Butterfinger Shot

Butterscotch schnapps, hazelnut liqueur, and Irish cream — recreating the Butterfinger bar (Curtiss Candy, 1923), brand passing to Nestlé (1990) and Ferrero (2018).

The Butterfinger Shot is a dessert shooter inspired by the Butterfinger candy bar, a crispy peanut butter confection enrobed in chocolate that has been produced since 1923. The Butterfinger was created by the Curtiss Candy Company, founded by Chicago entrepreneur Otto Schnering, whose other creation was the Baby Ruth bar (1921). Schnering supposedly held a contest to name the new candy, with Butterfinger selected from public submissions. The Curtiss Candy Company was acquired by Standard Brands in 1964, which was itself acquired by Nabisco in 1981; Nestlé purchased the Butterfinger brand along with other confectionery properties from RJR Nabisco in 1990. Ferrero acquired the brand from Nestlé in 2018. The candy's specific flavor profile — a flaky, layered interior of orange-tinted peanut butter-flavored candy (made from peanut butter mixed with corn flake-like candy, not actual peanut butter) coated in chocolate — is one of the most distinctive in American confectionery. The shot replicates this profile by combining butterscotch schnapps (caramel-and-butter sweetness), hazelnut liqueur or peanut butter whiskey (nutty richness), and cream or Irish cream (chocolate-and-dairy). Candy bar-inspired shots became a recognized genre of American bar dessert culture through the 2000s and 2010s.