Butterscotch Pie Recipe

Rich butterscotch custard in a homemade flaky pie crust and topped with a sweet orange meringue. No pudding here! This truly homemade butterscotch will bring out those sweet, nutty, and buttery flavors you won’t be able to forget.

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Why you’ll love this Homemade Butterscotch Pie Recipe

Move over salted caramel! This butterscotch pie has lovely hints of that caramel flavor with deeper notes of butter and molasses. If butterscotch instant pudding or butterscotch putting cups are a favorite of yours, you’ll love the elevated butterscotch flavor in this homemade pie.

This pie is homemade down to the homemade crust, and it’s absolutely worth it to put in the extra bit of effort to prepare this recipe from scratch.

What is butterscotch?

Simply put, butterscotch is a combination of butter and brown sugar. Similar to caramel which is sugar and water, combined and cooked down until it’s browned. Butterscotch does have a caramel taste but with richer, creamier notes of butter and molasses.

Ingredients

For the Pie Crust

All-purpose flour: The best practice for using flour when baking is to measure it on a kitchen scale. Too much flour will result in a dry and crumbly pie crust.

Granulated sugar: White granulated sugar, sifting before use will help break down any solid sugar clumps.

Salt: Always for flavor and balance.

Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter in Half Sticks: Very cold butter, if at any point your butter is warming too quickly put it back into the fridge until cooled again.

Water: Very cold water, adding ice cubes will help keep it chilled while you’re working with the dough.

For the Filling

Brown sugar: Either light or dark brown sugar will work. Dark brown sugar just has more molasses in it, which may create a deeper butterscotch flavor. For a milder butterscotch flavor, use light brown sugar. Or mix them!

All-purpose flour: Were using only a small amount of flour to help bring the filling together and give it a creamy texture.

Egg & Egg yolks: These eggs will be the main thickener in your butterscotch pie.

Whole milk: Whole milk provides the extra fat other kinds of milk won’t provide for a creamy custardy filling.

Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract for flavor

Unsalted butter: Butterscotch filling isn’t butterscotch without butter. Use a good quality butter like Land O Lakes® for that rich buttery flavor you love.

For the Orange Meringue

Egg whites: Room-temperature egg whites will be essential in making your meringue successful.

Cream of tartar: Helps to stabilize the egg white, giving you the tall wispy meringue that will set your pie apart.

Granulated sugar: Regular white sugar will work perfectly as it dissolves quickly.

Sea salt: For flavor and balance.

Pure vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract will give you the most authentic vanilla flavor, homemade vanilla will be just as good too!

Orange extract: Orange extract can also be replaced with orange juice or orange zest if the extract isn’t available to you.

How to make Butterscotch Pie

For the Crust

In a medium-sized bowl, add flour, sugar, and salt and whisk together to combine.

Next, add your butter cubes to the flour, and using your pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until various-sized crumbs appear.

Slowly add the cold water to 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 it into a ball. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 45-55 minutes to rest.

For the Filling

Mix ½ cup sugar with flour. Mix egg and egg yolks and add to the sugar mixture. Add milk, and salt and beat well with a whisk then set aside.

Brown ½ cup of sugar in a heavy pan over medium-high 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, stirring constantly. Continue whisking as you slowly add the egg-milk mixture to 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 the dough out to about 1/4-1/3 inch thickness and place on your pie plate.

Line the dough with parchment paper and add pie weights to your crust then bake for 15-20 minutes.

Next, remove the 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.

How to make Orange 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 meringue out to the edges, but keep it mounded a bit higher in the middle. If desired, toast the meringue with a kitchen torch.

What is meringue?

Meringue is a topping made by combining granulated sugar and egg whites, warming them together over a water bath, then whipping them until stiff. The result is an incredibly airy yet decadent topping used for cakes, pies, macarons and so much more!

For even more information on Meringues, check out my Lemon Meringue Pie for some useful tips and tricks.

How to store 

Butterscotch Pie is so deliciously creamy when served cold from 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.

Can I freeze Butterscotch Pie with Meringue? It is not recommended to freeze this pie. The meringue is made with egg whites and will not freeze well.

Expert Tips

Tips for Meringue

• Separate your eggs while they’re still cold. You’ll lessen the chance of getting yolk into your whites as their easier to separate cold.
• Before whisking allow your egg whites to come to room temperature.
• 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.

Can I use a store bought pie crust?

Of course, if you’re short on time a pre-baked pie shell will still be a perfect crust for this delicious recipe.

More delicious pie recipes

• Shoofly Pie
• Mississippi Mud Pie
• Banana Pudding Pie
• S’mores Pumpkin Pie
• Chocolate Chess Pie
• Pecan Pie

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