Okay, so I’ve been seeing these butterscotch chips popping up in all sorts of recipes lately, and I got curious. What the heck are they actually made of? I mean, I love them, that sweet, kinda caramel-y flavor, but I wanted the lowdown. So, I started digging!
My Butterscotch Chip Investigation
First, I grabbed a few different bags of butterscotch chips from the grocery store. Just your standard brands, nothing fancy. I figured the ingredients lists would tell me everything, right?
Well, sort of. I started by looking at the back of each bag, and they all had some similar stuff:
- Sugar: No surprise there! Makes sense, they’re sweet.
- Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel and/or Palm Oil: Okay, a little more technical. This is basically the fat that gives them that creamy texture.
- Nonfat Milk: Adds to the creaminess, I guess.
- Soy Lecithin: This is an emulsifier, which I learned means it helps keep everything mixed together smoothly.
- Artificial Flavors: This is where it gets a little vague. They don’t say what flavors, just “artificial.” Hmm.
- Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 2 Lake: These are food colorings. Explains the butterscotch-y color.
So, after looking at those bags, I had a pretty good idea, but I still felt like I was missing something. Where’s the actual butterscotch part come from? I did a bit more digging online, and found a ton of recipes for making them from scratch.
I realized, that the chips at the store are not actually real butterscotch. They have the flavor of butterscotch.
So next, I decided to make some homemade butterscotch chips to really get the flavor breakdown.
- I melted some butter. I should have used brown butter, but I did not have time to brown it.
- Then, I added and stirred brown sugar.
- Lastly, I mixed in some heavy cream to help them thicken.
I poured the cooked butterscotch mixture into a pan and waited for it to cool. After it was cooled, I cut the mixture into chip-sized pieces.
The homemade version tasted way more like real butterscotch, obviously! And it made me realize that the “artificial flavors” in the store-bought chips are probably trying to mimic that butter and brown sugar combo. They do a pretty good job, but nothing beats the real thing!
So my butterscotch chips are artificial, but they taste good, so who cares?
