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Brown Butter Glaze for Cakes and More

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Top your favorite desserts off with this sweet brown sugar glaze.  It goes so well with cakes, cookies, cinnamon rolls and more.

Hand holding dessert plate with a piece of peach sheet cake drizzled with brown butter glaze.

This glaze will take your baked goods and give them a nice warm hug.  The nuttiness that comes out when you brown butter is really apparent when you use it for something simple like this glaze.  

It makes it feel so much warmer and it is really simple!  It was a perfect finish to this brown sugar nectarine sheet cake. 

browned butter in enameled cast iron skillet.

It just takes about 10 minutes to get the butter to a nice golden-brown color.  Then you stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk to get your desired consistency.

It really is that easy.  This is a perfect glaze for oatmeal cookies.  

saucepan of thick, rich brown butter glaze ready to be drizzled over cake

MiMi made something similar for a get together we had a few years ago.  She brought a three or four dozen cookies to a get together with probably 15 people in attendance.

She didn’t leave with any.  People could not help themselves.  The cookies were good, but the glaze put them over the top!

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is butter that has been gently cooked until some of the milk solids are toasted and browned. It has a nutty aroma and a deeper flavor. Due to the cooking process, some of the moisture is evaporated so it has a lower moisture content than regular butter.

A couple of more icing favorites

Fudgy sweetened condensed milk icing is made quickly in a saucepan and with only three ingredients, this icing is hard to beat! It is so fudgy and has a nice sheen. 

 Maple brown butter glaze combines the depth of flavor of brown butter with the warmth of maple syrup. It’s perfect for topping cinnamon rolls, coffee cakes, bundt cakes and more!

Smooth, sweet and creamy, this caramel frosting is easy to make and is a perfect topper to butter cake, chocolate cake, banana cake and more!

Did you make this great recipe? Please leave a review in the recipe card below!

Hand holding dessert plate with a piece of peach sheet cake drizzled with brown butter glaze.

Brown Butter Glaze

Carlee
Top your favorite desserts off with this sweet brown sugar glaze.  It goes so well with cakes, cookies, cinnamon rolls and more.
4.70 from 23 ratings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24 Servings
Calories 72 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 Tablespoons whole milk

Instructions
 

  • In thick bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
    ½ cup butter
  • Remove from heat.
  • Stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 Tablespoons of milk. Continue to add milk until you reach your desired consistency.
    2 cups powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 Tablespoons whole milk
  • Drizzle over cake or cookies and allow to set before stacking. 

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1ServingCalories: 72kcalCarbohydrates: 9gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 32mgSugar: 9g
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Recipe Rating




Maggie

Monday 8th of January 2024

Thank you for this recipe! I have a family-favorite recipe for Treasure Bars that my mom used to make in the 1970s. It calls for this browned butter glaze on top, but no one in my family has the recipe for the glaze. I have fond memories of being in the kitchen as a kid while my mom tried to teach me how to brown butter. Over the years I have tried different things and have failed.....Sadly, I've learned you cannot cook the butter on high heat or it burns and smokes. You cannot cheat and add the vanilla too soon and you cannot add to much milk or you end-up having to add more powered sugar, which makes the glaze too sweet. I'm never sure if you're supposed to leave the glaze over the heat while you add the vanilla and other ingredients. I have cut this recipe in half for my small cookie sheet size Treasure Bars. I use:1/4 cup butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup shifted powered sugar and a splash of milk.

Carlee

Monday 8th of January 2024

It's always so sad when you lose a cherished recipe. I am so glad this one fits the bill. You definitely have to be careful not to brown the butter over too high of heat, brown butter is delicious but burnt butter is not! And vanilla is usually added off the heat because it is volatile and the heat will make it dissipate faster.

Donna Grabowski

Monday 18th of September 2023

Wow! I never made a brown butter icing but this was perfect for an apple cake. I added a little mor milk

Carlee

Tuesday 19th of September 2023

I am so glad you liked it!

Anna

Monday 26th of December 2022

Wow, this was so good. The brown butter flavor comes through so well! I did cut the sugar a little bit, and still found it plenty sweet. I used it to top a spiced apple cake, it was phenomenal. Everyone had seconds. This is my new secret weapon, it's going on everything.

Carlee

Monday 26th of December 2022

Yay! That makes me so happy!

Christine

Thursday 10th of November 2022

I was looking for a brown butter glaze for a pound cake and happened upon your recipe, I decided to make it, I already had everything, I'm glad I did, this turned out beautifully and the flavor is wonderful, I will make again

Carlee

Friday 11th of November 2022

I am so glad you liked it!

maryann westfall

Monday 12th of September 2022

Found that 1/2 cup butter to 2 cups powdered sugar left a lot of butter separation. Needed to almost double the powdered sugar in order for it to absorb all the butter! But once I did that and adjusted the liquid (used heavy cream instead of milk) it was pretty good!