Homemade butterscotch pudding is underrated, yet unbelievable. In this recipe, you’re combining the outstanding flavors of caramelized brown sugar and butter with vanilla and a splash of bourbon. This butterscotch pudding recipe is luxuriously creamy, velvet-rich, and totally unforgettable with salted caramel and fresh whipped cream on top.
The work is cut out for me today as I have to twist your arm into trying TWO underrated desserts. First, butterscotch. Often overshadowed by chocolate, peanut butter, lemon, and every other flavor on the planet, butterscotch quietly sits in the corner until it’s noticed. Second, pudding. Normally pudding is as exciting as watching paint dry; a majority of dessert lovers don’t give it the time of day.
But let’s take a moment to appreciate both. Homemade butterscotch pudding is in its own playing field. In 1 pot, we’re combining caramelized brown sugar and butter with a splash of vanilla and bourbon. Butterscotch pudding is luxuriously creamy and velvet-rich. Top with salted caramel, fresh whipped cream, and toffee bits for a truly unforgettable dessert.
And the best part? Box mix pudding is not invited to this party!
Oh, and if you’re ever in need of gluten free dessert recipes, this one fits the bill. Win!
Guess what? Butterscotch pudding is actually making a comeback. LA’s restaurant Pizzeria Mozza has been all the buzz lately because it serves up an iconic dessert: butterscotch budino. (Budino is Italian for pudding-like desserts.) Reading about it, as my mouth totally salivated, inspired today’s recipe.
Video Tutorial: Butterscotch Pudding
How to Make Homemade Butterscotch Pudding
Instant box pudding mix has skewed our perception of what real pudding actually tastes like. It’s much creamier and smoother, close to creme brûlée. And it’s easy to make! If you’ve made banana cream pie, coconut cream pie, mocha chocolate pudding pie, or homemade dirt pudding, you’ll be familiar with the process. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you know how to stir, you know how to make pudding.
- Combine whole milk and heavy cream. Heavy cream is the secret to REALLY GOOD pudding. Thin it out with whole milk so the pudding isn’t overly thick.
- Combine egg yolks and cornstarch. They thicken the pudding to the best consistency.
- Cook brown sugar, water, and salt together. You are essentially caramelizing the brown sugar on the stove. It’s the most important step in the entire recipe because it develops the butterscotch flavor. Without it, you’re eating brown sugar pudding, not butterscotch pudding.
- Slowly add the milk/heavy cream to the pot. The colder the milk, the more the pot will sizzle. Add it carefully, then bring to a boil.
- Add the egg yolk mixture to the pot. Temper it first by adding some of the boiling pudding to the egg yolk mixture, then pour it all back into the pudding. You can watch me do this in the video above. The purpose of tempering is to slowly raise the egg yolk’s temperature without scrambling them. It’s very simple.
- Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients. You need butter, vanilla extract, and bourbon, rum, or scotch. Softened butter keeps the pudding creamy and the last 2 are for flavor. You won’t regret the splash of alcohol!
This is a 10 minute recipe. Add each ingredient to the pot in different stages, then let the pudding cool and thicken. Your 10 minutes of work will be certainly be rewarded!
Ingredients in Homemade Butterscotch Pudding
You only need a few basic ingredients for stovetop butterscotch pudding.
- Whole Milk
- Heavy Cream
- Egg Yolks
- Cornstarch
- Water
- Dark Brown Sugar
- Salt
- Butter
- Vanilla Extract and Scotch or Bourbon.
My #1 tip: Use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar. In my recipe testing, I found light brown sugar to be good, but dark brown sugar is great. The sugar cooks into a darker color and the butterscotch flavor is much more intense.
What Does Butterscotch Taste Like?
My love for butterscotch runs deep. Deeper than peanut butter, deeper than apple pie, deeper than sprinkles. But what does butterscotch taste like? Butterscotch is like caramel, but its base is brown sugar, not regular white sugar. Therefore, butterscotch has that richer, more complex flavor than caramel. I actually have a homemade butterscotch candy recipe in Sally’s Candy Addiction! They’re called Butter Rum Hard Candies on page 27.
Speaking of caramel, this butterscotch pudding is elevated to heaven with a generous dose of salted caramel and crunchy toffee. Homemade whipped cream is a convenient finishing touch since you already have heavy cream on hand for the pudding. But these toppings are optional. Truly all you need is a spoon to enjoy this stuff!!
PS: I serve the pudding in regular cups and/or these French wine glasses. So fancy!
PrintHomemade Butterscotch Pudding
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This butterscotch pudding comes together in about 10 minutes on the stove. In this recipe, you’re combining the outstanding flavors of caramelized brown sugar and butter with vanilla and, if desired, a splash of bourbon. This butterscotch pudding recipe is luxuriously creamy, velvet-rich, and totally unforgettable with salted caramel and fresh whipped cream on top.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) whole milk
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed dark brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional but recommended: 1 Tablespoon scotch, rum, or bourbon
- optional for topping: salted caramel, Heath Bar toffee bits, homemade whipped cream
Instructions
- Whisk the whole milk and heavy cream together. Set aside. Whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch together. Set that aside too. Have both ready to go in step 3.
