Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like a golden sweet caramelized nectar of goodness.
Texture: The crust is buttery yet crunchy, the butterscotch filling is thick and rich, while the whipped cream is light and creamy.
Ease: The butterscotch pudding filling does take a few steps, but there’s no pie crust involved and it can be made ahead of time.
Pros: Delightful fall pie.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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This Butterscotch Pie packs so much fall flavor into one delicious pie.
In a world full of salted caramel, butterscotch is often overlooked and forgotten. Poor butterscotch.
That’s why I’m excited to shine the spotlight on butterscotch with this pie recipe. It’ll make you remember just how wonderfully sweet and complex the stuff is. Liquid gold! Well, in this case, pudding gold.
I particularly love this recipe for holidays like Thanksgiving. Why? Well, there’s no pie crust involved. Just a simple ground cookie crust, which comes together in no time.
Also, this recipe has to be made ahead of time. It doesn’t take up more than 10 minutes in the oven, since the filling is made on the stovetop.
Every bite just tastes like fall goodness.
I hope you will give this pie a try this Thanksgiving!
How to Make Butterscotch Pie
The Crust
One of my favorite parts of this recipe is the sweet yet spiced Biscoff cookie crust! They’re like a combination of gingerbread and graham crackers and they complement the butterscotch flavor oh so well.
You can find them at most grocery stores. I’ve seen them at Walmart, Target, and Kroger stores and you can find them under the name Speculoos at Trader Joe’s. You can also buy them from Amazon here.
Crust Alternatives for Butterscotch Pie
If you can’t find or don’t want to use Biscoff, you can easily replace it with 250 grams of any other crispy cookie. That’s 17 graham crackers (when I say graham cracker, I mean the full rectangle). Vanilla wafers or gingersnaps would also be fun options!
Butterscotch Pie Filling (read this!)
I highly recommend reading the recipe through once or twice before you actually get started making the filling. It’s not hard, I promise, but there are a few different components involved. You make a caramel / butterscotch sauce, then make pudding which involves tempering eggs.
Tempering sounds really fancy but it’s basically just how we gently bring the eggs up to temperature without scrambling them. I talk more about tempering in this video post for how to make homemade custard ice cream.
Whole milk really does work best here. You may be able to get away with 2% milk, but anything lower will lead to a watery filling that won’t set quite as well. I have not tried this recipe with any non-dairy subs.
Which Pie Pan Should I Use for Butterscotch Pie?
This recipe was written to use a 9-inch pie pan. Be sure your pie dish isn’t too shallow. This recipe basically fills the pie pan all the way to the top with butterscotch goodness.
How to Make Butterscotch Pie Ahead
- This pie must chill for at least 6 hours in the fridge.
- I almost always just make it the day before I plan to serve it so it can firm up completely overnight.
- It’ll stay good in the fridge for a few days, but the crust will get soggy the longer it sits.
- The whipped cream topping is best made the day it’s served.
- Serve chilled.
More Pie Recipes:
- French Silk Pie
- Peanut Butter Pie
- Caramel Apple Streusel Pie
- Pumpkin Hand Pies (for Halloween)
- Blueberry Pie
Butterscotch Pie
Ingredients
For the cookie crust:
- 32 Speculoos / Biscoff cookies (250 gram package)
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
- 6 large egg yolks, beaten
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) packed dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (43 grams) cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon (14 grams) unsalted butter
For topping:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
- 3 tablespoons (23 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Crushed Speculoos / Biscoff cookies, for garnish, if desired
Instructions
Make the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the Speculoos cookies until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until moistened. Use the bottom of a measuring cup or glass to press the crust mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a fairly deep 9-inch pie plate. Bake until fragrant, about 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the filling:
- Read the filling instructions completely before beginning.
- Whisk the egg yolks together in a large heatproof bowl until smooth. Set aside.
- In a small stainless saucepan, combine the granulated sugar with 1/4 cup water. Gently stir with a silicone spatula. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally without stirring, until the mixture turns a dark amber color, about 10 minutes total. Be careful not to burn. You can always return to heat and cook more, but you can't undo a burnt butterscotch!
