Browned Butter Frosting

My original plan for cupcakes was chai cupcakes with browned butter frosting. Sounds delicious, right? Well, the chai cupcakes are now a crumbled mess sitting in the freezer because they tasted great but baked horribly. Rather than doming nicely, they spilled over the edges into the flattest of pancakes, which made the cupcakes impossible to remove from the tins.

*Sigh*

Good thing that this browned butter frosting from Gold Lining Girl goes wonderfully with chocolate cupcakes as well. I'll be honest, I didn't try this frosting because I'm doing another round of Whole 30 (Day 9 today!). But I sniffed the browned butter and managed not to drool in the frosting. I definitely want to make this again when I'm eating all the sugar.

Browned Butter Frosting
1 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown. It will develop brown flecks, foam a lot and smell like a delicious nutty caramel.

Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla. Chill until firm but not hardened in the refrigerator. (If completely hardened, let come to room temperature for easiest frosting preparation.)

Beat the butter until creamy. Add in powdered sugar and heavy cream. Beat until light and fluffy. You can add more cream or sugar as needed to get the desired consistency. Makes about 4 cups of frosting.