Butterscotch Extract substitute

Best substitute

Dark brown sugar plus browned butter plus vanilla and salt

Per 1 tsp extract: swap 2 tbsp of the recipe's sugar for dark brown sugar, brown 2 tbsp of the recipe's butter, add ½ tsp extra vanilla and a pinch of flaky salt

Best for blondies and cookies

Close match

This is what butterscotch actually is, assembled from ingredients you already have, and it produces a deeper and more convincing flavour than any bottle.

Other butterscotch extract substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Butterscotch chips, melted
Close match
Use 2 tbsp melted chips for every 1 tsp extract, minus 1 tbsp of the recipe's sugar
Butterscotch flavouring already suspended in sugar and fat, which makes it easy to fold into a batter.
What changes
Best for
blondies and cookies, butterscotch frosting, brownies and bars, no-bake desserts
Prep. Melt them gently in the microwave in short bursts or over a pan of barely simmering water, then whisk into the warm wet ingredients.
Convenient and gets the flavour right, with the caveat that most butterscotch chips are mostly sugar and palm oil, so you are adding both. Cut the recipe's sugar by a tablespoon and its butter by roughly a teaspoon. Melted chips also stiffen as they cool, so add them while the wet ingredients are still warm or they will seize into lumps in a cold batter. The flavour is slightly candied and one-dimensional next to real browned butter and brown sugar.
3Butterscotch or caramel ice cream sauce
Different texture
Use 1 to 2 tbsp for every 1 tsp extract, minus the same volume of liquid and 1 tbsp sugar
The jarred sundae sauce, which is already brown sugar, butter and cream cooked together, so it carries genuine butterscotch flavour in a pourable form.
What changes
Best for
puddings and mousse, frosting and fillings, cake soaks and glazes, coffee drinks, ice cream
The most straightforward swap if you have a jar. Because it is mostly sugar and cream, remove an equal volume of the recipe's liquid and reduce the sugar by about a tablespoon. In a buttercream, expect the frosting to soften noticeably, so hold back some of the milk in the recipe. Jarred sauces are usually sweeter and milder than extract, so you may need the full 2 tablespoons to taste it clearly.
4Scotch, bourbon or dark rum with a little molasses
Close match
Use 1 tbsp spirit plus 1 tsp molasses for every 1 tsp extract, minus 1 tbsp of the recipe's liquid
Butterscotch has an obvious whisky affinity, and the combination of a barrel-aged spirit with molasses lands on the same toffee-and-vanilla note from a different direction.
What changes
Best for
butterscotch pudding and pots de creme, sauces, adult frosting and mousse, bread pudding, cake soaks
This works better than it sounds, because barrel-aged spirits carry real vanilla and caramel notes from the oak. Take out the liquid you are adding. Molasses is strong, so a teaspoon is enough and a tablespoon will taste bitter and dominate. The alcohol mostly cooks off in a baked or simmered dish but stays in an unbaked mousse or frosting, so this is not the option to pick if that matters.
5Molasses or dark treacle plus vanilla, on its own
Different taste
Use 1 tsp molasses plus ½ tsp vanilla for every 1 tsp extract
The bare-cupboard version.
What changes
Molasses supplies the dark burnt-sugar depth and vanilla the creamy sweetness, which together sketch butterscotch without the butter side of it.
Best for
cookies and blondies, cakes, glazes, oatmeal and porridge
Be clear that this is an approximation. Butterscotch has a distinct dairy richness that molasses cannot supply, so the result tastes darker and more like gingerbread or toffee than butterscotch. Keep the molasses to a teaspoon, because it turns bitter and takes over quickly, and it will darken a pale batter noticeably. Adding a pinch of salt helps a great deal.
6Nothing at all, if you can adjust the sugar instead
Different taste
Omit the extract and swap 2 tbsp of the recipe's white sugar for dark brown sugar
Included because extract adds only aroma, and a small sugar change costs nothing and does more for the flavour than the extract did.
What changes
Best for
cookies and blondies, cakes, muffins, frosting
Leaving the extract out changes nothing about how the recipe bakes. On its own the bake will simply taste less of butterscotch. Swapping in dark brown sugar for some of the white gets you a real fraction of the way back for free, and adding a pinch of salt on top of that closes more of the gap than most people expect. In something like butterscotch pudding, where the flavour is the entire dish, you should use the browned butter and brown sugar route rather than omitting.

