These Harry Potter inspired Butterbeer Cookies are a sweet old-fashioned blend of vanilla and butterscotch loaded up with toffee bits. Baked to perfection with a soft chewy center and lightly crisp edges, they won’t last long!
These Butterbeer Cookies are so freaking good! I can’t believe that I have yet to share a Harry Potter recipe with you guys!
You guys know how much I love posting pop culture-inspired recipes, like my HIMYM Tootsie Roll Cocktail and Sansa’s Lemon Cakes, yet Harry is one of my favorites and I haven’t shown him any love on here.
Until now, that is!
You see, Harry and I are pretty tight; we grew up together you know? Or at least I thought we had until he celebrated his 34th birthday in July, was anyone else confused by that as well?
I researched it and the numbers make sense, but Harry is supposed to be my age! It was a little upsetting to find out there was a ten-year age gap between us, but he was probably never going to leave Ginny for me anyways…
But it’s okay, he’ll always hold a special place in my heart. Matt and I have made it a tradition to watch all of the movies every December.
Just us, the dog, and some cookies are all we need to be swept up in the wizarding world for a few hours and not worry about the hubbub of the holidays.
Wait, did I just say cookies? Heck yes, I did! And they’re Butterbeer Pudding Cookies at that!
We were actually crazy enough to venture into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal back in 2010 a week after it opened. It was so much fun! Except that the ride broke down when we were on it and we were stuck face down in mid-air in Aragon’s cave.
For a girl who hates rides, gets motion sick, and despises spiders – yeah… good times. But it was a really AWESOME ride and a fun story to tell. They got it going again after about five minutes so we still got to enjoy the rest of the forbidden journey.
Out of everything we did, the ride, picking out a wand at Ollivanders, visiting the Owl Post, stocking up at Honeydukes, hitting up Platform 9¾, there was one thing that stood out above the rest. The Butterbeer! Oh man, was that stuff good!
The frozen one was amazing with frothy butter foam on top and the sweet taste of cream and butterscotch… seriously, it was so good! I’ve tried several recipes of my own but have yet to make one just like that one! But I can make cookies, and I do those pretty well!
Because of my love for Harry Potter and the holiday tradition Matt and I started, I thought these Butterbeer Cookies would make a great Christmas cookie! They’re a sweet old-fashioned blend of vanilla and butterscotch loaded up with toffee bits.
And don’t forget the Lightning Bolt Sprinkles!
Plus, like all of my pudding cookies, they’re perfectly chewy on the inside with a slight crisp on the outside! They’re not quite the same as a stein of frozen butterbeer on a hot summer day at Universal, but they’ll get the job done!
Have you seen the 20th Anniversary editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (UK title)? Originally they were only released in the UK, but are now available on Amazon in house colors!
I have the Ravenclaw Hardcover and it’s so gorgeous, I can’t wait to collect the others! I’ve also been collecting the Illustrated Editions and the MinaLima Editions (so gorgeous)!
More Harry Potter Inspired Recipes:
- Butterbeer Cupcakes
- Butterbeer No Bake Cookies
- Amortentia Cocktail
- Butterbeer Poke Cake
- Butterbeer Pancakes
- Harry Potter Butterbeer Muddy Buddies
- Butterbeer Dirty Soda
Let’s Connect!
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review; I love hearing from you! And don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there, where you can join our recipe challenges and win prizes!
This post was originally published in December 2014 and was updated in December 2017 with new photos.
Harry Potter’s Butterbeer Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix, dry
- 1/4 cup instant butterscotch pudding mix, dry
- 2 large eggs
- 1 additional egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp imitation butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup Heath toffee bits, straight toffee, not the chocolate toffee mix
- lightning bolt sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, if needed.
- Add the pudding, eggs, additional egg yolk, vanilla, and imitation butter. Beat for about one minute on medium speed.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a 1/2 cup at a time and mix until combined.
- Mix in the toffee chips.
- Form the dough into a giant ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least two hours. Remove the dough a little while before baking so the dough can soften a bit and is easier to work with.
- Scoop the dough using a medium cooking scoop and roll the dough between your hands to form round balls of dough and place onto a nonstick baking sheet about two inches apart. Top with yellow sprinkles, if desired.
- Bake at 350 F for 10-13 minutes.
- Cool on the pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Video
Notes
- Use 1 – 3.4 oz. package of Butterscotch Pudding Mix instead of half butterscotch and half vanilla.
- Replace Heath Toffee Bits with Butterscotch Chips or do a combo of the two, but still only using 1 1/2 cups.
- Skip the chill time, cookies may be a little flatter and not quite as crisp on the outside, but they will be chewier.
- Reduce flour to 2 1/4 cups for chewier cookies.
- I’ve made them gluten-free with Bob’s Red Mill 1-for-1 all-purpose flour and they’re just as good.
- Imitation Butter should ALWAYS be included!
- Dip them in icing for added sweetness.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
Alicia says
My oldest daughter is having a Harry Potter potluck tomorrow at school on the last day of classes. So her younger sister assisted me in baking these for the class. I doubled the recipe so that they could both bring them into the school and share and doubling it resulted in 76 smaller cookies. I followed the recipe exactly, I used half of the score bits and half butterscotch chips to follow the variation note. They taste great and they didn’t spread too much, so I’m very happy!