- Whisk the brown sugar, water, and salt together in a medium heavy duty saucepan over medium heat. Without stirring, allow to cook and bubble until darker brown, about 5-6 minutes. It should begin to smell caramelized at that point. If desired, you can take the temperature with a candy thermometer to be certain it is ready. Look for around 240°F (116°C).
- Slowly and carefully whisk in the heavy cream/milk. It will sizzle and may splatter, so pour in slowly. Cook on medium heat until mixture begins to boil. Once boiling, remove about 1/2 cup of the mixture and, in a slow and steady stream, whisk into the egg yolks. Keep those egg yolks moving so they don’t scramble. In a slow and steady stream, pour and whisk the egg yolk mixture into the pot.
- Turn the heat down to low. The pudding will immediately begin to bubble and thicken. Whisk and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until completely smooth, then add the vanilla and bourbon.
- Cool for 5 minutes, then pour into serving glasses or bowls. Cover tightly with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding (to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight until chilled and thickened.
- Serve with optional toppings. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Medium Heavy Duty Saucepan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Candy Thermometer (optional) | French Wine Glasses (or regular bowls for serving)
- Whole Milk + Heavy Cream: I strongly recommend these two. You can try subbing both for the same amount of half-and-half, but I recommend sticking to the recipe for best results. Lower fat alternatives will yield a thinner pudding. I haven’t tested dairy-free alternatives, but let me know if you do! Milk and cream can be cold or room temperature, but the colder they are, the more they will splatter when added in step 3. To avoid a mess, room temperature is the better choice.
- Egg Yolks: Note that the photo above shows only 2 egg yolks, but additional recipe testing proved 3 egg yolks is the magic number. Here are recipes using egg whites.
- Dark Brown Sugar: For stronger flavor and darker color, I strongly recommend dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar.
- Adapted from Mozza’s Butterscotch Budino
I saw this recipe and had to try it. My husband is a fiend for butterscotch pudding. First time I made it, I only had light brown sugar and it was amazing – so much so that my son, who is not a big fan, had 3 helpings! Just made it again today for Christmas tomorrow but this time used dark brown sugar and Brown Sugar Bourbon and doubled the recipe. OMG! Unbelievable is right! Then I made the salted caramel sauce to go with it and let’s just say, I am in heaven! I’ve tried several of your recipes and these 2 have got to be my favorite!
I cooked my eggs. My batch with alcohol didn’t set at all. I’ve strained it. My batch without alcohol set some but I’m straining it too.
Any idea what I can do with it now? They taste delicious!
I used entirely lactose free skim milk for all 2 1/2 cups of the recommended whole and cream- its all I had! To thicken I used 4 egg yolks and upped the corn starch to 4 tbsp. Also didn’t have any bourbon so I used 1 tbsp vanilla. On the stove it thickened perfectly and tastes delicious. Impatiently waiting for it to cool! But even hot it has the consistency of any other fresh pudding and I am confident the texture will be great
Hi Sally! I’m going to make this for a dinner party next week. I’m wondering when I put the salted caramel on. After the pudding cooled? And do I cool the salted caramel before putting it on? Thanks! Love love loooove your blog!
Hi Kelly, I put any toppings like salted caramel and whipped cream on right before serving. Yes, you want to the caramel sauce to be room temperature or cold so that it doesn’t melt the pudding when you place it on top. Enjoy!
I LOVE butterscotch pudding. My 83 yr old roommate was telling me about when she would make homemade butterscotch pudding and that got me interested in trying. Just made it with this recipe. It’s AMAZING.
As a girl who is missing the “chocolate lover chromosome”, I adore butterscotch. Cooking at altitude makes caramelizing sugar, caramel sauce tricky, but your clear instructions with pictures & video made this a successful attempt. I did these in little 3 oz. dessert glasses and it filled 8 easy ( I find people will more readily eat desserts if you serve them in mini versions). I think the hardest part of this was cutting all the little plastic squares to push down over the pudding surface! this will definitely be made again, thank you for this post!
I made a batch of this with some of the leftover eggs yolks from your Angel Food cake. Holy Cow! This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted! So rich and creamy and the flavor! I need to make another batch ASAP!
Excellent!
I made your butterscotch pudding today because I had leftover egg yolks from your coconut cake I made on Easter. Oh my. That pudding is so delicious that I could eat it all. But I will save my husband some. Everyone enjoyed the cake also. Thank you for all your recipes
You’ve got it pictures in such lovely individual glasses…did you shove the plastic wrap down in them to get it to touch the pudding surface, or did you let it set in a larger dish and then portion it out when serving?
Hi Lauren! Yes, I cover and chill them right in the glasses but you can absolutely chill it in a large bowl also.
This looks delicious. Can you use a large pan to set the product rather than cups?
Shouldn’t be a problem. Make sure you cover the whole surface with plastic wrap directly touching the pudding.
