Butterscotch pie made with a store-bought flaky crust and a smooth and creamy filling. It is a twist on the classic because it calls for brown butter for a toasty, nutty flavor! Get our pie crust recipe to make it from scratch!
What’s one of your favorite pies? Although I don’t discriminate (after all, nothing can go wrong with pie), I enjoy the sweet flavor of caramel which reminds me of dulce de leche.
Unlike other butterscotch pies out there, ours has a sweet filling balanced by the browning of the butter.
A little tweak that made all the difference!
And all that one needs to do is let the butter and sugar cook longer, giving the filling an amazing nutty flavor.
If butterscotch pie is already good as it is, this small step made it extraordinary.
Ready to prepare the best butterscotch pie ever?
What’s butterscotch?
It is a type of confectionery whose main ingredients are brown sugar and butter although other ingredients can be added such as corn syrup, cream, vanilla, and salt. The earlier recipes, from the mid-19th century Yorkshire, credited to Parkinson's of Doncaster, used molasses instead of sugar or in addition to sugar.
There are several theories regarding the name. One says the name comes from "to cut or score" as the confection must be cut into pieces, or "scotched", before hardening. Another thinks it came from the adjective Scotch, indicating association with Scotland.
Butterscotch makes not only pie and candy – it can be made into sauce for topping ice cream.
What’s the difference between butterscotch and caramel?
The main difference is butterscotch is made with brown sugar while the caramel is made with granulated sugar.
To make butterscotch, you need to cook butter and brown sugar together.
To make caramel, you cook the sugar until melted and becomes brown but not burnt.
Sometimes cream is added to both (as well as vanilla extract). And surprisingly, butterscotch has no scotch!
Overall, butterscotch is sweeter and softer than caramel!
How to make butterscotch pie
- Set the oven rack in the middle and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- For the pie crust: Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a round (12-inch diameter). Then, line an ungreased 9-inch pie plate with the dough and trim off the excess crust. Crimp the edges! Pierce the bottom and sides of the crust all over with a fork. PHOTO 1 Bake until the crust starts to set, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let it fully cool before filling.
- Prepare the butterscotch filling: In a small saucepan, combine the milk and cream and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add ½ cup of the brown sugar, and cook the mixture, stirring often, until it bubbles (about 5 minutes). PHOTO 2 The butter should brown but not burn! Whisk in the hot milk mixture and the vanilla, and then remove the pan from the heat. Let it cool for about 3-5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ¼ cup of brown sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch until smooth, about 3 minutes. PHOTO 3 The whisk must leave a trail when lifted out of the mixture! Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl!
- While whisking constantly, slowly pour a third of the milk/cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture. PHOTO 4 Then add the egg mixture back to the remaining milk mixture into the pan and cook over medium-low heat. Make sure to constantly stir the mixture until thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes. It has to have the consistency of a pudding. PHOTO 5
- Pour the mixture into the cool pie crust. PHOTO 6 Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle jiggles slightly (not liquidy). Transfer to wire rack and let it cool completely (about 2 hours). Serve butterscotch pie chilled with toasted pecan halves on top or a dollop of whipped cream…and enjoy!
Variations for the butterscotch pie recipe
Did you know you can add a few twists to Grandma’s old-fashioned butterscotch pie? Yep! It is as easy as pie! J
The 4 most common variations are:
- Butterscotch cinnamon pie – Follow our recipe and stir in about 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon to the filling when adding the vanilla.
- Butterscotch pecan pie – It is like making a pecan pie with added butterscotch chips to the filling.
- For butterscotch pudding pie – It has a baked pie crust with a filling made with butterscotch instant pudding. After pouring the filling into the cool crust, the pie is refrigerated until set.
- Butterscotch meringue pie – It has toasted meringue on top!
Can I make this brown butter butterscotch pie ahead?
Yes! Make, let it cool completely, and chill this pie in the fridge up to one day in advance.
Why is my homemade butterscotch pie runny?
It can happen in 2 cases:
- When you didn’t cook the filling enough to the consistency of a pudding.
- When you didn’t bake the pie enough to the filling to set on the edges and gets jiggly (not liquidy) in the middle.
How thick should the pie filling be?
It has to be about as thick as a pudding and will become slightly thicker as it cools.
Storage
Store butterscotch pie covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. Make sure to place plastic wrap loosely over the top and seal around the edges of your pie plate.
Can I freeze it?
Butterscotch is a type of custard pie. The texture suffers a lot if frozen after baking. This is why I don’t recommend freezing it. It can become wet and gloppy after thawing it, although it is still edible.
Other pie recipes to try:
- Chocolate chess pie
- Lemon icebox pie
- Lemon chess pie
- Texas pecan pie
- Ruby apple pie
- Sweet potato pie
- Chocolate pie with meringue
PIN & ENJOY!
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Butterscotch Pie
Equipment
- Pans
- bowl
- Mixer or whisk
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour for flouring the work surface
- 1 store-bought pie dough 9-inch, chilled
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ stick
- ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract If desired, also add 1 to 3 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the pie filling.
- 9 large egg yolks
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Set the oven rack in the middle and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- For the pie crust: Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a round (12-inch diameter). Then, line an ungreased 9-inch pie plate with the dough and trim off the excess crust. Crimp the edges! Pierce the bottom and sides of the crust all over with a fork. Bake until the crust starts to set, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let it fully cool before filling.
- Prepare the butterscotch filling: In a small saucepan, combine the milk and cream and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add ½ cup of the brown sugar, and cook the mixture, stirring often, until it bubbles (about 5 minutes). The butter should brown but not burn! Whisk in the hot milk mixture and the vanilla, and then remove the pan from the heat. Let it cool for about 3-5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ¼ cup of brown sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch until smooth, about 3 minutes. The whisk must leave a trail when lifted out of the mixture! Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl!
- While whisking constantly, slowly pour a third of the milk/cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Then add the egg mixture back to the remaining milk mixture into the pan and cook over medium-low heat. Make sure to constantly stir the mixture until thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes. It has to have the consistency of a pudding.
- Pour the mixture into the cool pie crust. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle jiggles slightly (not liquidy). Transfer to wire rack and let it cool completely (about 2 hours). Serve it chilled with toasted pecan halves on top or a dollop of whipped cream…and enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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2pots2cook says
We have discovered butterscotch only recently and love the taste sooo much ! This must be great, too !
Denise Browning says
It has some notes of a buttery caramel and in our case, a nutty flavor because we cooked the butter and brown sugar (main ingredients) longer. It was os good! I hope you make this butterscotch pie and enjoy.