Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
Crunchy edges, a chewy interior, and packed with oats, these sweet oatmeal butterscotch cookies are the perfect cookie fix.
On any given day, I would choose these oatmeal butterscotch cookies over many different desserts. They are difficult to describe, but I’m always reminded of salty yogurt covered nuts, pancakes with maple syrup, and salted caramel when enjoying them. It’s funny, because the ingredient list doesn’t call for nuts, maple syrup, or caramel, but they have these delicious flavors within them. These cookies definitely satisfy a sugar craving, as butterscotch is sweet by nature, so eating one or two of these cookies can easily take care of a sweet tooth. For that reason, this is a smaller batch recipe, yielding about 2 dozen cookies. These butterscotch cookies are simple, with ultimate chewiness, and they don’t require refrigeration, which is a big selling point in my opinion. But because the dough isn’t refrigerated prior to baking, there is a few steps to follow in achieving cookie success. Tips are as follows.
Achieving Cookie Success
I normally bring eggs to room temperature when baking, but since we aren’t refrigerating the cookie dough, keep the egg cold, and only slightly soften the butter. With cake, I always bring dairy to room temperature, more information on this topic found here, under “bringing dairy to room temperature,” but with cookies, if not refrigerating the dough, keeping the dairy cold is essential. Too often cookies melt into one giant pancake and we want to avoid this!
Now let me be clear, these cookies do spread. They are on the flatter side of the cookie spectrum, even after using slightly softened butter and a cold egg. I fear, with this recipe, if ingredients aren’t kept on the colder side, these cookies would run together into one large blob. It’s a bit tricky, and for this reason, I was on the fence if I should ultimately recommend chilling the dough, but I love the texture when baked right away, and I wanted to keep the recipe authentic to my kitchen. That crunchy, almost candy like exterior, alongside a soft and chewy interior, are what make these cookies just plain delicious, and worth trying to get the consistency of the dough correct. If you want to refrigerate the dough, by all means do so, just be sure to scoop the dough balls prior to refrigeration, so the chilled cookies can easily transfer to the baking sheet, and be popped into the oven when needed. Refrigerating the dough inside the mixing bowl makes for difficult scooping when it’s time to bake.
Because these cookies bake flat and chewy, they don’t bake in perfect rounds. As they bake in the oven, the edges get a bit wonky and imperfect, which doesn’t influence the taste, but does makes them look very homemade. Delicious, chewy, rolled oat goodness, but with an odd wonky shape? So how do we fix this?
It’s actually an easy fix! Immediately after pulling the baked cookies out of the oven, take a spoon pulling toward the center of the cookie, gently reshape any wonky edges back into a circle. Some cookies may need more help than others, but before you know it, those wonky looking cookies will be circles again, but also have that amazing chewy texture, that was the deciding factor in skipping refrigeration altogether. Further, this technique helps if the cookies slightly touched while baking in the oven, as using the spoon will help to give a little separation to the cookies. A round cookie cutter can also be used to gently swirl the cookies back into a circle—I cannot take credit for inventing this method, as it was recommended by another blogger, but this is a second option to round the cookies. I personally use the spoon, since these cookies are typically larger than my round cookie cutter.
Final Tip
I use Guittard butterscotch chips for this recipe, and they are unparalleled to any butterscotch chip I have baked with prior. I promise, no one is paying me to give this recommendation, it’s just the truth. Some markets sell these specialty chips, so look out for them at your local grocer or market, but I haven’t had luck finding them at mine, so I order them off Amazon in packets of six. I have also given them as presents, since they are a bit unique, and hard to find. Using the Guittard chips makes this recipe extra special. Enjoy!
Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter, lightly softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg, cold
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside.
- Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Scrape sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the egg and vanilla to the mixing bowl, and beat on medium speed until incorporated, about 10 more seconds.
- In a separate bowl stir together the oats, flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Place the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl as needed, bringing any dough at the bottom to the top. Give a final mix on medium-low speed for a few seconds.
- Add butterscotch chips to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
- Scoop cookies onto the prepared baking sheets--about 2 scant tablespoons in size each. Bake cookies for 6 minutes. Rotate pans and cook another 5-6 minutes or when the cookies are golden brown, and just cooked in the center. Since these cookies are not refrigerated prior to baking, they spread in the oven making a flat chewy cookie. This gives them a delicious crunchy edge, with a soft center, but they will look misshapen when the cookies are pulled from the oven. When cookies are baked and pulled from the oven, immediately take a spoon and gently shape any wonky edges back into a circle. This must be done immediately when the cookies are still very hot.
- Let cookies rest on tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Notes:
Substitute butterscotch for any desired chocolate. This recipe can easily be doubled for a larger quantity.
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