Butterscotch Pudding Shot

Rich butterscotch pudding paired with butterscotch schnapps for an intensely sweet, buttery dessert shot.

The Butterscotch Pudding Shot is a dessert shooter that applies the pudding shot format to butterscotch schnapps, producing a party preparation whose combination of butterscotch schnapps, vodka, butterscotch instant pudding mix, and cream creates a set, mousse-like shooter of distinctive caramel sweetness. Butterscotch schnapps became a commercially significant bar ingredient following DeKuyper's 1993 launch of Buttershots, which introduced the butterscotch flavor profile — caramelized sugar with pronounced butter aromatic from the diacetyl compound — to American bars and home bartenders. The pudding shot format — incorporating instant pudding mix into a gelatin-based shooter to produce a creamy, custard-like consistency — gained widespread popularity in American party culture through food blogs and social media sharing from the 2000s onward. The butterscotch version's specific appeal lies in the complementary relationship between instant pudding mix's pre-thickened dairy proteins and butterscotch schnapps's own sweet, creamy character: the combination produces a shot whose flavor is closer to butterscotch pudding than to any spirit-forward preparation, making it maximally accessible to casual party drinkers who do not typically enjoy strong alcohol flavors. Preparation requires only mixing and refrigeration, typically overnight, with no bar equipment beyond measuring spoons.