How to Make Butterbeer at Home

“A little bit like less sickly butterscotch.”

That’s how J.K. Rowling describes Butterbeer. Others probably describe it with a bit more zeal.

Heavenly. Scrumptious. Delicious. Mouth-watering. Delectable, even!

It’s the must-have drink when traveling to any of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter parks in Orlando or Hollywood. Now, you don’t have to be at one of the parks to enjoy your own Butterbeer at home.

There are a ton of Butterbeer recipes online for you to enjoy when you get home from your Harry Potter vacation or for a Harry Potter party.  Only a few live up to the real thing that you get at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter parks. It must be served chilled, preferably frozen (like a slush drink), it must have a frothy head, a buttery-scotchy flavor, and non-alcoholic.

I’ve tested several recipes for the drink and found that these two are the best for the cold version of Butterbeer. You could just mix a little butterscotch syrup with creme soda to get a really easy version, but these two are closer to what you might get at the parks. All the Wizarding World of Harry Potter parks also offer the hot version, mentioned in the books. You can make these hot, as well, but they’re better cold.

Butterbeer Recipes

I’ve modified all the Butterbeer recipes, below to make a single serving. To make more servings, just multiply these recipe amounts by the number of servings you wish to serve!

Butterbeer Recipe #1

This is my own recipe, modified from another I found online.  The original called for root beer (root beer?? There’s not even a hint of root beer flavor in the Harry Potter Butterbeer!). This recipe is SUPER easy and takes very little time and only 3 ingredients.

Butterbeer Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 cup vanilla ice cream
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon butterscotch syrup
• 8 oz of your favorite cream soda (I used A&W – you may also wish to try a vanilla creme soda to add an additional flavor without an additional ingredient)

Directions:

1. Place 1 (16-ounce) glasses in freezer and chill for at least 20 minutes
2. Mix ice cream and cream soda in a blender until combined
3. Pour into the frosted glass
4. Top with whipped cream, if desired
5. Serve with spoons and straws (I didn’t find this step necessary)

This Butterbeer recipe was good, but not a real close replica of the real thing at Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It tastes like a sweeter version of cream soda (if that’s possible).

Butterbeer Recipe #2

Again, one that I modified to fit the requirements of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter park version.  A modification I made was deleting a step. The original recipe called for freezing the ice cream mixture (after step 2). I found this Butterbeer recipe to be very slushy when made it the way I did, below. I don’t see the need to freeze the ice cream mixture or to delay enjoying this wonderful beverage!

Butterbeer Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 cup of vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1/4 stick (2 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 bottle (12 oz.) vanilla cream soda (very cold)

Directions:

1. Allow ice cream to soften, about 30 minutes, and bring butter to room temperature, about 2 hours
2. Blend butter, sugar, and spices in large bowl
3. Pour mixture into glass
4. Serve!

This Butterbeer recipe has a very “holiday” flavor to it, likely due to the nutmeg and cloves. I feel like it’s closer to the real thing than the first recipe, but still not quite on the mark. Maybe if you cut out the nutmeg and cloves it would be closer. Give it a shot and let me know how it works out!

Watch the video, below to see how my son and I made the Butterbeer recipes and our thoughts on these two versions of this delicious drink.

Give these recipes a try and let us know what you think! Any changes? Additions? Deletions? We’d love to dial it in and get the Butterbeer recipe just right!