This pudding is crazy good! The dark brown sugar is so dark that it’s hard to tell when it’s caramelized but the time was spot on according to my thermometer. I was afraid my egg tempering wasn’t quite perfect so I strained it before chilling. It’s still hanging out in the fridge until after dinner tonight but I can’t stop sneaking tastes of it! Thanks for another show stopper!
So yummy! Husband described it as “knee-bucklingly good”!
Wow delicious!
I love your recipes. I have been able to make the ones I’ve tried gluten-free quite easily.
For this one, I will try half and half and 2% milk. I will substitute the corn starch with either potato starch or mochi rice flour as I am sensitive to corn.
Thank you. You know your stuff! Sali
I’m glad you can usually make my recipes work for you! I hope this one turns out well also!
Hi Sally,
Would I be able to use this pudding for a cake filling?
I can’t see why not!
Sally, I made this tonight and it was wonderful! It is everything you said it is – luxurious, creamy and velvety. I loved your addition of the bourbon. So good!
I appreciated that you stated the sugar mixture should reach a temperature of 240 degrees F because if I would have gone by color alone I would have probably ruined it. That is why I love your recipes – you help us succeed! Thank you!
Try adding a handful of toasted pecan pieces on top of the caramel sauce topping the pudding…OMG stack my mouth!
I can’t wait to try this amazing recipe! ❤
I have two packs of Nestle Butterscotch Morsels sitting in my pantry for quite sometime…. Any suggestions to incorporate it into this recipe?
Hi Nifra! I think they would be delicious stirred into the pudding when you add the butter, vanilla, and rum/scotch. No need to fully melt them. Some little chunks of butterscotch would be delicious!
Made this yesterday as we had friends over, they looked like such fancy desserts and went down a treat. I must have kept the caramel sauce on the hob for a minute too long though as it went solid as soon as I poured it on top of the chilled pudding, yikes. Totally me, not the recipe and still delicious. Will definitely make this dessert again, so quick and super tasty!
Hi Sally,
Can you help me with what I may have done wrong? The texture of my pudding did not turn out creamy and velvety, but instead mostly grainy. I flavor was definitely there and I my family loved that. Would love to make again but need some suggestions. My guess is I cooked too long or not enough? Thanks for your help!
Hi Michelle! I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavor of this butterscotch pudding! Was your brown sugar particularly old and hard? The moister and fresher it is, the better it will melt down.
Hi Sally,
My brown sugar seemed pretty moist and didn’t seem to take long to melt down, though the bag has probably been open a few months. I don’t know if that considers it old…
Thank you so much for this recipe! My Grandmother used to make Butterscotch Pie for my mother every year on her birthday. And it wasn’t a replacement for her birthday cake it was a pie JUST for her. My Grandmother suffered with Alzheimer’s disease for a number of years before she passed away almost four years ago now. I’ve tried a couple times to replicate the pie for my mother and didn’t quite get it, until this! After my mother’s first bite she declared “this is as good as Mum’s!” YES, YES, YES! I could have cried! Thank you for providing the perfect gift for me to give to the woman in my life that needs nothing but deserves everything!
From one butterscotch lover to another, I applaud you! It’s my favorite, and I will walk past All The Other Flavors to get to *real* butterscotch!
I’ve been craving a good butterscotch pudding for weeks, even bought a (teeny tiny—about 2 tablespoons worth) BP dessert at a tony restaurant. Those tantalizing bites were all sugar and no butterscotch! So I couldn’t click through fast enough when your recipe turned up in my reader today. Thank you! SO looking forward to trying it and think I just might make it into a butterscotch pie and use those egg whites to make a meringue topping.
Would this still be doable without the alcohol? I am a recovering alcoholic and don’t cook with it.
You can leave it out! Add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, if desired.
Hi Sally, I can’t wait to try this! Do you think this would set up okay if I poured it all into a bowl, instead of individual bowls?
Absolutely! May take a little longer to full set due to added volume.
Hi Sally!
If I were to use whole eggs instead of just egg yolks, how many eggs would I need? Nothing against egg yolks – this is more curiosity than anything else. 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Kat! The protein in the whites will prevent the pudding from setting up properly, so I don’t recommend testing that. Yolks are key.
I really don’t trust myself to caramelize sugar by sight/smell. If we were to use a candy thermometer, do you know what temperature to take it to? 300F?
Hi Michael! Look for around 240°F (116°C).
Hi Sally,
I had a question on the milk and cream. Should it be cold or room temp?
Thanks for a blast from my childhood!
Hi Kasey! This is a great question and I just added it to the notes. (I mention it in the video but forgot to add to the recipe note.) Either work, but to avoid a lot of sizzle and splatter in the pot, I recommend room temperature.
Love butterscotch! Might be making this soon.
When covering with plastic wrap at the end, does the plastic need to touch the pudding to prevent a skin from forming?
Yes yes yes, definitely! That’s always best to protect the pudding from a skin on top.
=O…Butterscotch pudding is way up there in my fave desserts list!!! Thank you so much Sally I am trying this as soon as I finish typing this comment…..thank you!
I hope you love this recipe, Gemma!
They turned out amazing!!! Definitely making this often in the (near) future…