Butterscotch Bread

Yummy butterscotch bread with pudding infused with vanilla and butterscotch flavors and a moist texture in every bite.

My family loved this delicious quick bread recipe, and I am myself a huge fan of easy recipes I can use for Christmas and throughout the year.

It does take quite some time to bake, but the prep is minimal and you can then enjoy it for a few days! If you’re looking for something to replace banana bread on your weekly menu, this butterscotch bread will be an easy win.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Soft and moist texture and rich butterscotch flavor
• Super easy, with no yeast, no kneading, and no electric mixer needed, and it tasted amazing every time I made it.
• Perfect dessert that you can have for breakfast too! Amazing food for the holiday season – for me, butterscotch aroma is just something that screams Christmas.
• This recipe will be great for potluck and homemade gifts.

Ingredients Notes

You will need a handful of pantry staples that are available at any grocery store to make a warm loaf of breakfast bread.

For The Bread

• Flour mixture: All-purpose flour + baking powder + salt. We want a soft, bouncy, a bit chewy texture. You can add baking soda too if you want more crisp on the edges.
• Granulated sugar. If you want a chewier texture and a subtle toffee-like flavor, you can also use half or full amounts of brown sugar instead of white sugar.
• Unsalted butter, softened – the base of the butterscotch flavor is butter and sugar, of course. You can still add a little bit of vegetable oil (choose neutral-tasting oils like canola oil) to the mix to make sure the bread won’t be dry, but I’ve tested this recipe many times, and it won’t. I think using butter in place of the oil gives the best flavor.
• Large eggs are for the best quick bread texture.
• Vanilla extract for light flavoring. The overall taste and sweetness of this bread are not at all overpowering and are balanced out by some salt we are adding to the batter. Pure extract is always best to use.
• Milk for moist crumbs and cakey texture.
• Instant butterscotch pudding mix. You need dry powder, do not cook it like the package directions say. Jell-o would be an easy choice, but any brand works.

Icing

• Confectioner’s sugar
• Milk
• Vanilla extract
• Butterscotch chips – to sprinkle on top

Kitchen Equipment

• 9×5 loaf pan lined with parchment paper and greased with non-stick cooking spray or butter. If double the recipes use two prepared pans.
• Mixing bowls and measuring cups.

How To Make Butterscotch Bread

1: Mix The Dry Ingredients

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium or large bowl (whichever is more comfortable for you to mix). Slowly stir and set aside.

2: Mix The Wet Ingredients

1. Combine the butter and eggs in a separate bowl. Whisk the butter-egg mixture until combined.
2. Add the sugar and vanilla. Mix well.
3. Whisk in the milk and pudding mix.

3: Combine & Bake

1. Beat in the dry ingredients mixture until combined, taking care not to overmix the batter, and scrape each side of the bowl regularly. 
2. Transfer to the prepared baking pan but make sure not to fill it up to the brim. If you have more batter, better divide it between two pans. Bake for 45-60 minutes in the preheated oven or until the toothpick test returns clean. 
3. Allow the cooked bread to cool completely in the pan before adding the glaze. You can also move it to the cooling rack after around 10 minutes for cooling.

4: Glaze The Bread

1. To make the glaze, whisk the confectioner’s sugar with the milk and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth. 
2. Drizzle over the top of the bread while it is still on the wire rack.
3. Add butterscotch chips if desired (you can also melt them to make a drizzle).
4. Serve with a cup of milk, warm or cold, and can also add a dollop of whipped cream.

Storage

Store the leftover butterscotch bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 1- 2 days. It tastes best while it is still fresh and warm. I don’t recommend storing this bread in the refrigerator, but you can still do it and it will last for around a week.

You can also freeze this bread for 2-3 months. Make sure to wrap it in two layers of foil or one layer of plastic wrap and one layer of foil.

If you have leftover bread, on the second day you can follow a butterscotch bread pudding recipe to make a quick sweet snack.

Substitutions & Variations

• Milk substitutions. You can use evaporated milk (for both bread and icing), heavy cream, sour cream, or buttermilk.
• Booze it up with rum or brandy for an adults-only dessert.
• Icing substitutions. Butterscotch bread is enjoyable on its own, but you can also make caramel, chocolate, white icing, or simply sprinkle some brown sugar mixture (or use it with melted butter).
• Pudding mix substitutions. You can easily make a custard base from scratch. But if you’re making this recipe for the first time, I’d stick to instant mix.
• Add-ons. You can also fold butterscotch chips in the batter, pumpkin puree and pumpkin spices will make tasty moist bread for fall, overripe banana (butterscotch banana bread), cinnamon swirls or cinnamon chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter, chopped nuts, or raisins. Basically, anything you’d put in banana bread.
• Bread buns: if you add yeast, and will treat the recipe like a real bread recipe (with chilling and kneading) you can also make delicious and soft buns.

Expert Tips To Make Butterscotch Pudding Bread 

• Baking time will depend on the size of the pan. For example, you can make mini loaves and they can be baked in about 30 minutes.
• Do not overmix the batter. Your aim is an oatmeal-like consistency, on the thicker side.
• For a more pronounced butterscotch flavor, brown melted butter before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.
• If you decide to fold some butterscotch chips in the batter, coat them with some flour. Otherwise, they will sink to the bottom of the pan.
• If you have leftover butterscotch chips, you can use them in cookies or another cake or bread recipe. 

Popular Questions

What Is Butterscotch Made Of?

Butterscotch is usually made of butter and brown sugar (and also corn syrup sometimes) and it is often an ingredient for sweet chips, candies, bread, drizzle sauce, pudding, and other sweet desserts.

What Flavour Is Butterscotch?

Desserts made with butterscotch taste like butter and have a mild brown sugar flavor. It is a very warm and comforting taste of browned (or scorched) butter, usually associated with sweet holiday baking and candies.

Why Did My Butterscotch Bread Sink?

Usually, quick breads like butterscotch bread will sink in the center if they are undercooked and there is still wet batter in the middle which is heavy and sinking down.

Do a toothpick taste before taking the bread out of the oven and make sure not to open the oven door too often to maintain the high temperature inside.

If you love this easy bread recipe, you’re going to love these other quick bread recipes too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

More Butterscotch Recipes

Butterscotch Cake

Butterscotch Ice Cream

Best Ever Cowboy Cookies

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

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