Creamy, warm and delicious this homemade hot butterbeer recipe is easy to make and everything Harry Potter fans could hope for.
How I created this Hot Butterbeer recipe
Two years ago the kids and I spent a week at Universal Studios and as huge Harry Potter fans we spent most of our time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
It was of course magical, I seriously can’t can’t express enough how amazing the park is. ANYWAY one of our favorite things ever was the butterbeer!
When you read about a food item in a book and they describe it you get an idea in your head of what it will be like. BUT everyone might have something different in their head (like how I was pronouncing Hermione wrong).
So I was skeptical, would it really live up to my imagination? Thankfully it did! Now the summer we went they only had the cold butterbeer and frozen butterbeer so I had to visit the park again in winter to get the Hot Butterbeer and oh MAN was it worth it!
Now I already had recipes up for the cold butterbeer and the frozen butterbeer so when I decided to make a full video on Harry Potter Butterbeer recipes I clearly had to add the warm butterbeer to my recipe collection
Like before when I was working on my own cold and frozen versions I tried a few of the versions out there already. Let’s just say I wasn’t impressed with most…
But by using my own butterscotch recipe that I created for the other Butterbeer recipes I finally created a version I am in love with! my kids have already requested it weekly since we made this final version!
Just take me to the Butterbeer Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for warm butterbeer, along with links to other magical recipes and get straight to this homemade warm butterbeer – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
How to make Butterbeer
Make your own Butterscotch sauce – I know it may sound silly but it makes such a difference vs the store bought stuff.
Add some apple cider vinegar to the sauce to cut the sweetness. When just making butterscotch sauce for an ice cream topping I don’t bother with this but because we’re adding this sauce to soda and other sweet drinks it cutting the sweetness makes a huge difference
Use rum extract to get that rum flavoring but keeping it kid friendly and non alcoholic. If you want a boozy version obviously use real rum – but add it to the drink itself, not the syrup.
don’t boil or overheat this drink – with all the dairy in this drink adding too much heat will actually cause curdling and no one wants that – so heat low and slow and stop when it’s the temperature you are looking for.
What is Butterbeer?
Butterbeer is a fictional drink from the Harry Potter series, that is now a reality thanks to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The book mentions cold butterbeer in bottles or hot butterbeer in “foaming tankards”.
JK Rowling describes butterbeer as tasting “a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch” and it does have alcohol in it in the book (enough to get house-elves drunk).
The Executive Chef for Universal Parks went through about 15-16 versions before they got one that JK Rowling herself approved of! The park version is non alcoholic and dairy free to be allergy friendly.
Now you can get this approved drink at 3 locations – Universal Studios Orlando Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood California and the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in England
OR you can make one of my versions at home and enjoy (obviously not dairy free though)
Hot Butterbeer Recipe
If you love these butterbeer treats as much as I do, I’d love a 5 star review. Be sure to share on social media and tag me if you make it @ashleemariecakes! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love this Hot Butterbeer Recipe you’ll love these other Harry Potter recipes!
Frozen Butterbeer | Cold Butterbeer
Harry Potter Golden Snitch Cake | Butterbeer Fudge
Connect with Ashlee Marie Online!
To watch me make this Harry Potter Butterbeer recipe play the video in the recipe card (if you’re on desktop, it should be auto playing for you). You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Homemade Hot Butterbeer Recipe
Ingredients
Butterscotch
- 1 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1/2 C light corn syrup
- 1/3 C butter
- 2/3 C heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp rum extract
Foam
- 3.5 oz marshmallow creme/fluff
- 1 C heavy whipping cream
Hot Butterbeer
- 3/4 C brown sugar
- 1 1/2 C milk
- 2 C heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 C cream soda
Instructions
Butterscotch
- In a medium saucepan bring the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil
- boil until the syrup reaches 240 degrees (remembering to adjust for altitude)
- take off the heat and let cool slightly, about 5 mins
- stir in the heavy whipping cream
- add the salt, apple cider vinegar and rum extract and stir
- let cool
Whipping topping
- beat the marshmallow creme, heavy whipping cream and 2 Tbsp of the butterscotch syrup together – you want it to be fluffy and white but not stiff
Hot Butterbeer
- In a medium saucepan heat the milk and brown sugar up until the brown sugar is just dissolved
- Add the heavy whipping cream and bring up to the temperature you want to serve your hot butterbeer at (don't let it boil and stir frequently)
- Add 1/2-3/4 C of the butterscotch syrup. Stir until incorporated and take off the heat
- Add the cream soda and serve the hot butterbeer with some of the whipped topping
- refrigerate leftover butterscotch and topping
Video
Nutrition
SarahLee Flanagan
How can I get a copy of your Harry Potter recipes?
