Brown Butter Biscuits
This vegetarian builds butter, superfine sugar and egg into a weeknight-friendly meal you can have ready in about 60 minutes. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 7 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for oven and saucepan. At easy difficulty across 7 steps, it's a good one for a busy evening. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Place the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat and cook, swirling often, for 4 to 6 minutes until it foams, turns golden and smells nutty, then pour it into a heatproof bowl and let it cool until just warm.
- Whisk the superfine sugar into the cooled brown butter, then beat in the egg and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
- Sift the self-rising flour and salt over the wet ingredients and stir until a soft dough forms, then chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls, space them well apart on the sheets and flatten each slightly with your fingers.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the edges are golden but the centers are still pale and soft.
- Let the biscuits rest on the sheets for 5 minutes to set, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely and crisp up.
You'll use: Oven · Saucepan · Pan · Whisk · Baking sheet
Ingredient substitutions
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
Tips & common questions
How long does Brown Butter Biscuits take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 6 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of butter?
Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Brown Butter Biscuits vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Brown Butter Biscuits is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Ballard OvenReady Biscuits 1948.jpg (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.