Homemade Butterscotch Sauce is rich, smooth, and velvety with a buttery brown sugar flavor, hint of vanilla, and touch of salt for balance. It comes together in just 10 minutes from start-to-finish and is better than anything you can buy at the store!
Add the butter to a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the brown sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Cook until the sugar is melted and the mixture is boiling, about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Carefully add the cream (it will bubble up), and stir to combine. Let it boil for about 3 to 5 minutes until it’s thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, stirring occasionally. It should reach 225F on a candy thermometer, but you don’t really need a candy thermometer to make this.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Notes
Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar is an acid, and we use it here to help prevent sugar crystallization. If you don’t have cream of tartar on hand or prefer not to use it, you can omit it and instead use ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice. And if you don’t have fresh lemon juice, this recipe will still work, you just have to be a bit more careful. If you start to see crystallization, add more water. You can brush the sides of the pan with water, or stir a couple tablespoons of water into the sauce. Once the water cooks off, the caramelization process will resume and it should have gotten rid of the crystallization.
To Help Prevent Crystallization: Don’t stir the mixture until it start to change color, which means the sugar is starting to caramelize.
Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes about 18 tablespoons (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) total. Each serving is 2 tablespoons for a total of 9 servings.
Storage: Let this cool to room temperature, and then transfer it to a glass container with a lid. Store in the fridge for up to 2 months.
To Reheat: You can reheat this sauce in a double boiler on the stovetop or in 10-second increments in the microwave, stirring between each increment.