This scrumptious Butterscotch Pie recipe is made with creamy homemade butterscotch pudding in a crumbly cookie crumb crust, topped with fresh whipped cream and shaved chocolate. For a real showstopper, make it all from scratch; or try the fast and easy, no bake, no cook alt-version (ready in just 10 minutes)!
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What's the Story on this Recipe
Some years ago, Mr B and I had the honor of being part of a Girl Scout Cookie Bake-off. Competition in the event was open to any Girl Scout from our community, and contestants were challenged to create dessert recipes that use Girl Scout Cookies.
We love all things caramelly and butterscotchy, so it's no surprise that a recipe called Toffeetastic Butterscotch Mud Pie ended up being our personal favorite entry in the contest, and we knew we had to recreate it at home!
Toffeetastics, the Girl Scout Cookies with which the bake-off recipe was made, are buttery, gluten-free shortbread-like cookies with crunchy toffee bits. These cookies were introduced to the Girl Scout Cookie line-up around 2015.
This Butterscotch Pie recipe is simply scrumptious when you make the crust with the Toffeetastic cookies, but let's face it; Girl Scout cookies aren't always available when you need them (unless you stock your freezer 365!). We've solved that problem by offering a few easy, readily available alternative cookie options.
Butterscotch Pie Ingredients
One of the things we love about this recipe is how much latitude it offers when it comes to prep. Butterscotch Pie is made of three basic components: the crust, the filling, and the topping. Any or all of these three elements can be made from scratch, or substituted with a ready-made grocery items.
Cookie Crumb Crust
- Cookies: The recipe that inspired this one called for Toffeetastic Girl Scout Cookies in the crust. For the pie shown in the process images of this post, we used one package of Keebler Pecan Sandies. Other excellent options include of regular Sandie cookies (original or with toffee bits), and Walkers shortbread cookies (available GF).
- Sugar: Use plain, granulated sugar.
- Butter: Use salted or unsalted butter.
Butterscotch Pudding Pie Filling
- Whole milk: Whole dairy contribute to both the flavor and texture of the pie filling.
- Heavy cream: You're making butterscotch pie, for Pete's sake! This isn't the time to go lite.
- Egg yolks: We use USDA large eggs for this recipe (EU size medium).
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter.
- Dark brown sugar: The extra molasses in dark brown sugar enhances to butterscotch flavor.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps to thicken the pudding so it sets up well.
- Vanilla
- Salt
Whipped Topping
- Heavy cream: Heavy Cream will whip up easier and stay stabilized for longer than regular whipping cream. Be sure the cream is chilled before whipping.
- Powdered sugar: i.e., confectioners sugar, icing sugar.
- Vanilla: Use a real vanilla extract. Avoid using imitation vanilla flavoring.
- Cream of Tartar: This helps to stabilize the whipping cream.
- Chocolate: Shave chocolate using a vegetable peeler or ultra thin mandolin. We usually use regular Hershey's chocolate bars, but any good chocolate bar will work.
How to Make Butterscotch Pie
Cookie Crust
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) degrees. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with non-stick cooking spray.
In a food processor or by hand, finely crush the cookie crumbs. Stir in the sugar and melted butter and combine evenly. Pour the mixture into the 9-inch pie dish.
Press crumb mixture evenly into the pie dish.
HINT: Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the cookie crumb mixture, and use it to press the mixture around the pie dish.
Bake the crust in a preheated oven for for 10-12 minutes; until warm, fragrant, and lightly toasted.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Butterscotch Pudding
In a small bowl, thoroughly whisk the egg yolks. Set aside.
Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan. Stir in the milk and cream, and heat over medium until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Before adding the eggs to the mixture, you must first temper them. Do not skip this step!
To temper the eggs, slowly add about a half cup of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture on tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly as you add it. Beat until well blended.
Once the eggs have been tempered, slowly drizzle them into the hot mixture, once again whisking constantly until the are thoroughly mixed in. The mixture should be very smooth.
Return the saucepan to medium-low heat and cook until the mixture once again begins to simmer. Cook for another 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the softened butter and vanilla.
Pour the butterscotch pie filling into the prepared pie shell.
Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Topping
Beat chilled heavy cream in a chilled bowl with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Reduce the speed to medium and slowly add the sugar, cream of tartar, and vanilla. Beat until firm peaks begin to form. Do not overwhip.
Spread or pipe the whipped cream over cold pudding-pie and sprinkle with shaved chocolate.
Chill until serving time.
Substitutions
- Cookie Crumb Crust: Use a homemade or premade graham cracker or shortbread crust. This pie also tastes fabulous using a baked pastry crust.
- To maintain this as a gluten-free recipe, be sure any cookies used to make the crust are gluten-free.
- Butterscotch Pudding: Use 4 cups of prepared boxed or refrigerated butterscotch pudding. Prepare the mix using heavy cream instead of milk for a thicker consistency.
- Whipped Cream: Use canned whipped cream, or a non-dairy whipped topping.
- Shaved Chocolate: Substitute chocolate sprinkles, mini-chocolate chips, crushed toffee candies, toffee bits, or whatever sounds good to you!