What is Butterscotch Extract?

Butterscotch Extract is Butterscotch extract is a small bottle of concentrated flavouring built around the aroma of brown sugar cooked in butter, and it is used about a teaspoon at a time to give a bake that toffee-and-cream character without cooking a caramel.

Cooking tips

Butterscotch is brown sugar cooked with butter, and caramel is white sugar cooked on its own. That single distinction explains every substitution on this page: to build butterscotch you need molasses depth plus dairy richness plus salt, and to build caramel you only need cooked sugar.
Browning the butter is the highest-value five minutes you can spend here. Swirl it in a light pan over medium heat until the milk solids turn golden and it smells of toasted nuts, then pour it out at once, because it goes from nutty to burnt in under a minute. This alone does more for butterscotch flavour than any bottled extract.
Salt is what makes butterscotch taste like butterscotch. Without it, a butterscotch pudding or blondie reads as generically sweet. A good pinch of flaky salt per batch, or a scant quarter teaspoon, is the difference between flat and convincing.
Use dark brown sugar rather than light wherever you have the choice. The extra molasses is precisely the flavour you are chasing, and the swap is free.
Add extract, or any alcohol-based butterscotch flavouring, off the heat. Its aroma is volatile, so if you are making a butterscotch sauce or pudding, stir it in after the pan comes off the burner rather than letting it simmer.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for butterscotch extract?

Build it rather than replace it. For each teaspoon of extract, swap 2 tablespoons of the recipe's white sugar for dark brown sugar, brown 2 tablespoons of the recipe's butter until it smells nutty, and add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla plus a pinch of salt. Because you are swapping rather than adding, nothing needs rebalancing, and the flavour is deeper than the bottled version.

Is butterscotch the same as caramel?

No, and the difference matters when you are substituting. Butterscotch is brown sugar cooked with butter, so it carries molasses depth and dairy richness. Caramel is white sugar cooked until it browns, sometimes finished with cream, so it is cleaner and more toasted. Caramel extract or caramel sauce will work in a butterscotch recipe, but the result tastes lighter and less molasses-forward, and a teaspoon of molasses closes the gap.

Can I use butterscotch chips instead of butterscotch extract?

Yes, about 2 tablespoons gently melted per teaspoon of extract, whisked into the warm wet ingredients so they do not seize. Most chips are largely sugar and palm oil, so reduce the recipe's sugar by a tablespoon and its butter by a teaspoon. The flavour is a little candied and simpler than real browned butter and brown sugar, but it is quick and reliable.

Can I just leave butterscotch extract out?

Yes. It adds only aroma, no sugar, fat, liquid or structure, so the bake will behave exactly the same. Since you are already in the recipe, swap 2 tablespoons of the white sugar for dark brown sugar and add a pinch of salt, which recovers a real share of the flavour for free. In butterscotch pudding or butterscotch icing, where it is the whole point, use the browned butter method instead of omitting.

Can I use butterscotch schnapps or Scotch instead?

Yes. Butterscotch schnapps goes in at about 1 tablespoon per teaspoon of extract, and Scotch, bourbon or dark rum works at 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of molasses, since barrel-aged spirits carry their own vanilla and caramel notes. In both cases remove a tablespoon of the recipe's liquid. Note that the alcohol stays in unbaked mousses and frostings even though it cooks off in a baked or simmered dish.

Related substitutes

More flavorings substitutes

Butterscotch Extract substitute

Other butterscotch extract substitutes

2Butterscotch chips, melted

3Butterscotch or caramel ice cream sauce

4Scotch, bourbon or dark rum with a little molasses

5Molasses or dark treacle plus vanilla, on its own

6Nothing at all, if you can adjust the sugar instead