- Remove from heat. Gradually stir in the heavy cream. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add half of the milk, whisking to combine. Whisk in the remaining milk. Set over medium-high heat, whisking often, until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add in the butterscotch mixture.
- Gradually ladle about a quarter of the hot liquid into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, to temper the eggs. Add another quarter of the hot mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly. Slowly transfer the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Whisking constantly, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until thickened like pudding.
- Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Whisk vigorously for 1 minute to encourage the mixture to cool. Pour through a mesh sieve into the prepared crust to remove any lumps.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight to set. At this point, the pie can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Make the topping:
- In a medium mixing bowl, use an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment to beat the cream on medium-high speed until it begins to thicken. Add in the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until soft peaks form.
- Spread over the chilled pie. Garnish with Speculoos crumbs, if desired. Serve chilled.
This post was published in 2018 and has since been updated with additional recipe tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
October 2020 Baking Challenge
This recipe was the October 2020 selection for our monthly baking challenge. Every month you can join the challenge by baking the recipe and snapping a photo for a chance to win prizes! Learn more about my monthly baking challenges here. Check out everyone’s pies:
I had never had butterscotch pie before but was told it was excellent. I used a graham cracker crust and no whip.
Can this be made with meringue?
I’d also like to know if this can be made with a meringue topping instead of whipped cream. Does the baking of the meringue harm the pie?
I made this. The pudding is an extensive process which took most of my time. I used dark brown sugar instead of regular brown sugar. I could not find those biscoff cookies any where so I made my own crust instead and it came out better. For the whipped cream I only used 2 tablespoons of powder sugar in the cold whipping cream for less sweet and I increased the vanilla extract to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons for a bolder vanilla flavor. With the ingredients plus the extra work this pie takes this definitely will be a once a year pie for the holidays. My other thought would be to make these into smaller individual portions for easier serving and less time required in the refrigerator.
I’m so excited to try this recipe! In your “butterscotch sauce” recipe there is information about adding scotch, bourbon, run, etc. to spice up the flavor and cut sweetness a bit. Also in that recipe, you recommend adding the liquor after taking the sauce off the heat.
Would it be possible ( or advised) to add the liquor in this butterscotch recipe? If so, at which step in the process would you recommend adding it?
mahalo!
Hi Tessa and all!
Is it possible to warm the pie up prior to serving? Or would this ruin the pudding?
Thank you!
It needs to be served chilled 🙂
Pure goodness !
Thank you Tessa
Made my own spéculos and used Nature’s Charm whipping cream.
Just made this for the first time. Never had butterscotch pie before, but followed directions exactly and pie came out perfectly! I sneaked a little taste of the filling when it was finished and it is delicious! Can’t wait to serve it to my family tomorrow for our Valentines Day dinner! Coming from a person who cooks three meals a day, this is a great recipe! Follow the directions and it will come out perfectly!
Best butterscotch pie ever!!
Hi Tessa,
I haven’t made this yet, but am wondering about how I cover it at the end. Do I have the plastic wrap lay on the pudding so you don’t have a layer that forms?
Thank you.
Yeah, you can do that!
Hello Tessa! Just made your pie, I was looking for a wintery version of my Raspberry/chocolate ganache pie and yours was just it! Eating it right now with a drizzle of Biscoff on top! Super sliceable even after a night in the fridge, holds perfectly its shape. Thank you Tessa! Really likeyour blog, feel free to check my tiny tlittle blog and feedback me if you want! 😉
This was my first ever attempt to make butterscotch pie. It took me extra time because I had to read the directions more than normal, but next time I’m sure it will be easier. Everyone loved it – absolutely delicious!
Deserves 10 Stars!
I ❤️❤️❤️ this pie. I will definitely make this again. Great instructions too.
I made this yummy tart yesterday. It is delicious, with a deep butterscotch richness. I made it in a tart pan and used tart dough, instead of cookie crust. There was extra filling as tart pans are more shallow than pie pans. My husband was happy to help out and eat the extra pudding!
Perfect!!!
Quick question….I’m planning on making this for Thanksgiving. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup heavy cream but the directions say to add 1/4 cup of water to the sugars. Which one is it or is it both?
Thank you!!