Butterscotch sauce is one of the most delicious recipes you can make at home. With brown sugar, butter, and cream, butterscotch sauce can be used to coat ice cream, cake slices, and more. You’ll never go back to store-bought butterscotch!
When was the last time you tasted authentic butterscotch?
Butterscotch sauce was an almost extinct or obsolete substance and taste until recently. Now it’s all the rage.
What is butterscotch sauce?
Butterscotch used to be a candy made from unprocessed sugar. The suffix “scotch” means “to cut”. When sugar or candy is hot it’s difficult to get a clean break, so you’ll have to score it warm to get a clean edge later.
Today, butterscotch is considered a flavor similar to caramel. Made famous by accompanying banana splits on soda fountains, butterscotch sauce has been an American favorite since the 1950s.
Although most Americans are familiar with butterscotch pudding, an artificially flavored shade of butterscotch has become readily available in recent years. I hope that once you see how easy butterscotch is to make, you’ll never go back to the cheater.
Ingredients for butterscotch sauce
A traditional butterscotch sauce recipe calls for just three main ingredients: brown sugar, butter, and cream. That’s it! We also add some vanilla and salt to enhance the flavor.
If you only have salted butter, you can use that instead. Just be sure to reduce the salt in the recipe.
Speaking of salt, this recipe calls for lots of it — up to a teaspoon. While it may seem like an exaggeration, trust us. The salt brings out the brown sugar and butter flavors, much like salted caramel does. The recipe calls for kosher salt, but it’s perfectly fine to substitute for regular salt but use a little less.
How to make butterscotch sauce
Your homemade butterscotch sauce will easily top any artificially flavored topping you might buy at the store. There are only three main steps:
- Melt the butter and add the brown sugar and salt.
- Let it bubble slightly, stirring every few minutes, then add the cream.
- Simmer until it reaches 225°F before adding a little vanilla to balance out the flavors.
After that, all you have to do is wait until it’s cool enough to drizzle over ice cream or whatever else you can dream up!
Why avoid ultra-pasteurized cream
Ultra-pasteurized cream contains stabilizers that can sometimes add a bitter taste to recipes that use a lot of cream, like this one. It’s best to avoid it if possible. Look for regular pasteurized cream at health food stores or local grocery stores. We were lucky to find it at Trader Joe’s.
If ultra-pasteurized cream is all you can find, substituting it is fine, but be aware that the flavor might be affected somewhat.
Butterscotch vs Caramel Sauce
What is the difference between butterscotch and caramel? Butterscotch and caramel are both boiled sugar. But the main difference between the two is the sugar used to make them. Caramel is often made from regular white granulated sugar, while butterscotch is made from brown sugar. Caramel sauce doesn’t always have butter, while butterscotch always calls for butter.
Both benefit from some added salt, but butterscotch in particular doesn’t really get its signature flavor until you add some. The same goes for vanilla.
Troubleshooting Tips
- To prevent your sauce from separating, be careful not to over-stir while the brown sugar is melting. Use moderate heat to make sure it doesn’t burn.
- The butterscotch will thicken a lot as it cools, so it’s important not to overcook it.
What to serve with butterscotch sauce
Butterscotch isn’t just an ice cream topping, although that’s a great start.
- Juicy chocolate brownies
- Pear Ginger Maple Pie
- Best Chocolate Brownies
- blondes
- peach cobbler
From the editors of Simply Recipes
How to make butterscotch sauce
ingredients
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4 tablespoon unsalted butter
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1 Cup dark brown sugartightly packed
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1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
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3/4 Cup fat whipped cream (preferably not ultrapasteurized)
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1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, plus more to taste
method
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Have everything at hand:
First, make sure you have everything ready before you begin – the heavy cream and brown sugar next to the pan, measured out and ready. Making butterscotch is a quick process that can’t wait to hunt for ingredients.
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Melt the butter, then add the brown sugar and salt:
In a 2-quart, heavy-bottomed, stainless steel saucepan, melt the butter over low-medium heat. Just before the butter has melted, add all the dark brown sugar at once, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar is evenly wet. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt.
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Boil until bubbly:
Increase the heat to medium. Stir infrequently until the mixture no longer looks like wet sand and instead looks like molten lava, 3 to 5 minutes. Be careful to get into the corners of your pot and watch closely as the mixture changes.
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Add cream:
At this point add all the cream at once. Reduce the heat slightly and whip the cream into the mixture. The sugar mixture may clump, but that’s okay. Stir until the cream is assimilated and any hardened lumps are dissolved.
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Simmer until syrupy:
If you’re using a candy thermometer, attach one to the pot now. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring no more than every few minutes or until a digital or candy thermometer reads 225°F.
The sauce will be slightly darker, but won’t appear very thick (it will thicken as it cools). If you don’t have a candy thermometer, it’s better to cook less than more.
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Add the vanilla and place in a container:
Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Let it sit for a minute or two before transferring to a non-reactive bowl. (We prefer a stainless steel or glass bowl.)
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Taste and adjust:
Dip a small spoonful into the sauce, then let it cool enough to get a little taste. It’s important to know what cooked brown sugar and butter taste like, and what happens when that flat sweetness converts to true caramel flavor.
After tasting, add up to an additional 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract and up to an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt, tasting until the wonderful flavor of real caramel is achieved. Remember to let the small spoonfuls of sauce cool between tastings.
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Enjoy!
Butterscotch is a fantastic topping for ice cream.
Store the butterscotch sauce in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid until the sauce has completely cooled. It will keep refrigerated for a month, that is if you can avoid eating it all!
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 216 | calories |
| 14g | Fat |
| 23g | carbohydrates |
| 1g | protein |
