Harry Potter’s Frozen Butterbeer Recipe

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Last updated on October 12th, 2021 at 03:21 pm

Happy early birthday Harry Potter! It’s on July 31st if you were wondering. Instead of a misspelled cake from Hagrid, let’s celebrate with a big ol’ glass of frozen butterbeer.

I was definitely within the target demographic for Harry Potter as the books were released in the US. So I grew up reading them as they came out. I enjoyed them. It was magical and captivating and written in a way that kind of matured as the series progressed.

And so, being a long-time fan, I was excited to see the Harry Potter section (now sections) at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Orlando. It was fun and the theming was immaculate. Down to the food.

They offered butterbeer as both a regular and a frozen option. And in the colder months, I think they also offer butterbeer-flavored hot chocolate. Since I first went in the heat of summer (probably the worst time to go), my wife and I opted for the frozen variety.

We were hooked

So then I had to learn how to make it myself. Naturally. We even have a couple of souvenir cups from some of our very first trips.

And this is actually the second recipe on the site inspired by my not-so-secret love affair with certain Orlando area theme parks. My fried potato and onion strings recipe was inspired by the parks and it is also currently the most viewed recipe on the site. So check it out.

What even is Frozen Butterbeer?

While I’m not sure what the author originally intended, or what I even first thought as I read through the series, it is a sweet drink where cream, vanilla, and butterscotch flavors combine.

I’m basing my recipe on what I had at Universal Studios. It uses cream soda as a base with butterscotch sauce mixed in for flavor and a butterscotch-infused whipped topping. It is non-alcoholic (though I suppose you could add your own to the recipe).

Since this is a frozen butterbeer recipe, we will also blend it together with some ice. Honestly, I haven’t tried it any other way because why would I not want a frozen treat?

Also, because it is frozen, try to have everything that is going into the recipe be as cold as possible. It’ll help keep everything frozen longer after you blend it together. Cold cream soda will especially help.

And I also must admit that I usually use this beast of a Margaritaville machine to whip up a batch of this stuff. But don’t worry, it is not a required tool. It is complete overkill. A simple blender will work great. I just like the fact that I can shave the ice into it before blending it together, and then that I can dispense the drink right from the blender.

A Sum of Its Parts

When I originally planned on making this frozen butterbeer recipe, I went to the store looking for some butterscotch sauce. Typically I would just buy some Smucker’s butterscotch sundae syrup and use that while making the butterbeer. But I couldn’t find any in the store.

So I decided to make some myself since I really wanted frozen butterbeer. You can use either store-bought butterscotch or make your own homemade butterscotch sauce. If you are looking for it in the store, look near the chocolate syrup, by the ice cream toppings, or even somewhere around the ice cream aisles themselves.

The drink is topped off with delicious butterscotch whipped cream – that I usually mix into my drink after I have taken just a sip or two. This is a homemade recipe that is based on my original whipped cream recipe, just replacing the sugar with butterscotch sauce.

You can also add some cream soda to the mix if you want it a little more pourable than the typical stiff whipped cream peaks.

When I whipped together this batch of frozen butterbeer, we put on one of the movies and watched it all together. My niece and nephew got huge whipped cream mustaches and enjoyed every minute of it.

Keep your magic alive!

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