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    Home » Recipes » Frosting

    Simple Browned Butter Frosting

    Published: Sep 16, 2019 · Modified: Mar 21, 2021 by Tiffany Dahle · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    A cake with frosting and chopped pecans

    Browned butter frosting is a brilliant fall frosting for either apple cake or carrot cake when you need something different and extra special.

    Easy browned butter frosting is the perfect topping for apple cake or carrot cake.

    In my opinion, the very best part about our fresh apple cake is the browned butter frosting on top! It may be the entire reason I was interested in making the cake in first place. You can get the full apple cake recipe right here but I felt the frosting deserved some major attention, too.

    Are you familiar with browned butter? It takes the deliciousness of regular butter and amplifies it into something soooooo much better.

    The best part? It is insanely easy to make.

    I didn't want you to be nervous about making browned butter frosting so I wanted to give you the easy steps to use to make this fantastic frosting for your next apple cake or carrot cake. Pretty much any cake that has cinnamon, nutmeg, and similar fall spices. You could probably even turn pumpkin muffins into cupcakes with a dollop of this frosting!

    RELATED: Best-ever pumpkin bread recipe that would be amazing with this frosting.

    How to make browned butter:

    Step 1:

    Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. 

    Step 2: 

    Once the butter is fully melted, continually stir it so it doesn't burn.

    Step 3: 

    Stir the butter while it cooks and foams and bubbles. Watch for it to begin to turn a nutty brown color. Watch very carefully and pull the butter off the stove burner before it gets too dark and then burns which can happen quickly once it has started to brown.

    See?? Making browned butter is easy peasy. If you can melt butter, you can do this. Then once you have your browned butter, you can turn it into this deliciousness:

    A metal baking pan filled with a sheet cake topped with browned butter frosting and chopped pecans.

    What does browned butter frosting taste like?

    This homemade browned butter frosting has a delicious nutty flavor to it. The only other ingredients after your browned butter are powdered sugar, milk, and a touch of vanilla. 

    The texture of the frosting is extremely light and milky/creamy. It is smooth and easy to spread.

    If you try to put it on a cake that hasn't completely cooled, it could very easily melt and turn into a puddle. So, be careful to cool your cake all the way first. 

    I chilled our apple cake overnight and the frosting became thick just like buttercream does. You'll definitely want to keep anything you frost with it refrigerated because of the milk it calls for.

    How to make browned butter frosting: 

    A metal baking pan filled with a sheet cake topped with browned butter frosting and chopped pecans.

    Browned Butter Frosting

    4.50 from 2 votes
    This browned butter frosting is so easy and SO delicious it is going to become your new fall favorite dessert topping. Slather it on our favorite apple cake or a carrot cake, pumpkin muffins, or gingerbread cookies. You’ll never look back.
    TOTAL TIME 1 hour 10 minutes
    PREP TIME 10 minutes
    Additional Time 1 hour
    YIELD 1 Frosting for one 9 x 13 cake pan
    PIN RECIPE FOR LATER PRINT RECIPE NOW

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
    • 1 (16 oz) package of powdered sugar
    • ¼ cup milk
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Instructions

    • Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat for about 6 – 8 minutes. Be sure to stir it constantly so the butter doesn’t burn. It will bubble and foam, but just keep stirring. When the butter has a nutty aroma and has turned golden toasty brown, pour it into a small bowl and place it in the fridge to cool for 1 hour.
    • Once the butter has started to solidify, scrape it into a mixing bowl. Beat the butter with the powdered sugar adding a little at a time and drizzling in a bit of the milk.
    • Once everything has been added, scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and beat for 1 minute.
    • Scrape the sides and add the vanilla. Beat again for one more minute or until everything is light and fluffy.
    • Store any dessert you use this on in the refrigerator so the milk doesn’t spoil.
    COURSEFrosting
    CUISINEAmerican
    AUTHORTiffany Dahle

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    Looking for more easy desserts to use this browned butter frosting?

    You could top any of these easy and delicious desserts with this frosting:

    • Our favorite carrot cake
    • The only gingerbread cookies recipe you'll ever need
    • The best ever big batch pumpkin bread recipe
    • The best fresh apple cake

    More Frosting Recipes

    • A platter of green Christmas tree sugar cookies have been decorated with royal icing in simple patterns.
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      Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
    • Vanilla cupcakes have been topped with a swirl of cream cheese frosting and sit on a cake plate. There's a frosting piping bag on the counter in front.
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    Reader Interactions

    Trackbacks

    1. Make-ahead apple cake with browned butter frosting says:
      January 11, 2020 at 1:19 pm

      […] I’ve got a separate post with additional instructions just for the frosting that you can check out here: Browned butter frosting recipe. […]

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Tiffany!
    I believe a great family recipe is one that makes everyone at the table happy, not just the kids. I'm the author of two bestselling cookbooks for kids that are chock full of recipes everyone in your family will love. I'm also the hostess of the best online book club for moms.

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