Butterscotch lolly

It is a hard sweet on a stick, typically made by cooking sugar with butter and sometimes cream or flavourings. The butterscotch taste comes from the buttery, caramelised sugar; recipes and ingredients vary.

Cook sugar, butter and a little water, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then boil without stirring to 149–154 °C. Pour carefully into heatproof lolly moulds, add sticks and leave to set completely; hot sugar causes severe burns.

Once completely cool, wrap each lolly and keep them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Moisture makes the sugar surface sticky, so avoid the fridge and humid cupboards.

The main difference is the stick: a butterscotch lolly is shaped around one, while butterscotch candy is usually sold as separate sweets. Both can have a buttery, caramelised-sugar flavour and a hard texture.

A hard lolly can cause choking, so do not give one to a young child; wait until they are old enough to manage hard sweets safely and supervise them while they eat.

Yes. Butterscotch is often made with butter or cream, so a lolly may contain milk; ingredients differ between products, and the ingredients list is the way to check for an allergy.