January 30, 2020

Browned Butter(scotch) Bacon Bars

Browned. Butter. Butterscotch. Bacon. Have I got your attention now? With a few of the best B words in the English vocabulary, I know it didn’t take long! Probably about as long as it took my family to wolf down a batch (or three) of these! You might be thinking that these are too indulgent, and… you might be right! But, once in a while you need something completely over the top like these browned butterscotch bacon bars!

The combination of salty bacon with nutty browned butter and butterscotch chips is heavenly! The butterscotch chips support the butter and brown sugar flavors, and the bacon adds a perfect level of salt to keep them from being too rich. Clearly, these bars are not your typical blondies.

12 Browned butter butterscotch bacon bars in a Pampered Chef brownie Pan after baking — The Pampered Chef Brownie Pan gives you perfect bars, each with chewy edges and gooey centers!

What is browned butter…

Not to take away from the amazingness of bacon and butterscotch – especially in tandem – but browned butter is one of the best ways to elevate sweet or savory food and all it requires is butter and heat! You’ve probably heard Celebrity Chef Anne Burrell growl “Brown food tastes GOOOOOD!”, and that statement definitely applies to butter. The french term for browned butter is beurre noisette, which translates to hazelnut butter which refers to both the amber color and the nutty aroma it takes on.

How to make browned butter…

It’s important that the butter melts as evenly as possible, so cut the butter into small chunks before turning on the heat. As the temperature rises, it’s going to snap and sputter at you, and that’s okay. This first step is cooking off the water in the butter. Once it’s gone, it gets quiet again, which means we’re almost to the browning part!

a stick of butter cut up in a stainless steel pan — Start by cutting the butter down so that it melts evenly

Butter is made of water, milk fat and milk solids. When butter is melted and the water is cooked out, the milk solids separate from the fat and sink to the bottom. This is the same rendering process that we used in the Boozy Bourbon Bacon Jam. We are rendering out the liquid fat, leaving behind the solid pieces to caramelize.

Once it starts browning…

Those milk solids start to brown first, but be careful not to let them get too dark! They carry a lot of flavor and can turn bitter if browned too far. This can happen in the blink of an eye, so this process requires constant supervision! I also suggest using a stainless or light colored pan. A dark colored pan makes this difficult because you’ll have to rely on smell only.

butter in the early process of being browned in a stainless steel pan — Always use a light colored pan so you can see the color changing process. The dark spots are the Milk Solids that have separated and are starting to brown

Once the fat and solids start browning, swirl the pan, or whisk gently. Suspending the milk solids throughout the milk fat imparts maximum flavor. Once you have a amber brown color and it smells nutty, that’s your cue to remove it from the heat. It will continue cooking from the carryover heats, so pour it into a separate container to cool. Browned butter will go solid, but because the integrity of the structure has been weakened, it doesn’t get as hard as regular butter does.

finished browned butter, on a spoon to show the color of the melted milk fat, over a clear bowl of browned butter — The milk fat (liquid part) should be an amber brown

Other ways to use browned butter…

This deep flavored butter has multiple applications for both savory dishes and desserts. Toss it with vegetables, spoon it over fish, or use it for a vinaigrette. Browned butter is often balanced with an acid in savory uses, but can also add subtle depth and caramelization to any dessert! I used a browned butter cream cheese buttercream (that’s harder to say than make!) to frost an apple cider cake and it was pure autumn in every bite. Once you master browning butter, get adventurous! Try it in place of regular butter in your pancakes, biscuits, brownies, cookies, or cakes!

This week’s Dessert Bar…

These Browned Butter Butterscotch Bacon Bars are a chewy balance of sweet and salty, making them a crowd pleaser for any event! Team these up with other bacon desserts like Bacon Studded Chocolate Chip Cookies to create a display that will wow everyone! Stay tuned for this week’s entire Dessert Bar post for all the bacon-themed recipes you’ll need, perfect for your Game Day Dessert Table!

Browned butter butterscotch bacon bars on a white platter with bacon studded chocolate chip cookies and a bacon infused caramel dip and boozy bacon bourbon jam, all sitting on a wicker tray

Subscribe for access to the complete set of recipes used to make the Feature Desserts and Theme Spotlights! Join the community and fun on Facebook in Rachel’s Kitchen Conversations!

3 browned butter butterscotch bacon bars on a white place with a silver fork, near a bowl of bacon bits

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote