Love Butterbeer but can’t get to Universal Studios? Make your own homemade butterbeer with this quick and easy recipe for some fun Harry Potter refreshments right at home!
My family is a bit obsessed with Harry Potter. My oldest son and I read the entire Harry Potter series together over the past two years and watched all of the movies (my son might’ve closed his eyes during a lot of Prisoner of Azkaban but still…). We’re pretty huge Harry Potter fans.
If you asked my son his favorite books, I can guarantee one of them would be a Harry Potter one.
We’re annual passholders to Universal Studios Florida and pretty obsessed with all of the different butterbeer options (and other drinks) you can get in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
But we can’t go as often as we want since we don’t live nearby, so I thought it would be fun to recreate the sweet drink at home!
So make up your own batch of this tasty drink and pretend you’re back in Harry Potter world for a minute or two! This would also be perfect to go along with playing these Harry Potter games and reading the Harry Potter books for Harry Potter’s birthday in July!
At some point I want to talk about how incredible Diagon Alley is, especially for fans of J.K. Rowling’s books but for now, let’s get to this homemade butterbeer recipe so you can pretend your at the theme park at home!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Kid-friendly – just like the real thing in the Universal Parks, this is a non alcoholic recipe that’s perfect for Harry Potter lovers of any age!
- Taste of butterbeer – this butter beer recipe has that distinct butterscotch and caramel flavor that you get from regular butterbeer in the parks.
- Easy recipe – the best part of this recipe is that it’s super simple to make! It’s just a matter of combining a couple of ingredients together then topping with homemade whipped topping!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Cream soda – I highly recommend regular cream soda, not diet cream soda, so you can get the full flavor of the drink. You also want to make sure that the cream soda is well chilled before you add it to this sweet drink!
- Butterscotch topping – I just used butterscotch syrup like you would put on ice cream. This gives it that nice butterscotch flavor that you get at Universal Orlando. You could also use your own butterscotch sauce, but I can’t promise you’ll get the real taste of the butterbeer since I’ve never tried your sauce. If you can’t find butterscotch topping, caramel topping works as well.
- Butter extract – you could technically skip this, but it really adds to the flavor of this drink. I ordered mine on Amazon here but they also have them in grocery stores as well.
- Heavy cream – make sure your heavy cream is nice and cold before you try to make the whipped cream for these drinks. I also recommend chilling the bowl and beaters for your electric mixer but that’s just to help the process go faster, not absolutely essential.
How to make Universal Studios Butterbeer
This easy butterbeer recipe is so simple to make, it almost seems silly to give you step by step instructions but if I don’t, I’ll probably forget something, so here goes!
This is one of my favorite things and such a delicious treat, I can’t wait for you all to make it!
1 – Make the whipped cream
First make your whipped cream by whipping the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. This will likely take a few minutes (less time if you chilled everything) so be patient.
Once the soft peaks have formed, slowly beat in the powdered sugar until well combined. This is the whipped topping that will go on top of the butter beer recipe.
2 – Make the Cold Butterbeer
Next, pour one cup of cream soda to a large pitcher or a punch bowl and whisk in five tablespoons butterscotch topping and two tablespoons of butter extract. Mix these together well to let the flavors really combine together before you dilute it with the rest of the cream soda.
Once that’s mixed well, gradually add the rest of the cream soda to the punch bowl and stir to combine.
3 – Finish the Harry Potter Butterbeer Recipe
To finis the butterbeer, pour cream soda mixture into 8 ounce glasses until they’re about 3/4 full. If you’re not using whipped topping, you could fill them up more, but you really want to leave some room for the whipped cream without the drink spilling all over the place!
Then to get the true wizarding world feel, top them with piped whipped cream topping. You can either pipe it on or just use a large spoon or ice cream scoop to add a good portion to the top of the butterbeer.
Finish it off with a little bit of butterscotch topping drizzled on top to give it that real authentic look!
This will make them look and feel like the real deal, not just a homemade version! Then serve chilled and enjoy while you’re watching a Harry Potter movie marathon (don’t forget Fantastic Beasts).
Make a Frozen Version
If you’re more of a fan of the frozen butterbeer, then I’ve got two simple ways that you can turn this popular drink into the frozen version to drink at home!
- Put the cream soda into the freezer for a couple of hours before you mix it into the other ingredients. This will give you a nice slushy cream soda that will give you a frozen version of this homemade butterbeer.
