There’s nothing that a nutty aroma and the deep flavors of a simple vegan brown butter can’t improve. It’s quick and easy; once you have this in your fridge, you’ll be well on your way to enhancing the flavors of any of your meals or baked goods!
What is brown butter?
Brown butter, also known as buerre noisette in French, is not new. It’s a staple in many French kitchens and has been used in savory dishes to enhance the flavors for many years. Brown butter is made by melting the butter past its melting point, which removes the water content and toasts the separated milk solids.
However, this method doesn’t work for vegan butter because it does not contain milk solids to undergo the Maillard reaction. So, I’ve created two ways to make vegan brown butter for this recipe. You can use any vegan butter guaranteed to work to get you luxurious vegan brown butter.
My favorite way to use vegan brown butter is in cookies, like my brown butter chocolate chip cookies or pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, which are perfect for fall!
✨ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This brown butter recipe is quick and easy and takes only a few minutes.
- It only requires two ingredients to make!
- Once made, you can use it to enhance all sorts of dishes, from savory to sweet.
✏️ Ingredient Notes
- Vegan butter sticks - It's best to use vegan butter sticks instead of the tub variety; they contain less fat and more water.
- Pecans - I have provided pecans as an option for making vegan brown butter. When toasted, they have a similar flavor to conventional brown butter.
- Dairy-free milk powder - Milk powder is another option because it basically adds milk solids to the vegan butter, giving the brown butter more flavor. It’s also an alternative method if you are allergic to nuts!
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
📝 Substitutions & Variations
- If you don’t like pecans, you can substitute them for hazelnuts. However, it will give the brown butter a more hazelnut flavor. Remember, it is harder to find skinless hazelnuts and are more expensive.
- Try nut butter! Whisk in two teaspoons of unsweetened nut butter, like peanut, pecan, or cashew, into your butter.
- If you’re allergic to nuts, try unsweetened seed butter, like sunflower butter or tahini.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
🍴 How to Make Simple Vegan Brown Butter
Step 1: Add two sticks of butter to a light-colored pan and place it over medium heat. Allow the butter to slowly melt while continuously stirring with a whisk. Once it starts to foam, add the pecans or dairy-free milk powder and continue to whisk. It will begin to foam even more but subside in a few minutes.
Step 2: When the foam subsides, continue to whisk until you notice the pecans or the dairy-free milk powder starting to darken and smell nutty. Remove from the heat and pour it into a heat-proof bowl to cool. If you’re using pecans, strain them using a fine mesh sieve.
⭐ Expert Tips
- Use a light-colored pan to easily see the change in color of the pecans or dairy-free milk powder.
- Once you add the pecans or the dairy-free milk powder, it will foam a lot more. Do not panic; this is normal. Just continue to whisk until it subsides, and you can see the pecans or milk powder again.
- Brown butter can burn! Keep your eye on the stove the entire time, do not walk away, and don’t stop stirring.
- The browned specs will sink to the bottom of the bowl, so as the butter cools and solidifies, stir it with a whisk to incorporate it all together.
💭 Common Questions
Vegan butter from the tub has different fat and water levels than stick form, so I can’t guarantee they will work the same.
Save them! You can easily add them to any recipe or meal, like cookies or salad toppings. They’ll taste great because they’re toasted.
You should only strain the brown butter if you’re using pecans. If you’re using the dairy-free milk powder, I’d advise against straining it because the browned milk curds give the vegan brown butter its flavor!
I used soy milk powder because it’s the most neutral flavor compared to other dairy alternatives, but you can use whatever you want! You just need a milk powder that will brown well. Remember that other milks will have more flavor, like coconut. So if you're worried about that, look for the most neutral flavored milk powder.
🥣 Storage & Reheating
You can store vegan brown butter in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to three weeks.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐️ rating and comment below! Tag @flouredframe on Instagram & Facebook!
📖 Recipe
Simple Vegan Brown Butter
Equipment
- Light-colored pan
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 224 grams Vegan butter sticks (I used Country Crock Plant Butter)
- 125 grams Chopped pecans
- 25 grams Dairy-free milk powder (I used soy milk powder)
Instructions
- Add two sticks of butter to a light-colored pan and place it over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt slowly.
- Once it starts to foam, add the pecans or dairy-free milk powder and continue to whisk. It will begin to foam even more but subside in a few minutes.
- When the foam subsides, continue to whisk until you notice the pecans or the dairy-free milk powder starting to darken and smell nutty.
- Remove from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl to cool. If you’re using pecans, strain them through a fine mesh sieve.
- The browned specs will sink to the bottom of the bowl, so as the butter cools and solidifies, stir it with a whisk to incorporate it all together. It will look like whipped butter! Transfer to an airtight container and place it in the fridge for storage.
Notes
- Use either pecans or milk powder in this recipe. It's up to you what you prefer to use!
- Use a light-colored pan to easily see the change in color of the pecans or dairy-free milk powder.
- Brown butter can burn! Keep your eye on the stove the entire time, do not walk away, and don’t stop stirring.
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