Skip the store-bought sauces and whip up a quick and easy recipe for Homemade Butterscotch Sauce.
I had grand plans today to share a recipe starring nutrient-packed leafy greens. Instead, my lack of willpower has resulted in Easy Homemade Butterscotch Sauce. Leafy greens. Butterscotch sauce. Same thing, right? Keto-lovers, shield your eyes.
In researching what goes into a successful—and incredibly simple—butterscotch sauce, I discovered countless discussions across the interwebs about butterscotch versus caramel.
To summarize: Butterscotch sauce is made with brown sugar, while a traditional caramel sauce is made with white sugar.
I’ve caramelized sugar a million times and a thousand different ways—white sugar, brown sugar, butter, no butter, bourbon, whiskey, cream, vanilla. This recipe is hands-down the winner when it comes to a fast (10 minutes!) and easy sauce for ice cream sundaes.
I tested the recipe with light and dark brown sugar, and the dark variety inevitably won out for its deeper molasses flavor and intense amber color. I also opted for large-flake sea salt to balance out the sweetness. And the texture? Silky smooth, and totally eat-it-with-a-spoon-worthy.
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Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon large-flake salt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan (not non-stick) over medium heat.
- Add the brown sugar, salt and heavy cream and stir the mixture with a rubber spatula until it's well blended. Bring the mixture to a boil, scraping down the sides occasionally, and boil it for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the butterscotch sauce to a container to cool. (See Kelly's Notes.)
Kelly's Notes:
- The butterscotch thickens significantly as it cools, so it's important to not over-boil it or you'll end up with chewy butterscotch caramels rather than a pourable sauce.
- If you want to add a kick to your butterscotch sauce, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of your choice liquor (think bourbon, whiskey or cognac) at the same time you stir in the vanilla extract.
- ★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
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Recipe by Kelly Senyei of Just a Taste. Please do not reprint this recipe without my permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please rewrite the method of preparation and link to this post as the original source.
Butterscotch sauce. Why measure in cups, its so imprecise. Cups come in many different hights widths and shapes. Wouldnt it be better using pounds and ounces? I made the sauce but I used too much sugar and cream due to figuring out what exactly a cup size is, otherwise the sauce would have been lovely.
Used 1/2 a teaspoon of regular table salt instead of a teaspoon of large-flake salt as that was what I had on hand and I saw reviews saying it ends up too salty sometimes. It turned out great! A lovely smooth consistency, neither too liquid nor too thick, and not with a crunchy texture a different recipe got me in the past. The taste was great as well, and I found the salt content I had was enough to give a little kick of saltiness and add dimension to the taste while still keeping the butterscotch sweet. We used it between layers in a cake, and it worked perfectly, will definitely be using this recipe again in the future.
So glad you enjoyed it!
The butterscotch sauce has come out super yummy! Thanks Kelly
So glad you enjoyed it, Payal!
Wow. I just wanted a quick and easy butterscotch for our vanilla after dinner. This was SO good, we couldn’t stop eating after the ice cream was gone!
Our 12 year old asked “Is it something I can make?” Yup. Have at it kid!
Amazing. Quick, easy, uses all staples, and completely delicious. I’ll absolutely have this on hand for our next ice cream night!
Love reading this, Ingrid!
Amazing and easy! If I’d known butterscotch topping was this easy 60 years ago, I’d weigh 400 pounds today! (I did go with a tablespoon of Woodford ;-)
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe, Norm!
Taste great — but it turned out alot darker than yours — any idea why? Made exactly as directions said.
So glad you enjoyed it! The color difference could be because you cooked it slightly longer.
Very easy to make — tastes amazing — used 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt in place of large flake salt – now waiting for it to cool!
Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Just Perfect!
So glad you enjoyed it, Pamela!
Thanks so much for the share!! This taste so good, better than any other I’ve tried!! So good in fact I’m making your recipe as Christmas gifts!! So I’m sure a huge Thank You from them too Merry Christmas
So glad you enjoyed it, Sabrina!
Honest question….Can I drink the jar?
LOL! Glad you are enjoying it :)
This is so easy and delicious! Skip the ice cream and enjoy it as is
So glad you enjoyed it, Beth!
How would you be able to store this .Would it save in sterilise jars ? I would like to make it as Christmas presents .
Sterilized jars would work great, Dee!
This worked really well, where i have struggled with other recipes. Will be my Go To from now on. Im guessing a bit more brown sugar and I’d have toffee sauce as well
So glad you enjoyed it!
I used light brown sugar. Easy and delicious!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Lynn!
Delicious! Just waiting it to fully cool. I doubled it and perhaps measured a little too much salt. Lucky I like salt haha. Still tastes wonderful.
So glad you enjoyed it, Sacha!
Extremely salty! I was concerned with the amount stated to add. I used coarse flake sea salt and it’s unusable. I was thinking about tossing it but am now thinking about making a second batch without any salt. Once done mix the two batches together and pouring into canning jars. I might also melt and brown the butter which the recipe doesn’t say anything about browning. Your thoughts?
Did you use kosher salt, Thomas? It’s a larger grain than table salt.
Extremely salty! I was concerned with the amount stated to add. I used coarse flake sea salt and it’s unusable.
Are you gonna be okay? I’m so sorry you had a life changing experience with salt. I’ll pray for you. :)
I used light brown sugar instead of dark. My butterscotch is a bit more buttery and not as sweet as I’d like. Can I re-boil it and add more brown sugar?
Hi Alisha! Yes, you can reboil it if desired. Adding more sugar isn’t the best option because it won’t combine with the already-caramelized sugar. Hope this helps!
This is so quick and easy to make. Very tasty without all the additives! I loved it but for an unknown reason it didn’t present well. The color was cloudy.
Anyone know what caused this? I had just cleaned the pan, the simple recipe and each step correctly. It has me puzzled and as I said did not present well although yumny. Thanks for this recipe. Hope someone has an answer for me.
So glad you enjoyed it! It can become cloudy if you whisk it too much, which incorporates excess air and changes the color.
I think I over boiled it. Should I lower the heat from “medium heat?”
Hi Jen! All stovetops/burners regulate heat differently so feel free to lower yours if it is getting too hot.
I browned the butter and added nutmeg and it tastes incredible!!! This is a wonderful recipe
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Mary!