Kristy Caldwell, owner of Brown Butter Delights, has always loved baking. However, when creating desserts for family and friends, she wanted to do something “different from the typical bakery.”
“Brown butter became the foundation of the business because it adds such a rich, nutty, almost caramel-like flavor to baked goods,” she says. “I love taking familiar desserts and elevating them with that extra layer of flavor.”
Brown Butter Delights actually started in 2024, while Caldwell was living in Austin, Texas.
“I started selling (my baked goods) at farmers markets, and it just grew from there,” she says. “My family and I moved to Honolulu about a year ago. Once we got settled, I wanted to bring the bakery back.
“Baking has always been a passion of mine; I used to bake professionally while in college working at local bakeries in Chicago,” Caldwell adds, noting that she has an active food handler’s license. “I’ve spent years experimenting with recipes and finding ways to make them my own. Brown butter became something I kept coming back to because of how much depth it adds. It can take something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie or butter cake and make it taste much more complex.”
In Honolulu, Caldwell launched Brown Butter Delights as a small, home-based bakery.
“Everything is made by me in small batches,” she says. “I’m also a mom to two little kids and work a full-time job, so the bakery is something I make time for because baking is genuinely something I love.”
All baked goods cost $5 each; bundle options are available as well. Flavors change monthly, according to Caldwell, but the business’s brown butter chocolate chip cookies, strawberry crunch butter cake and cinnamon roll focaccia have been customer favorites so far.
The soft cookies feature semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chunks and dark chocolate chunks. The focaccia features an icing glaze, and the strawberry crunch butter cake features a custard-like strawberry layer and a crunchy topping.
“Think of those nostalgic strawberry short cake ice cream bars,” Caldwell says. “I also offer brown butter icing to purchase if people want more (for the focaccia). The icing also goes well with just about any of my desserts.
“I do change flavors monthly, but the brown butter chocolate chip cookie is staying forever,” she adds.
The bakery is currently open every Sunday starting at 8 a.m. until sold out. Caldwell notes that treats start to sell out by noon.
She notes that moving to Hawaiʻi and starting over in a new community has made building her business “especially meaningful.”
“I’m grateful for everyone who has stopped by, told a friend, or simply tried something I made,” Caldwell says. “My goal with Brown Butter Delights is to keep things fun and creative, while still making desserts that feel familiar and comforting. I love taking classic flavors and putting my own spin on them, especially by incorporating local and tropical flavors when I can.
“I’m excited to see where Brown Butter Delights goes here in Honolulu, and hopefully continue growing it into something that becomes a little part of the community,” she adds.
For more information, follow the biz on Instagram.
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
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