Your pie season deserves this old fashioned butterscotch pie recipe boos. Rich butterscotch custard is poured into a homemade flaky pie crust then topped with a fluffy citrus hinted meringue. No pudding mix around here y’all! We make our butterscotch filling from scratch bringing out those sweet, nutty, and buttery flavors you won’t ever forget. Get into this butterscotch pie and get your whole life!
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Move over caramel! This butterscotch pie has all those notes you love about caramel flavor but with deeper notes of butter and molasses in each bite. It doesn’t play around y’all! Trust me, If butterscotch instant pudding or butterscotch cups are a fave of yours, you’ll love how we elevated those flavors in this homemade pie. Let’s get into it!
The Lowdown of This Butterscotch Pie Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Classic Southern Comfort
Primary Cooking Method: Stovetop and Baking
Dietary Info: Contains Dairy and Eggs. Can be made gluten-free with ingredient swaps.
Key Flavor: Rich buttery sweet filling with citrusy meringue topping.
Skill Level: Easy y’all (No Sweat Fam!)
Dreamy Filling Texture
That silky smooth and beyond creamy filling is giving you that wonderful melt-in-your-mouth texture that delivers the goods!
Topping Remix
We switch it up adding a light and fluffy orange hinted meringue topping to our pie giving us that fresh citrusy zing that balances the sweetness of the butterscotch like a BOSS.
Holiday Showstopper
Y’all this butterscotch pie recipe is a scene-stealer for reals. With that torched meringue topping and insanely rich filling, this baby is gonna have all of your guests straight up addicted.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Homemade Butterscotch Pie Recipe
- All-purpose flour: This helps create structure for our pie crust and filling.
- Granulated sugar: Just a little sweetens our pie dough.
- Salt: We gotta add some to enhance the overall flavor and balance the sweetness.
- Unsalted Butter: Very cold butter creates a flaky crust while butter in our butterscotch is essential for adding that addictive richness to our filling.
- Brown sugar: This adds a deep molasses flavor and sweetness to our pie filling boos.
- Eggs: The yolks are the main thickener in our filling while the whites create our perfect meringue topping.
- Whole milk: Whole milk provides extra fat and creaminess to our custardy filling.
- Vanilla extract: Those warm aromatic notes add nuance and depth.
- Cream of tartar: This helps stabilize the egg whites in the meringue, giving you the tall wispy meringue that will set your pie apart.
- Orange extract: This will give you concentrated citrus flavor that pairs so perfectly with that sweet buttery butterscotch.
How to make Butterscotch Pie
How to Serve Homemade Butterscotch Pie
- Al La Mode: Adding a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream or something fun like cookie butter ice cream or sweet potato ice cream is a bomb pairing.
- Comfort Food Dinner: Serve up some chicken and gravy, smothered potatoes, and oyster dressing and don’t forget a slice of this homemade butterscotch pie.
- Elegant Dinner Partay!: Serve up the best lamb chops, jollof rice and Southern green beans with slices of this.
Recipe Substitutions
- Orange Extract: It can also be replaced with orange juice or orange zest if the extract isn’t available.
- Light Brown Sugar: Use dark brown sugar for more molasses flavor or if you only have granulated sugar and molasses, you can learn how to make brown sugar from scratch instead to use in this recipe.
- Milk: You can use half-and-half or a heavy whipping cream for an even more indulgent richer butterscotch.
- Vanilla Extract: Go with a deeper vanilla flavor using a vanilla bean paste instead.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Swap the Topping: Replace the meringue with fresh whipped cream if you are feeling that vibe more.
- Skip the Topping: Go super classic and just dust some powdered sugar on top of your pie.
- Black Bottom It: Add a layer of chocolate ganache to the top of your pie crust before pouring in your butterscotch filling.
- Salt it Up: Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the butterscotch to give a nice contrast to the sweetness in the filling.
- Add Warm Spices: Just a few mix-ins like nutmeg, allspice or cinnamon can provide some cozy flavors to the mixture.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Separate Cold: Separate your eggs while they’re still cold. You’ll lessen the chance of getting yolk into your whites. And you need pure whites in order to whip that meringue into shape.
- Pre-Bake Your Crust: This extra step will ensure that the crust stays crispy and flaky and not soggy after the filling is added.
- Keep it Clean: Make sure there are no traces of oil or butter on any of the bowls, utensils, or equipment used to make the meringue. This will affect the texture of the fluffy meringue.
- Cool Down: Make sure the filling has cooled completely before you add that meringue on top so it won’t weep.
