Take Your Brownies To The Next Level With Browned Butter

Let's be honest — brownies are pretty much universally delicious. Whether you prefer them fudgy or cakey, with extra flavorings like espresso or mix-ins like nuts, brownies are extremely versatile, meaning there's bound to be one out there that suits your tastes. Plus, these chocolatey treats are almost as easy to make from scratch as they are from a box. Given all that, it may seem like brownies are the last thing that needs improving, but we promise this trick is worth the extra step.

According to Real Simple, to make your brownies extraordinary, simply brown your butter before adding it to your batter. Brown butter, which is made by cooking butter until much of its water content evaporates, is known for the intense depth of flavor it brings to both sweet and savory dishes, according to Taste. Because brown butter contributes toasty, nutty, and caramelized notes to anything it's added to, it makes for a particularly great addition to buttery baked goods like cookies, quick breads, and, of course, brownies.

As Real Simple notes, adding brown butter to your brownies only requires one additional step, making it an easy way to elevate your usual recipe. All you have to do to start is melt your butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted, turn up the heat to medium and stir with a rubber spatula. At this point, the butter should be foamy, bubbling, and making hissing or popping sounds. Continue to cook and stir, scraping up any brown bits from the pan, until the hissing has subsided and the butter is a deep, toasty brown. Then, simply add the brown butter to your chocolate.

According to Handle the Heat, there's one more trick you should keep in mind when making brown butter brownies: Avoid non-stick pans. The nonstick surface won't encourage the level of browning that you want when making brown butter.