I like to use this icing on my pumpkin spiced cookies. It’s so yummy!

How to Make Brown Butter Icing

It’s basically buttercream with the extra step of browning the butter. Still super easy to whip up and totally worth the effort, trust me on this.

Ingredients

• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 10 tablespoons butter
• 4-6 tablespoons cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Step by Step

1. Put your confectioner’s sugar into a medium heat-tolerant bowl. We’ll be pouring hot butter into this later.
2. Melt butter in a small pot or pan on the stove over medium heat. Swirl it or stir with a spatula every now and then.

3. Once the butter has started to brown (about 3 minutes of simmering) it’s ready. Remove from heat and pour into confectioner’s sugar. Be sure to scape out any browned bits that are stuck – these add flavor!

4. Add 4 tablespoons cream and vanilla. Mix together.
5. Icing should be thick but if it’s too thick add more cream 1 tablespoon at a time. You can also add more cream using this method later if your icing dries out.

6. Add to your cookies or cake!

Recipe Notes and Tips

This frosting is best when used immediately. Store alone or decorated on cakes or cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Iced cookies can also be frozen.

Tip: Have a silicone spatula ready next to your bowl for scraping. The butter comes off best when scraped while hot – don’t let it cool.

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Brown Butter Icing

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This brown butter icing adds a depth of flavor to cookies and cakes. It's basically a grown up version of traditional buttercream frosting!

Ingredients

• 4 cups confectioner's sugar
• 10 tablespoons butter
• 4-6 tablespoons cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

1. Put your confectioner's sugar into a medium heat-tolerant bowl. We'll be pouring hot butter into this later.
2. Melt butter in a small pot or pan on the stove over medium heat. Swirl it or stir with a spatula every now and then.
3. Once the butter has started to brown (about 3 minutes of simmering) it's ready. Remove from heat and pour into confectioner's sugar. Be sure to scape out any browned bits that are stuck - these add flavor!
4. Add 4 tablespoons cream and vanilla. Mix together.
5. Icing should be thick but if it's too thick add more cream 1 tablespoon at a time. You can also add more cream using this method later if your icing dries out.
6. Add to your cookies or cake!
   

Notes

This frosting is best when used immediately. Store alone or decorated on cakes or cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.