Ashlee Marie
they are all on the blog, https://ashleemarie.com/tag/harry-potter/
Mireille
HI,
I look forward to try your recipe for my daughter Harry Potter themed birthday. Just a few questions, can we prepare the butterbeer the day before and just warm it up? Also, the recipe is for 10 servings but is the butterscotch also for 10 servings or more? I will try a small batch soon to see if we like it, it seems really yummy!
Thanks a loT!
Ashlee Marie
The butterscotch sauce makes more than you need for the hot butterbeer, there will be extra left. It’s too hard to make a smaller batch of the butterscotch sauce.
Ashlee
This. Is. Spot. On!!!! Yum!!!!
Ashlee Marie
YAY! I’m so glad I’m not the only one in love with this recipe
AJ
Just made this today and I feel like I am back at Universal! Thank you so much. So very yummy. Do you think I can store the leftover butterbeer mixture in the fridge to heat up later? Not that I couldn’t drink it all now but, you know, just in case. Thank you again. Loved this recipe and reliving those happy Harry Potter world memories with my children.
Ashlee Marie
keep the topping separate of course but yes it should refrigerate and reheat juts fine. it will separate a bit but just restir while you heat and it will come back together.
Tim
I assume the cream soda be at room temp. Correct?
Ashlee Marie
doesn’t matter too much, I’ve done both.
Michelle
You can also get it at Universal Studios Japan
Ashlee Marie
oh good to know! That must be new
Sophia
Do I have to use rum in the warm butter beer recipe? I couldn’t find any at the store. Could I use vanilla instead?
Ashlee Marie
just rum extract, not real rum, it’s just to give it a more authentic butterbeer flavor as the butterbeer in the books does have alcohol
Clint
I’ve made all of these with my fam…so good! Completely agree with cold vs frozen, frozen wins hands down. For the topping, though, I make it using marshmallow cream, Dream Whip, powdered sugar, salt, butter flavoring, vanilla extract, and caramel extract. I’ve made a lot of topping versions, even had a taste test with some friends and their kids and this version was unanimously voted the best.
Finally got around to making the warm bb. This is a must during Christmas! Question though, since it is on the sweet side, what would happen if I did not add the 3/4c brown sugar at the beginning to try to cut the sweetness? or maybe there’s another option to cut it down?
Ashlee Marie
I am so glad you like it! As I mentioned in the post adding apple cider vinegar can help cut back on the sweetness
Amanda
Is the apple cider vinegar detectable/distinct in the finished drink? Just asking because I have an EXTREMELY apple-averse person in the house, not allergic just loathes everything apple related to their core, but I definitely don’t want the butterbeer to be (even) sweeter than it’s supposed to be. If you think you can taste it in the final product, are there any alts to cut the sweetness you think would be appropriate?
So excited to make this recipe TONIGHT! Thank you for publishing it. Yay Christmas dranks!
Ashlee Marie
You shouldn’t taste any apple at all! It is a sweet drink anyway and even though apple cider vinegar helps it will not be unbearable if you leave it out. My kids and I drink it without any issues!
Taylor
The BEST recipe for this. We’ve tried a few, and they were all extremely disappointing. This one tastes amazing though!
Ashlee Marie
I am so glad you liked it!! My kids love this recipe as well:)
Abbie
It needs just a tad more butterscotch flavor. I added two maybe three drops and it did the trick. This was the first recipe I tried. I most likely will not try another one.
Ashlee Marie
I am so glad sounds like it worked well for you!