Cookies, pastries, sauces, sides, seafood, pasta…The list of foods that the nutty richness of brown butter can elevate and innovate on could go on and on.
Now, more than ever, people outside of high-end restaurant kitchens are learning just how good this classic culinary secret ingredient can be.
“Brown butter elevates every dish it touches. Its toasted and nutty notes add complexity but are also comforting and familiar,” says Anne Druschitz, Associate Principal Scientist – NA Applications & Corporate Research Chef at Edlong.
Beyond fine dining, brown butter or beurre noisette in French has long been a staple in French, Nordic, and other European cuisines. While its name, roughly translated as “hazelnut butter” might be more in reference to the brown coloring, it can also point to the toasty nuttiness that makes brown butter so distinctive.
Combined with the fatty, buttery richness of fresh butter, the toasting of the milk solids provides a subtle caramelized sweetness that helps brown butter add an extra layer of elegance and luxury to any dish.
It’s also what makes it so versatile.

Adding Layers of Luxury to Sweet & Savory Dishes
Every food is built with some combination of sweet, salty, spicy, acidity, and fat.
Fats are the ingredients most responsible for adding richness, creaminess, and the indulgent qualities that make foods so good.
It’s why consumers love dairy (in all its forms), why every culture embraces some sort of fried food, and why everyone raves about wagyu beef.
Fats are also a great carrier of flavor. So when you have a fat with the complexity and nuanced notes of brown butter, it’s as close as you can get to making magic in the kitchen.
This goes for both sweet and savory applications.
Brown Butter Desserts
Speaking on brown butter’s power to elevate sweet treats, Druschitz says, “Brown butter can take standard desserts like chocolate chip cookies or rice krispie treats and make them taste more gourmet and indulgent. It can also add greater levels of nuance and complexity to frostings and ice creams.”
With the explosion of viral recipes for brown butter desserts on social media platforms like the secret is out.
This could be why, according to Mintel, more than one-third of US consumers say a dessert or confection with a ‘browned’ flavor would encourage them to try it, and nearly two-thirds (65%) of US consumers have interest in trying a dessert or confection with brown butter flavoring.[1]

Yet, while sweet tooths are getting to enjoy an enhanced level of refinement, savory dishes also continue to enjoy the benefits of brown butter.
Savory Brown Butter
As a chef, Druschitz is no stranger to the critical role brown butter plays in gourmet kitchens, especially in savory dishes.
“On the savory side of the menu, brown butter pairs perfectly with herbs like sage, parsley and thyme and is often used to enhance and add a complex richness to sauces for fish or chicken dishes. It’s also an incredible accompaniment to a wide variety of vegetables like brussels sprouts, cabbage and butternut squash.”
Still, she believes that it doesn’t only belong on prix fixe menus but instead can be a significant source of inspiration for innovation and differentiation.

Innovation for Differentiation
According to Druschitz, brown butter flavor profiles can be a surefire winner for many everyday products consumers already buy.
“I’ve already mentioned how the toasty, nutty flavor of this caramelized butter elevates every dish, but that also goes for products that are already on store shelves.”
She adds, “Brown butter really is a slam dunk for snack seasonings, especially for popcorn or almonds, and can add interest in excitement in so many sweet snacks as well.”
However, as much of a sure thing as brown butter may be from a taste perspective, the logistics of working with it as an ingredient in your formulation is a whole other story.
Not Getting Burned by Brown Butter
In the recent article, Better with Brown Butter, Angela Lantman, Manager – NA Applications at Edlong, explored the difficulties of incorporating brown butter as an ingredient in an application.
“As a profile, brown butter is easy to work with. However, as an ingredient, it comes with hurdles that make it more complicated to scale. The two primary obstacles are the loss of water content
and the fragility of the desired notes when using industrial processing.”
She explained how the process of creating brown butter results in most of the water content evaporating from the butter. While this creates fantastic flavor, it can negatively affect the functionality and performance of the product’s base, primarily texture and consistency.
Moreover, it is an incredibly delicate and sensitive ingredient. Cooking it too much or too little can greatly impact the notes and overall profile.
“This is easy to standardize in the kitchen, but for consumer products like a brown butter sauce or a cookie, you’re going to have to cook or bake it again. Additionally, the processing conditions used for commercial production and stability can easily throw off the balance of the brown butter profile.”

Then there is the elephant in the room: cost. With commodity prices constantly fluctuating and often only in the wrong direction, incorporating actual brown butter into products at scale may not be feasible.
Fortunately, crafting products with the amazing toasty taste of brown butter is possible despite these challenges.
Authentic Brown Butter Flavor Innovation
At Edlong, our international team of R&D and flavor experts spent decades understanding and capturing the nuances of different butter from around the world.
With this, we can work with partners to develop a bespoke brown butter flavor perfectly tailored to their specific application. This allows their consumers to enjoy and indulge in a luxuriously elevated taste experience without the extra costs and challenges.
Learn how Edlong can help make your application “gourmet” with the taste of Brown Butter.
About the Authors:
Anne Druschitz, Associate Principal Scientist – NA Applications & Corporate Research Chef

[1] Trending Flavors and Ingredients in Desserts and Confections – US, 2024
Topics: Butter flavorsInnovationValue-Driven
Resource Type: Article
Resource Region: US