Monk Fruit Butterscotch Syrup Recipe (Reduced sugar!)

This butterscotch syrup recipe tastes amazing, is easy to make and only has a quarter of the sugar as regular butterscotch! Monk fruit powder is used as a sugar substitute because it has zero calories and is a natural sweetener.

If you want to make it completely sugar-free (except for the small amount of sugar that comes from the molasses), I’ve included that recipe below as well. Just know that there will be some separation if you use the sugar-free version, so you’ll have to mix the jar before scooping. That’s why I’ve included a little bit of sugar in my main recipe, to thicken the syrup.

Typically, butterscotch syrup is made with brown sugar, butter, and heavy cream, but I decided to substitute most of the sugar with monk fruit powder to see if I could get the same amazing taste as regular butterscotch but with way less sugar, because who needs more sugar in their life? No one. The experiment was a success!

Here’s the butterscotch simmering in the saucepan

If you didn’t already know, brown sugar is just regular sugar with molasses mixed in. So to get that lovely butterscotch flavor in this recipe, don’t skip the molasses!

I started experimenting with butterscotch because my husband and I had butterbeer for the first time in England a month ago and were blown away by the taste. So of course I had to try making it at home. If you want to make amazing butterscotch soda (aka butterbeer) with this syrup, see my recipe here.

This butterscotch syrup maintains a thick but easily scoopable, viscous consistency when stored in the fridge, so you can spoon it onto ice cream, crepes, or mix it into butterbeer anytime you want! The color of the syrup is a bit darker than regular butterscotch syrup due to the molasses and the lack of sugar but it tastes fantastic.

Here is the monk fruit powder that I use: Pure Monk. Although this one looks like it would be a good option too, since it’s a little cheaper. I haven’t used the latter one before though, so my recipe is based on the first one. Whichever monk fruit powder you get, just remember to get powder that is 100% monk fruit with no additives. Monk fruit is sweeter than sugar, so if you get the kind that allow a 1:1 substitute with sugar, that won’t work with this recipe because it contains additives.

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp unsulfured molasses
• 2 tbsp regular sugar
• 1/4 + 1/8 tsp monk fruit powder
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp fleur de sel (or 3/4 tsp regular table salt)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a small or medium saucepan over medium heat
2. Add the molasses, monk fruit, salt, and heavy cream and stir until everything is blended together. Be careful when pouring the molasses, and don’t add too much!
3. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for about 5 minutes, scraping the mixture down off the sides as needed
4. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the vanilla extract,
5. Stir and pour the butterscotch into a glass container to cool. It will thicken as it cools.
6. Store in the refrigerator. It should keep for about 8 days.

Note:

• You can add more sugar to thicken the sauce if you’d like, just remember to reduce the monk fruit. 1 tsp of monk fruit = 1 cup of sugar, so you can use that ratio to calculate your reduction and additions.

 

Here are the ingredients for almost sugar-free butterscotch syrup, if you want to skip the sugar completely (remember, adding sugar will thicken the sauce and help prevent it from separating), the directions are the same:

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp unsulfured molasses
• 1/2 tsp monk fruit powder
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp fleur de sel (or 3/4 tsp regular table salt)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract