Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies – Chewy With Caramel-Like Flavors

These butterscotch oatmeal cookies are the perfect combination of warm, caramel-like flavors packed in oatmeal cookies with crispy edges and chewy middles. They are a nice break from your traditional chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies thanks to the creamy butterscotch chips and the addition of old-fashioned oats.

This is a recipe that my late grandma received from an older neighbor friend. My Dad, his brother, and his parents used to farm their ground when he was growing up. I imagine that a plate of these freshly baked cookies ended up coming home with them on a few occasions after they’d been outside working all day long!

I only tweaked the original handwritten recipe a little bit. It requires 10 basic ingredients, and you are rewarded with about 48 perfectly-sized cookies to take to that next big gathering or school party (or to share with the farmhands working your ground!).

One of my favorite parts about this cookie recipe is that it doesn’t require any refrigeration before baking. You simply bring the dough together and bake. The cookies still end up being the perfect height without spreading too thin.

How To Make Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

*Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the full recipe, including exact measurements and amounts. You can also print out the instructions. I go into a bit more detail about the recipe here first, just in case you need it.

Ingredients

As mentioned, the recipe only includes ten simple ingredients. You can also add some chopped nuts if you would like. However, our family usually isn’t a fan of nuts in cookies but the original recipe does call for nuts.

• Shortening – While the original recipe calls for only shortening, I split the difference and use half shortening and half softened butter. The result is a perfectly crispy yet moist cookie. For the shortening half, I use Crisco.
• Butter – You want the butter to be nice and soft before adding but not melted. We most often use salted butter because that is what I always have on hand. If you use unsalted, be sure to add a pinch of salt to your cookie dough batter when adding the flour.
• Brown Sugar and White Sugar – This recipe calls for the addition of both brown and white sugar. The brown sugar helps achieve a chewy, soft middle while the white sugar provides the crispy lightly-browned edges.
• Eggs – Use large eggs that are at room temperature.
• Vanilla – We use our homemade vanilla, but you can use any type of real vanilla. Try to stay away from imitation.
• All-Purpose Flour – Our favorite flour to use is King Arthur unbleached AP flour but any kind of all-purpose flour works fine. (Product Link: King Arthur Baking Unbleached All-Purpose Flour)
• Baking Soda – The baking soda helps to create light cookies that aren’t flat pancakes.
• Old-Fashioned Oats – This recipe uses rolled oats as opposed to quick oats to get the right texture. (Product Link: Quaker Old Fashioned Rolled Oats)
• Butterscotch Chips – You can find these in most grocery stores. They will be with the chocolate chips in the baking aisle.

Instructions For Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

Begin by preheating your oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. The cookies will be baked in four batches, so you will need a few pieces of parchment paper.

In a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, add the shortening, softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Mix on medium speed until it is nice and fluffy. This can take a couple of minutes. The color should be a light off-white.

Next, add the two eggs and vanilla. Mix the ingredients together until well combined. After this point, you want to avoid overmixing the batter.

Add the flour and baking soda. If desired, you can also add half a cut of chopped nuts at this time. We don’t usually enjoy nuts in our cookies so we leave those out. Mix until just combined to avoid overmixing.

Finally, fold in your oatmeal and butterscotch chips. At this point, instead of using a mixer, I like to fold these ingredients in using a stiff spatula. This helps to maintain the air in the batter and avoids overmixing. Continue just until the ingredients are all combined and distributed.

Tips On The Butterscotch Chips

As a little side note, I like to reserve about 1/4 of a cup of the butterscotch chips when adding them to the cookie batter. (I do this with chocolate chip cookies, too!).

Then, right after the cookies come out of the oven, I top the cookies with a few of the unbaked chips. This is totally optional but it’s a great way to get those “picture-perfect” cookies! It also helps if you have a few cookies that are a bit short on the butterscotch chips.

Scooping And Baking

Now, take a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop or a large spoon and drop the cookie batter onto the previously prepared baking sheet. If desired, roll the cookie dough gently with your hands to create smooth, round dough balls. (I love using this cookie scoop. I also have their 3 Tbsp one I use for filling muffins. – Product Link: Prep Solutions by Progressive Measuring Scoop)

Bake the cookies for 14 to 16 minutes. The edges of the cookies should be a slightly golden brown while the middle might look a little bit gooey still. The cookies will continue to cook a bit more after you remove them from the oven. Avoid overbaking because this will result in dry and brittle cookies.

Allow the cookies to sit for a few minutes before placing them on a cooling rack to finish cooling. Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container.

Other Sweet Treat Recipes

If you want even more sweet treat recipes including one that also uses butterscotch chips, check out some of my other recipes:

• Soft & Chewy Scotcheroos – A great Midwestern favorite that also includes butterscotch chips.
• Oatmeal Cream Pies With Marshmallow Buttercream Filling – Ditch the store-bought oatmeal cream pies and try your hand at making them homemade. (It’s a lot easier than you think and WAY tastier!)
• Fudgy Chocolate Chip Brownies – With or without the homemade frosting, these brownies are out of this world!
• Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies – Any sourdough bakers out there? Use up some of that discard by turning it into chocolate chip cookies!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
– Chelsea

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