Variations
Butterscotch Meringue Pie: Use the four egg whites leftover from yolks you used in the butterscotch pie filling to make meringue, and top the pie with that instead of whipped cream.
Banana Butterscotch Pie: Slice two bananas. Pour half the filling into the prepared pie shell, and then layer the bananas on top. Spoon the rest of the filling over the bananas and chill before topping.
Equipment
After decades of pie-making, my recommendation for the best pie plate is either a Pyrex basic deep dish or Pyrex fluted deep-dish pie plate. If you only get only one pie dish, get one of these.
That said, I love unique handmade ceramics, and Mr B gifted me the most beautiful pie dish last Christmas! If you are looking for handmade ceramic tableware like the 9-inch pie dish shown here, check out Blanket Creek Studio and other ceramics shops on Etsy.
Storage
Butterscotch pie is technically a custard pie; egg and dairy-based pies can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Top Tip
No-bake, No-Cook 10-Minute Butterscotch Pie
For a super fast and easy version of the butterscotch pie recipe that you can make in less than 10 minutes, use all the ready-made substitutions mentioned above. Start with a prepared pie crust. Mix up boxed instant pudding mix using heavy cream instead of milk for a thicker consistency. Top it all off with canned whipping cream or a non-dairy whipped topping, and garnish with shaved chocolate or mini chocolate chips.
FAQ
Granular consistency in homemade butterscotch pudding is a common, tricky challenge. It happens when the egg yolks curdle when they are added too quickly to the hot milk mixture.
Graininess can be avoided by:
(a) carefully and deliberately tempering the egg yolks before adding them to the hot milk mixture.
(b) whisking constantly as the eggs yolks are being added to the hot milk mixture.
You can usually fix grainy pudding by straining the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve.
This recipe was shared on the Weekend Potluck! Check it out!
More Scrumptious Pie Recipes
- Straight-Up Rhubarb Pie
- Triple Ginger Pumpkin Pie
- Fresh Strawberry Cream Pie
- Classic Fresh Blueberry Pie
Read all about our GS Cookie Recipe Bake-off, including our tips for how to host a kids' bake-off.
- Samoa Cheesecake Bars (Bake-off Winner)
- Strawberry Thin Mint Cookie Delight (People's Choice)
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Toffeetastic Butterscotch Pie
Equipment
- 1 9-inch pie plate
- 1 heavy saucepan
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 package Toffeetastic Girl Scout Cookies or Keebler Sandies Cookies (regular, pecan, or with toffee bits)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
Butterscotch Pudding
Topping
- 2 cups heavy cream cold
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 ounces chocolate shaved
Instructions
Cookie Crumb Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) degrees. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a food processor or by hand, finely crush the cookie crumbs. Stir in the sugar and melted butter and combine evenly. Pour the mixture into the 9-inch pie dish.
- Press crumb mixture evenly into the pie dish.HINT: Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the cookie crumb mixture, and use it to press the mixture around the pie dish.
- Bake the crust in a preheated oven for for 10-12 minutes; until warm, fragrant, and lightly toasted.
- Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Butterscotch Pudding
- In a small bowl, thoroughly whisk the egg yolks. Set aside.
- Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan. Stir in the milk and cream, and heat over medium until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
- Before adding the eggs to the mixture, you must first temper them. Do not skip this step!To temper the eggs, slowly add about a half cup of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture on tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly as you add it. Beat until well blended.
- Once the eggs have been tempered, slowly drizzle them into the hot mixture, once again whisking constantly until the are thoroughly mixed in. The mixture should be very smooth.
- Return the saucepan to medium-low heat and cook until the mixture once again begins to simmer. Cook for another 2 minutes.Remove from heat and stir in the softened butter and vanilla.Pour the butterscotch pie filling into the prepared pie shell.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Topping
- Beat chilled heavy cream in a chilled bowl with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Reduce the speed to medium and slowly add the sugar, cream of tartar, and vanilla. Beat until firm peaks begin to form. Do not overwhip.
- Spread or pipe the whipped cream over cold pudding-pie and sprinkle with shaved chocolate.
- Chill until serving time.
Notes
No-bake, No-Cook 10-Minute Butterscotch Pie
For a super fast and easy version of the butterscotch pie recipe that you can make in less than 10 minutes, use ready-made substitutions for the crust, filling, and topping. Start with a prepared pie crust. Mix up boxed instant pudding mix using heavy cream instead of milk for a thicker consistency. Top it all off with canned whipping cream or a non-dairy whipped topping, and garnish with shaved chocolate or mini chocolate chips.Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
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Originally published February 14, 2020. This post has been updated with new content, images, and recipe directions to improve reader experience.
Esmé Slabbert says
Hi Renee, this does look so so delicious, and a definite try soon. I have pinned it for now.
I visited you via EASY SALMON PATTIES – WEEKEND POTLUCK #595: I linked up this week with Whole Salmon Fillet Cakes and Salmon Spinach Quiche with Crust.
Renée B. says
Thanks so much for stopping by, Esme - I will check out your recipe!