This Easy Butter Tip Promises The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich Of Your Life

If you're a baker, you've probably come across a brown butter cookie recipe or two. Brown butter is made by melting, well, butter in a pan until it bubbles and turns (you guessed it) a golden brown color. This is because of the milk solids in the ingredient caramelizing, and the result is fat with a caramelly, toffee, nutty flavor that adds depth to your baked goods.

But, it's not just cookies that can benefit from this ingredient; you can also use it to take grilled cheese to the next level. Just like with your cookies, brown butter adds those same toasty, slightly sweet caramel touches to your snack. At the same time, it gives your bread a crispy texture, makes a meal that feels a bit more decadent, and works with whatever bread or cheese you might want to pair it with.

Just be mindful that it'll take you a few extra minutes to make your sandwich since you'll need to brown the butter first. But, you'll find it's worth it once you bite into the sandwich and taste the caramelized notes and buttery richness.

To make grilled cheese with brown butter, the key is not to butter your bread before adding it to the pan. Instead, you're going to make brown butter or beurre noisette in the pan first. You don't need much butter — just melt about a tablespoon in the pan.

Another thing to keep in mind is that as you melt the butter, you'll need to make sure to go slow, as it can burn quickly if you're not careful. A few telltale signs that your brown butter is ready include small, foamy bubbles forming and it giving off a distinctive aroma. Keep the heat low to avoid burning your bread, but you can press down on the slices with a spatula to help ensure the bread soaks up the butter and gets a beautiful, even brown.

Finally, feel free to double toast the bread. You can add a bit more butter to your slices and pop them in the oven, or simply fry them again to get an extra toasty bite.

While using brown butter can certainly make for a great grilled cheese, don't stop the trick there. There are tons of additional ways to ramp up the flavor and create a truly epic meal. For one thing, you can add an unexpected ingredient to the brown butter to create an even more caramelized flavor and aroma — powdered milk. This introduces more milk solids to the butter, which are the parts that caramelize during the browning process and give brown butter its unique taste and color.

Another option is to add some herbs to your brown butter. Sage or dill, for instance, can be a great way to add complexity to your sandwich. The former pairs well with cheddar cheese, the classic filling for this meal, and goes pleasingly crunchy when fried in butter, too. Dill, on the other hand, might work well with a creamy havarti. Or, play with other herb and cheese combos, such as rosemary and mozzarella.

Lastly, you could also enhance your grilled cheese by using mayonnaise to butter the bread before toasting it. Mayo helps create a crispy, golden-brown exterior. With these tips, you've got plenty of ways to elevate your grilled cheese and complement the brown butter addition to this meal.