Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie

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This delicious Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie features layers of smooth butterscotch pudding topped with clouds of sweetened whipped cream encased in a buttery, spiced biscoff cookie crust.

An easy Butterscotch pie recipe that is perfect for special occasions and holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

What’s butterscotch?

It is a type of confectionery with brown sugar and butter as the primary ingredients, although other ingredients such as corn syrup, cream, vanilla, and salt can also be added. In older recipes, credited to Parkinson’s of Doncaster from the mid-19th century, molasses was used as a substitute or in addition to sugar.

Another theory suggests it comes from the adjective Scotch, indicating association with Scotland. Another suggests it comes from the verb Scotch, meaning “to cut or score,” since the confection must be cut into pieces before hardening.

Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie and candy aren’t the only things made with butterscotch – you can also use it as a sauce to top ice cream.

What’s the difference between butterscotch and caramel?

There is a major difference between butterscotch and caramel – butterscotch is made with brown sugar and caramel with granulated sugar.

Cooking brown sugar and butter together is the key to making butterscotch. In order to make caramel, you cook the sugar until it melts and becomes brown, but not burnt.

In general, butterscotch is sweeter and softer than caramel!

What Does Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie Taste Like?

Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie has a flavor similar to buttery toffee. It is very similar to the taste of caramel with a louder volume. As opposed to caramel, butterscotch is made from brown sugar, which adds a hint of molasses flavor to the mix!

Ingredients That You’ll Need:

Biscoff Cookies: These cookies are given to passengers by airlines as snacks. They taste like graham crackers mixed with gingersnaps. They are available at most supermarkets currently. There is nothing like Biscoff cookies and butterscotch for dessert. Speculoos cookies or Graham crackers can be substituted for Biscoff cookies.
Vanilla Bean Paste: The vanilla paste I used is Taylor and Colledge.
Butter: Use whatever you have in the fridge.
Egg Yolks: To thicken the custard, I add yolks from large eggs. Yolks provide richness.
Sugar: To make the pie creamy topping, I use both brown and granulated sugar.
Heavy Cream and Milk: In addition to heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream), milk is used to make the pudding-like filling. Whole milk makes a richer custardy filling, so I prefer it.
Cornstarch: It is used to thicken the filling.
Salt: It’s a must to use a little salt when baking. I usually use sea salt or kosher salt, but you can use any table salt.
Optional Topping: Chopped pecans and cookie crumbs give the Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie a nice crunch and make it look so festive.

Recipe Variations

What if you could make Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie even better? You can! It’s easy!

The 4 most common variations are:

Butterscotch cinnamon pie – When adding the vanilla, add about 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon to the filling.
Butterscotch pecan pie – As if you were making a pecan pie with butterscotch chips added to the filling.
For butterscotch pudding pie – In this pie, butterscotch instant pudding filling is poured into a baked pie crust. It is then refrigerated until set.
Butterscotch meringue pie – It has toasted meringue on top!

Why Is My Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie Runny?

Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie is baked with a thick pudding-like custard cooked on the stovetop. This custard tends to be runny for the following reasons:

It wasn’t cooked long enough. The pie filling should reach the consistency of pudding before it is taken off the heat.
Cornstarch was not added enough to the butterscotch filling mixture.
The pie is cut and served soon after it is cooked before it has had a chance to settle properly. The pie needs to chill in the refrigerator for 6 hours in order to set properly.
There is too much-whipped cream on the pie (it wasn’t whipped long enough) or the pie has been refrigerated with whipped cream for too long. When using whipped cream, you run the risk of having it deflate or weep if refrigerated for too long. Thankfully, this delicious pie never lasts long enough for that to happen.

What kind of pie crust should I use?

The pie crust for this Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie is made with Biscoff cookies crust, although you can use regular pie crust if you cannot find Bischoff cookies. You can also substitute graham crackers for the Biscoff cookies.

You can use either store-bought graham cookie pie crust or a pre-made pie crust to save time.

How To Make Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie?

Make the Pie Crust:

Crush the Biscoff or Speculoos cookies in a food processor bowl. You can also roll the cookies with a rolling pin after placing them in a resealable bag.
Add the cookie crumbs to a large bowl and drizzle with the melted butter. Stir until the crumbs are moistened evenly.
Using the bottom of a measuring cup or glass, press into a 9-inch pie dish. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until fragrant. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the Filling:

Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl until smooth.
Make the caramel/butterscotch mixture by stirring together the sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small heavy saucepan. The sugar will look moist.
Over medium heat, bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture turns golden.
Swirl the pan gently and continue to cook until the sugar is amber-like honey. Don’t let it get too dark because sugar can burn quickly.
Once the desired color is achieved, remove the pan from the heat. Slowly stir in the heavy cream, then set aside.
Whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Add the milk slowly while whisking constantly. Stir in the vanilla bean paste and mix well. Stirring frequently, cook the mixture over medium-high heat until it boils.
Remove from heat and stir in caramel/butterscotch mixture.

Temper the Eggs:

Pour about a quarter of the hot liquid mixture into the egg yolks while whisking continuously. Be sure to whisk vigorously to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Pour another quarter of the hot liquid into the eggs while constantly whisking.
Once the eggs have been tempered, slowly pour the mixture back into the pot to combine it with the remaining hot liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking often, until it thickens and reaches a pudding-like consistency, about 2-3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and whisk vigorously for about a minute while stirring in the butter. It will help the pudding cool a bit before pouring it over the pie crust.

Assemble:

Pour the butterscotch pudding mixture into the pie crust. If there are any lumps in your pudding, pour it directly into the crust through a mesh sieve.
Put the pie in the refrigerator to set for 6 hours or overnight, covered with plastic wrap.

To Make the Topping:

Beat the heavy cream, vanilla paste, and sugar in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
Spread the whipped cream over the chilled pie.

Garnish (optional)

Combine the cookie crumbs and finely chopped pecans in a small mixing bowl. Sprinkle over the whipped cream topping.

What to serve with Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie?

Here’s what you should put on top of the pie if you’re wondering what kind of glorious goodness should go on top.

Meringue might be the topping for you if you don’t mind whipping up some egg whites and sugar until soft peaks form. It’s actually a very common topping for Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie.

For an extra special (and easy) touch, you could drizzle some salted caramel on the homemade whipped cream.

Recipe Tips

You need to chill Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie for at least 6 hours, so prepare it the night before you want to serve it.
In addition to biscoff cookies, you can use graham crackers or speculoos cookies for the pie crust.
Butter and brown sugar are the main ingredients in butterscotch.

FAQ Section

How thick should the Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie filling be?

It should be about the thickness of pudding and will become thicker as it cools.

Is This Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie Recipe A Non-Baked Pie?

Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie is almost a no-bake pie. The crust is baked for about 10 minutes. The pie filling, a thick pudding-like custard, does not require baking.

Can I Make Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie Ahead of Time?

Yes, to set properly, Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie should be placed in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. It will last in the refrigerator without the whipped topping for 3-4 days.

How to Store Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie?

Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie can be refrigerated for up to 4 days without the whipped cream topping, covered in the refrigerator. Pie leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 2 days, covered. The whipped topping will deflate a bit and may become runny.

Can I freeze Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie?

Pioneer Woman Butterscotch Pie is a type of custard pie. The texture suffers a lot if frozen after baking. For this reason, I do not recommend freezing it. It can become wet and gloppy after thawing, but it is still tasty.

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