How to store
Butterscotch Pie is so deliciously creamy when served cold from the fridge y’all. Once it’s cooled completely, you should pop in the fridge. To store in the fridge you’ll want to take care not to let plastic wrap stick to the delicate meringue on top. Use a few toothpicks and poke them into the meringue about halfway. This will allow the plastic wrap to sit above the pie, but still, keep it covered for freshness.
How long will butterscotch pie last in the refrigerator?
The pie will last in the fridge for about 3 days due to the meringue topping which will start to weep some.
Can I freeze leftovers?
Honestly boos, I don’t recommend freezing this pie. The meringue is made with egg whites and will not freeze well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course boos, if you’re short on time, a pre-baked pie shell will still taste bomb and keep it super no-fuss for you.
Get those arms working boos. You gotta constantly whisk so it comes together and that egg mixture doesn’t scramble. If you do end up not having it as smooth as you want, just strain any clumps or lumps to get that smooth texture back.
I personally love to make the filling a couple of days ahead of time. You can just add it to a mixing bowl then cover with plastic wrap pressing it right over the filling so a filmy skin doesn’t form on top. Then you can gently heat over low heat when you are ready to pour into the pie crust before baking.
Boos, when you wanna shake up your pie scene, make this delish homemade butterscotch pie. It has so many layers of indulgent flavors from that buttery, rich and sweet filling to the flaky pie crust to the silky citrus meringue. It all works together perfectly. Get ready to get into it y’all.
More delicious pie recipes
- Shoofly Pie
- Mississippi Mud Pie
- Banana Pudding Pie
- S’mores Pumpkin Pie
- Chocolate Chess Pie
- Pecan Pie
Butterscotch Pie
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Equipment
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup salted Butter very cold, cubed
- 1/4 cup water very cold, up to 1/3 cup
For the Filling
- 1 cup light brown sugar divided
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
For the Orange Meringue
- 4 large Egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon Cream of tartar
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- large pinch of fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons orange extract
Instructions
For the Crust
- In a medium sized bowl, add flour, sugar and salt and whisk together to combine.
- Next add your butter cubes to flour and using your pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until various sized crumbs appear.
- Slowly add the cold water into the flour until a ball of dough forms. Start with 1/4 cup and add more water if you need it. Knead the dough quickly to bring it together. Don't worry if there is any flour left in the bowl.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and round into a ball. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 45-55 minutes to rest.
For the Filling
- Mix ½ cup of brown sugar with flour. Mix egg and egg yolks and add to the sugar mixture. Add milk and beat well with a whisk then set aside.
- Brown remaining brown sugar in a heavy pan over medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt slowly. When completely dissolved, continue to cook until the syrup is a golden color.
- When sugar is browned, add 1 tbsp of very hot water, whisking constantly. Add a little of the sugar mixture into the egg mixture whisking quickly and consistently. Once eggs are up to temperature, continue whisking then slowly add the egg-milk mixture into the browned sugar. Cook until it thickens.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.
To Assemble
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Remove dough from the fridge and add a bit of flour to a working surface or clean counter and place dough on it. Using a rolling pin, quickly roll dough out to about 1/4-1/3 inch thickness and place in your pie plate.
- Line the dough with parchment paper and add pie weights to your crust then bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Next remove pie crust from the oven and lower the temperature to 350.
- Pour filling into baked pie crust.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes then allow to cool. In the meantime, prepare the meringue.
For the Meringue
- Bring a medium pot filled with about 2 inches of water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Set a medium bowl over the pot, add all the ingredients, and whisk to combine. Then heat, whisking constantly, or beating with a hand mixer, until the mixture reaches 160 F on a thermometer.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to whisk or transfer the heated mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip the mixture on medium-high speed until it reaches medium peaks, 2 to 3 minutes for the regular meringue, or 4 to 5 minutes for the mile high version.
- Pile the meringue on top of the cooled pie. Spread the meringue out to the edges, but keep it mounded a bit higher in the middle. If desired, toast the meringue with a kitchen torch.
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What do I use the brown sugar and flour for?
The pie filling. Hope you enjoy!
I’m confused– you call for brown (even for DARK brown) sugar in the filling and then you say to “brown” it. How much browner is it supposed to get?
It is basically to toast the brown sugar in this instance.
You had me at rich butterscotch custard and homemade pie crust. I can’t wait to dig into a piece of this.
Butterscotch brings back happy childhood food memories and this pie looks incredible.
I will have to bring this pie for our holiday dinner. If not I’m afraid I would eat it all myself! I love both butterscotch and meringue so I know this recipe is a winner. Thank you!
Great recipe. My family raved about it. Love ur photos too!
This was amazing! Such a great flavor and texture from the butterscotch, And the balance with a sweet but bright orange in the meringue was perfect!