Debbie says
How butterscotchy are these? I was thinking about 2 boxes of butterscotch pudding instead of 1 butterscotch and 1 vanilla. Thoughts?
Rebecca Hubbell says
2 boxes of butterscotch would make them more like butterscotch cookies than butterbeer.
Jessa says
Can I use sugar free instant butterscotch pudding? I can’t find the regular instant butterscotch. Thank you!
Rebecca Hubbell says
I have never made it with sugar free so unfortunately I can’t speak to if it would work or not in this recipe.
Karla M Wilson says
I was afraid these would be a bit too sweet but I was wrong. Once cooled these are perfect. I followed the original recipe with toffee and they are delicious. They don’t flatten so you would have to do that a bit and cook them for 15 or more minutes instead of 13. Delicious !!!
Brittany says
Can you use cook and serve jello pudding mix?? I have been everywhere and cannot find instant butterscotch pudding mix.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Unfortunately, cook and serve will not work. But you could use caramel or vanilla instead.
Emma says
Question- can you substitute butter rum for the imitation butter?
Rebecca Hubbell says
You could but the flavor won’t be very strong since the imitation butter is highly concentrated.
Gabby says
This recipe was so spot on and I would DEFINITELY recommend them! I didn’t use imitation butter but they were still so so good
Teresa says
Where did you get your lightning bolt sprinkles? Saw some on amazon but wanted to pick your brain.
Going through then Harry Potter series for the first time in my life (and I’ll be 35 this year!!!!) and it’s amazing how much I want tea and butterbeer as I read them 😆. I homeschool my daughters, and I think these cookies of yours would go great with a Harry Potter themed tea time with my girls ☺️ Looking forward to trying them!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Teresa, I link to them in the post but you can find them here: https://shopstyle.it/l/bfgHZ I hope you have fun making them!
Marileigh says
What is imitation butter?
Rebecca Hubbell says
It is a flavoring usually found in the baking aisle with the vanilla and other extracts. People have made the recipe without but it really adds a lot to the butterbeer flavor.
Amanda says
I made these. But I don’t no why they didn’t spread out. I used butter not margarine ,?
Tracey Hausman says
Hi, can the butter beer cookies be frozen?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Absolutely, you can pre-shape them into cookie dough balls and freeze them raw or you can bake them, let them cool, and then freeze them. Put them in an air-tight freezer container.
Bridy says
We chilled the dough and when we baked them they did not flatten, they stayed round. I also feel the whole third egg should have been used as they are dry. I will try them one more time and see how it goes.
Sheila Argue says
How did it go ? I had the same problem … they stayed like balls
Leticia says
How big should the balls of dough be? I don’t know what size a “medium cooking scoop” is. Thanks!! Excited to try these!!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Leticia, 1.5 tablespoons.
KM says
I tried making these last night and they ended up very cakey. Any idea what I might have done wrong?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Kristine, did you by chance use baking powder instead of soda? This is usually the most common reason why cookies would turn out cakey instead of chewy.
Hawk says
Looking forward to making these and using them to blackmail people. Was a little confused about the pudding thing but as was sorted in the comments, dry mix it is.
I tend to use sweet cream stick butter instead of unsalted, but how do you prefer to use your butter when you cream it? I’ve made cookies that I started with melted and softened butter but it hasn’t made much difference as far as I could tell.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Hawk, all the years this recipe has been on this site and all the people who have made it and none of them mentioned that I didn’t indicate what state the butter should be in… thanks for pointing it out so I can fix it later today.
To answer your question, the butter should be softened to room temperature, NOT melted. At least for the original recipe. Melted butter will change the texture, and you might prefer that texture in cookies
debi says
These cookies look amazing, and I will be making soon. But just as good as these cookies are the comments on this post. I’m very entertained. And thanks so much for the recipe
Crystal Faulkner says
Omg, I absolutely adore these! They’re just so adorable. Thank you for sharing this!!
Carolyn says
Who wouldn’t love harry potter cookies, these sound amazing!
ashley says
What a fun recipe!
Lisa says
These sound great! I’m prepping for a Harry Potter baby shower and am wondering if you think it would work for me to cut these with a cookie cutter after they’re baked. Your additional thoughts on making them chewier and thinner made me think it may work. I’m thinking of baking them in a sheet pan and cutting. Thoughts?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Lisa, I honestly can’t say how they’ll bake up with that method, these aren’t firm cookies like most cut out cookies and I’d worry that it would impact the stability of the cookies themselves.
Kimberly says
Lol! I, too, went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter shortly after it opened. I also got stuck on the ride, but I was in the chamber of secrets, upside down, staring at the basilisk, right under the coldest air conditioning vent known to man. They turned us right side up after the first 5 minutes, but it was another 10-15 before the ride started again.
I was already excited to try this recipe, but Yarney’s review convinced me that I MUST make these cookies, and then hoard them like treasure in a Gringotts vault!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Haha, Kimberly, I’m sure they had quite a few technical mishaps when they first opened, but how funny would it be if we had been on the same ride! I hope you enjoy these cookies!