Skip to main content

How to make butterscotch sauce for all of your favorite fall desserts

Butterscotch sauce can be a delightful topping for so many things

Caramel/butterscotch in jar
Matt Diosdado/Unsplash / Unsplash

Depending on a few factors – mainly your age – butterscotch is one of those flavors that’s automatically associated with one of two things. Either warm and spiced comforting fall treats, enjoyed by the fire after an afternoon of jumping in crisp leaves. Or, linty gold-wrapped candies stuck to old coins in the bottom of our grandmothers’ handbags. Unfortunately, the latter – somehow always loudly and lengthily unwrapped during a reverently hushed church service – is too often how we think of this beautiful fall flavor. It’s time to change that.

What is butterscotch?

There’s often a bit of confusion as to the difference between butterscotch and its more popular cousin, caramel. While there are a number of factors that can be discussed here, from flavor additions to texture, the core difference is in the sugar. Caramel is made from granulated (white) sugar, while butterscotch is made from brown sugar. Both confections are made by cooking sugar down and adding cream, but butterscotch has a characteristic spiced flavor that caramel doesn’t. That flavor comes from the molasses in brown sugar, and makes butterscotch far richer and more complex on its own. Unlike caramel, whose subtle flavor pairs more easily with a wide array of ingredients.

How to make butterscotch

The beauty behind butterscotch (and caramel, for that matter) is also what can make it a bit intimidating or confusing to the home cook. Just a few simple ingredients can magically transform into anything from a light, sugared sauce to a chewy soft candy with only the difference in cooking time and temperature. Admittedly, it can be a finicky process, but if you know what to look for, making your own butterscotch is a relatively simple process.

Perhaps the most simple (and delicious) butterscotch treat is that of this perfectly balanced, sweet and salty, gifted-from-the-gods butterscotch sauce. While not as mainstream as her rival, chocolate sauce, butterscotch sauce is our favorite this time of year for any number of treats. Give your favorite ice cream a generous pour, mix it into all of your favorite fall-themed coffee drinks and cocktails, or simply eat it with a spoon. It’s that good. We won’t judge.

Pancakes with caramel sauce
Ash/Pexels

Butterscotch sauce recipe

This butterscotch recipe yields about one cup of sauce. If you have more willpower than we do and manage not to eat the entire cup in one sitting, you can store what’s left in an airtight container in the fridge for several weeks.

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:

  1. Over medium heat, melt butter in a medium-sized pan.
  2. When the butter is melted, add brown sugar, salt, and heavy cream to the pan, stirring to combine.
  3. Bring mixture to a boil, and boil for 4-5 minutes.
  4. Remove sauce from heat, and add vanilla.
Caramel milkshake
kim ick/Unsplash

Butterscotch sauce tips and tricks

  • This sauce will thicken as it cools, so don’t worry if it seems too runny after removing from the heat. If it looks thick enough to pour over ice cream when you remove it from the heat, you’ve probably gone too far. As it cools, you’ll end up with a thicker, candy-like product. Still delicious, but not great for pouring.
  • If it’s an adult-themed treat you’re after, you can spike your butterscotch syrup by adding your favorite liquor to the recipe. Simply stir in 1-2 tablespoons of whiskey or bourbon with the vanilla for a boozy kick to your sauce.
  • It’s very important to use a flake salt in this recipe. Flake salt has finer, more delicate crystals that dissolve instantly in hot caramel sauce, making for a smooth consistency and not overly-salty flavor.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Lindsay Parrill
Lindsay is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, from where she holds a degree in…
A chef gives us the secret key ingredient to make perfect fried chicken (and the one step most people get wrong!)
The secret to perfect fried chicken is simpler than you think
Fried chicken

Beautifully executed fried chicken is, perhaps, one of the few perfect things we get to have as human beings. Its warm, crispy, decadently crunchy crust with a hot and steamy, sinfully juicy, rich, and savory center is enough to make most grown men weep with pure joy. This classic dish is arguably one of the most important staples of American cuisine, and the pressure to get it right can be intense. The good news is, no one knows how to make fried chicken better than Chef Trevor Stockton, of The Restaurant at RT Lodge, and he graciously agreed to be our guide with a few of his best tips.

Chef Stockton shared with us the secret to perfect fried chicken, and the answer is a simple one. "The most important thing, other than using a quality chicken, is using quality buttermilk," he said, adding that he uses Cruze Farm Dairy buttermilk, which is churned and not homogenized. "If you can get your hands on real churned buttermilk, it will give you nice tender chicken because it still has all of its original qualities. We season our chicken very simply and then cover it with the Cruze Farm buttermilk for a minimum of 24 hours."

Read more
Ice cream bread is the lifehack your internal fat kid needs
You like ice cream. You like bread. Why not mix them together?
ice cream bread recipe 6289263 1920

Social media's hottest new recipe trend that's floating around is one that we deeply, truly approve of. Naturally, things like butter boards and new coffee concoctions are always appreciated by those of us who love a fun culinary trend. But there's something about this one that just really tickles us pink - ice cream bread. Maybe it's the tempting simplicity of the name that combines two of the most wonderful things in the world. Maybe it's the fact that the recipe itself is almost simpler than the name. Maybe it's the sprinkles. Whatever the reason, ice cream bread is our new favorite trendy treat.

When we saw this video making the rounds, we decided that we needed to give ice cream bread a try, and the results were pleasantly surprising.

Read more
Bad news for beer lovers: A new study says climate change is ruining your favorite drink
Enjoy those IPAs while you can
Beer Pint

Enjoy that IPA or pilsner while you still can because, thanks to climate change, it might taste a little different (or not be available at all) in the future. That’s because, according to a new study, there’s a steady decline in the quantity of European hops being grown. For those unaware, hops are what give your favorite beer its floral, bitter flavor profile. Without them, beer would be a barley-centric, mostly flavorless mess.

That’s right; climate change is affecting more than just the polar ice caps, droughts, storms, and rising sea levels. It’s going to affect how your beer tastes, and it might soon affect how much it costs.

Read more