Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Chewy oatmeal butterscotch cookies made with butterscotch chips, butterscotch hard candy, and butterscotch flavoring. The best butterscotch cookie recipe!

Why Make These Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies?

A few years ago while on a Trader Joe’s expedition, I stumbled upon their Milk and Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Bits Bar. And even though the bar wasn’t quite butterscotchy enough for my taste, it did remind me just how much I love this slightly old-fashioned confection.

There are lots and lots of recipes out there featuring caramel—cakes, pies, cookies, candies, you name it. But there are far fewer recipes starring butterscotch, a caramel-esque alternative, as the leading player. This holds especially true once you eliminate all of the recipes for “haystacks” made with chow mein noodles and melted butterscotch chips!

Since I couldn’t find a butterscotch cookie recipe to suit my craving, I decided to create my own. These soft and chewy oatmeal butterscotch cookies contain butterscotch chips, crushed candies, and butterscotch flavor oil for a sweet treat absolutely jam-packed with butterscotch.

Butterscotch Cookie Recipe Ingredients

To make this butterscotch cookie recipe, start by gathering the following ingredients:

• Flour – All-purpose flour (or plain flour in the UK) forms the chewy oatmeal cookie dough base.
• Baking Soda – Baking soda (bicarb of soda) acts as a leavening agent, and makes the cookies extra chewy.
• Kosher Salt – A small amount of kosher salt cuts the sweetness of the butterscotch.
• Unsalted Butter – Softened to room temperature.
• Sugars – You’ll need granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. Light brown sugar will also work.
• Egg – This cookie recipe requires one large egg, at room temperature.
• Molasses – You can use molasses or black treacle. For molasses, I like the Grandma’s brand, and for black treacle, Lyle’s is my go-to. Do not use blackstrap molasses for this recipe.

• Vanilla – You can use vanilla extract, or opt for vanilla bean paste for more pronounced notes of vanilla.
• Butterscotch Flavoring – I used a super strength butterscotch flavor oil by LorAnn Oils.
• Butterscotch Chips – Sweet, creamy butterscotch-flavored baking chips made from brown sugar, butter, and vanilla. You can use Tollhouse Butterscotch Morsels, or a generic store brand of butterscotch chips.
• Butterscotch Candy – For the crushed bits, I used the hard candy that comes in a yellow cellophane wrapper, and often sold in bags at a drugstore or grocery store. (They’re usually marketed as “buttons” or “discs.”) If you can’t find them locally, you can also buy butterscotch candies on Amazon.
• Oats – For chewy cookies, use rolled oats (or old fashioned oats) for this recipe, not instant or  “quick” oats.

Shaping Perfectly Round Cookies

My favorite hack for perfectly round cookies? A round metal cutter!

Immediately after removing the tray from the oven, place a round around each cookie and gently “swirl” into a round shape. Just don’t wait too long—if the cookies begin to cool, they’ll crack or break when you try to reshape them.

If you don’t own a round metal cutter set, it’s an absolute must for your baking toolkit. Round cutters are great for reshaping cookies, but I also use mine to trace cookie templates, cut rolled cookies, make scones, and create fondant “tomato” slices for my cheeseburger macarons.

Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions

The oatmeal cookie dough requires at least an hour of chilling time, but you can make and chill the dough up to 24 hours in advance. Cover the bowl in clingfilm/plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to scoop and bake.

Store baked and cooled butterscotch cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. You can also layer the cookies between sheets of parchment and freeze in an airtight container for up to three months.

Other cookie recipes you might enjoy:

Lavender-Lemon Latte Cookies
Bakery-Style Parsnip Cookies
Dark Chocolate and Caramel Cookies

And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!

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