I love baking from scratch, but over the years I've noticed that when you put both baked goods and creamy desserts in front of a large group, the creamy desserts disappear first. Not that this is a universal occurrence, and it may just be the people I associate with, but that's been my experience and it's motivated me to try more homey, layered desserts. Thus, I introduce you to Butterscotch Delight.
Butterscotch Delight
Okay, actually you've probably been "introduced" to it already as it's not exactly new, but everyone has their own version.It's comfort food at its finest and probably came from a whipped topping or pudding ad, but this is my version, which combines scratch baking (the crust) with the convenience of pudding mix. Butterscotch Delight is similar to the layered pistachio version, but this one is butterscotch flavored and feeds a larger group. The cinnamon is the crowning touch. It sounds goofy to say that, but when I serve this people always comment on that little bit of cinnamon. So while it's not exactly fancy, I hope you make a batch for yourself or your family this week. If you are cooking for 1 to 4, this recipe is easy to halve. Just use an 8 inch square dish.
Recipe
Layered Butterscotch Delight
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted or regular butter softened
- ⅜ teaspoon salt only if using unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup chopped toasted pecans divided use
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 8 oz containers whipped topping
- 2 3.4 oz boxes instant tbutterscotch pudding mix
- 3 ½ cups cold milk
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon or however much you like
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Beat together butter, salt and sugar. Add flour and stir until almost blended, then stir in about ½ cup of the pecans. Press evenly into the bottom of dish -- it will be a very thin layer. Bake for about 20 minutes (check at 15) or until edges just start to brown, then let cool completely.
- Beat together softened cream cheese and powdered sugar. Fold in about 1 cup (eyeball it) of the whipped topping, then spread this mixture over the cooled crust.
- Whisk together pudding and milk for about 2 minutes. When pudding thickens, pour it over the cream cheese mixture. Spread a thin layer of whipped topping (about 2 cups) over the pudding, letting the topping turn tan and blend in with some of the pudding. Clean off the scraper and carefully spread more whipped topping, being careful not to drag any pudding up into so that it stays white. If you are feeling fancy, you can pipe it out of a bag with a big start tip.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 5 hours or until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle with remaining pecans and cinnamon.
Sue says
My father in law would love this. I hope I get a chance to make it for him soon. At 98 smooth and creamy in his favorite flavor is the way to go.
Terry says
My mom always made hers with lemon, and the crust varied. Either a graham cracker crust, or pretzel. I loved the pretzel crust myself. Years later my brother had a girlfriend that made the dessert with chocolate pudding and she used Oreo cookies as the crust! Ooh-lala! This sounds yummy, however I've never been fond of a regular ol crust, so a graham cracker will be mine, all mine! Ha!
Sonya says
I've never heard of this before, and it sounds delicious! Cool observation about the dessert table!
AmyM says
We make this all the time here - lemon and chocolate are favorites here. This butterscotch version sounds sooooo good - I'm making this later this week for sure!!! Great idea to cut it in half - the full version makes a lot.