- Place three cups of the cream soda, butterscotch, and butter extract mixture into a freezer bag. Carefully remove all the excess air from the bag then place that into another freezer bag. Fill the outside freezer bag halfway full with ice cubes and a tablespoon of salt (similar to how people make homemade ice cream in a bag). Wrap all of this in a towel and shake/squeeze the bag for 5-10 minutes until the drink becomes slushy.
Expert Tips
Make butterscotch whipped cream by replacing the powdered sugar in the whipped cream with 1/4 cup of the butterscotch topping. This will give you a creamy butterscotch whipped cream instead of the natural flavor.
Make the whipped cream up to a day ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve. Make the drink right before you’re ready to serve it and top with the whipped cream – it’s not great as a make ahead drink.
Serve this with some chocolate frogs and homemade treacle tarts for some really fun birthday parties for Harry Potter lovers! It’ll be just like you’re at your very own Three Broomsticks Inn or the Leaky Cauldron (your choice).
Recipe FAQs
You can omit the butter extract if you can find it or add additional butterscotch topping to make up for the lost flavor. I do not recommend using another extract or melted butter in its place because it just won’t have that same butterbeer flavor.
This butterbeer recipe is non alcoholic and great for kids to enjoy! It does have cream soda, which is carbonated, so if your kids are not used to that, I recommend just giving them a little bit to start.
I do not recommend freezing the butterbeer mixture as written in this recipe. If you’re looking for frozen butterbeer, the best way to make that is explained in the make a frozen version section above. The good news is that this is a really yummy drink when frozen properly, but don’t just try to stick it in the freezer and hope for the best.
More Harry Potter Fun
If you like this DIY butterbeer recipe, you should try it out while playing some of these fun Harry Potter games!
- Harry Potter trivia questions – easy and challenging Harry Potter trivia questions and answers, great for everyone from house elves to wizards!
- Harry Potter scavenger hunt – clues based on the books that will lead to a fun Harry Potter surprise (maybe even this delicious drink and some Harry Potter goodies).
- Harry Potter would you rather – tons of would you rather questions inspired by your favorite Harry Potter questions!
- Harry Potter charades – act out your favorite characters and Harry Potter inspired words (like pumpkin juice and Hogwarts) in this fun game!
- Harry Potter danger word game – a Harry Potter inspired version of the hilarious game where you have to get a friend to guess a word without guessing the danger word!
Homemade Butterbeer Recipe
Ingredients
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 TBS powdered sugar
Butterbeer
- 2 liters cream soda (well chilled)
- 5 TBS butterscotch topping
- 2 TBS butter extract
- ⅓ cup butterscotch topping (for drizzling on top)
Instructions
Whipped Cream
- Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form, then slowly beat in the powdered sugar until well combined. Set aside.1 cup heavy cream, 3 TBS powdered sugar
Butterbeer
- Add 1 cup of cream soda to a large pitcher and whisk in 5 tablespoons butterscotch topping and 2 tablespoons of butter extract. Mix well.2 liters cream soda, 5 TBS butterscotch topping, 2 TBS butter extract
- Once that is mixed together, gradually add the remaining cream soda until you've added the entire 2-liter bottle.
- Pour into 8 ounce glasses and top with the prepared whipped cream and drizzle with butterscotch topping.1/3 cup butterscotch topping
Tips & Notes:
Make A Frozen Version
- Put the cream soda into the freezer for a couple of hours before you mix it into the other ingredients. This will give you a nice slushy cream soda that will give you a frozen version of this homemade butterbeer.
- Place three cups of the cream soda, butterscotch, and butter extract mixture into a freezer bag. Carefully remove all the excess air from the bag then place that into another freezer bag. Fill the outside freezer bag halfway full with ice cubes and a tablespoon of salt. Wrap all of this in a towel and shake/squeeze the bag for 5-10 minutes until the drink becomes slushy.
Angela says
you have a mistake in the written recipe. it says to put 1 cup cream soda in a large pitcher and add the other ingredients.
Shouldn’t it say to put a 1-2 liter bottle of cream soda in a large pitcher? Could you please fix the error? thanks!
Britni Vigil says
The recipe is actually written correctly. I recommend mixing one cup of the cream soda with the extracts and flavorings to get a really good base of the butterbeer flavor before you add in the rest of the cream soda. I’ve updated the recipe card to reflect this more clearly.