Chewy cookies that are thick, delicious, and a one-bowl recipe. Also called oatmeal scotchies. They have a great caramel flavor and can be out of the oven in less than 30 minutes. Keep the dough refrigerated for a day or frozen for a month.
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I'm sure you'll love this sweeter and more festive twist on one of our favorite cookie recipes, the best chewy oatmeal cookies. Who doesn't love them?
Oatmeal cookies can have a plethora of add-ins, and they all work so well, like the oatmeal walnut cookies, our most popular cookie recipe.
It's a perfect canvas for different flavors. Butterscotch adds a fantastic caramel tone.
No matter the time of year, we're always baking cookies. And come the holidays or a celebration, it's the perfect homemade gift. This recipe travels well and can be frozen if you want to make it ahead.
Other cookies that I love to bake and gift or take as hostesses' gifts to holiday parties are lemon shortbread cookies, chocolate sandwich cookies, and gingersnaps.
- Very easy to make: you simply mix the ingredients in one bowl. I recommend an electric mixer to make the process easier and faster, but you can make them by hand with a whisk, a large bowl, and some arm muscle.
- Flavor: the mix of sugars and butter makes delicious cookies. They have a caramel undertone and just enough sweetness to let the flavors of the oats and walnuts come through.
- Chewy texture: if stored properly, the texture remains wonderful for a few days. The key is baking them just until they are dry but slightly soft in the center.
- Make ahead: you can keep the cookie dough refrigerated for up to a day before baking it. Or freeze the unbaked cookie balls for up to a month and bake them directly, no need to thaw them!
Ingredients
- Oats: they give crunch to the top layer. I use old-fashioned rolled oats (traditional oats) because they have more texture, but you can use instant or quick-cooking oats.
- Sugar: at the moment, I'm using only brown sugar for these cookies, but we have used that magic combination that is white and brown sugar together, and it also works well and makes the cookies a tad crunchier.
- Butterscotch chips or morsels: are readily available at most supermarkets and online, Hershey's butterscotch chips and Nestle butterscotch morsels.
- Unsalted butter.
- Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla paste when available, but a good vanilla essence (artificially flavored) works well.
- Salt: I like to use kosher salt when baking. But regular table salt works just fine.
- All-purpose flour.
- Baking soda: make sure it's active and not expired.
- Milk: you can use whole milk or alternative ones like almond milk.
- Egg: fresh, large.
Type of oats
There are 2 types of oats good for making oatmeal cookies:
- Rolled oats - also called traditional or old-fashioned oats, are medium-sized and shaped like irregular discs (image below). It's the one in the box we grew up with that is used to make porridge, the best granola recipe, or oatmeal muffins. This is the most commonly used oat and a sure way to get good results.
- Instant oats - also known as quick oats, are more processed than the ones above. I find that they lack enough texture, but you can use them.
One of my favorite things about this oatmeal cookie recipe is that the base mixture (similar to chocolate chip cookies) is super simple to make.
- Mixers: a hand-held electric or stand mixer with the paddle attachment will make this process easier. The cookie dough must be mixed for several minutes at the beginning, which is harder to do by hand.
- Creaming: the butter must be soft and well mixed with the sugar until very creamy. Add the sugars gradually to incorporate them better, especially if using an electric mixer.
- Adding the egg: don't overlook this step and take the time to beat it for several minutes. It will help the cookies' texture and shape. The dough should be soft and creamy.
- Adding the flour mixture: also called dry ingredients, includes flour, salt, and baking soda. Add them at low speed. We don't want to develop the gluten after adding the flour, so it needs to be mixed until well incorporated, but no more than that.
Beat soft butter with sugar, and then add the egg. Mix until you have a smooth mixture.
Add dry ingredients. You can do so in stages to make it easier to integrate.
Add the milk before the flour is fully incorporated. It will be easier to mix.
The chips are added at the end. You can bake the cookies immediately, cover the dough, and refrigerate it for a day.
Final dough: it's very thick, there are no traces of dry ingredients, and the chips are well distributed.
Vintage Kitchen tip: if baking the cookies after they've been chilled for several hours or a day, press them lightly before baking them. The oats will have absorbed the liquid, and the dough will be stiff. So the cookies will spread very little in the oven.
Watch our step-by-step videos
Baking
Chips: you can mix all the butterscotch morsels into the dough or leave some of them to add manually to each scoop.
The flavor will be the same, but having the chips on top makes the flavor more easily recognizable (suitable if you're serving or gifting several types of cookies) and maybe prettier. However, they are rustic cookies.
Freezing
This is one of the best ideas not only for holiday baking but also to have at all times and bake fresh butterscotch oatmeal cookies every time you feel like it.
- Quick freezing: my favorite way is scooping the cookies like in the image below and popping the cookie sheet directly into the freezer until you want to bake it. This is great when making them within a few hours or a day. No need to defrost them. Simply bake them directly from the freezer. They might take an extra minute of baking.
- More extended freezing: cookie dough can be frozen for a month, and if this is your intention, scoop the cookies in the same way as the image below, but don't leave space between them. You will be able to pack probably the whole recipe in one sheet. Put the sheet in the freezer and when the mounds are rock solid, transfer them to a bag and remove the cookie sheet from the freezer. This way, you'll save a lot of space.
Storing
- Room temperature: as with most cookies can be stored in airtight tins or cookie jars. They usually become softer as the days go by. If you leave them outside, they will harden as the hours and days go by.
- Freezer: cookies can be frozen after they are baked, well wrapped. But I think the method mentioned before in the frozen section is better. The freezer dries them out in the long run, and since they are already baked, they will be drier than fresh ones. If you freeze them after they are baked, warm them slightly in a medium oven before eating.
Kitchen notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier!
- Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use an oven thermometer (like the OXO thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Measuring the cookies: Use an ice cream or cookie scoop so that you're cookies bake evenly. Leave roughly a 1 or 2-inch separation between each (depending on the size), so they can spread comfortably during baking.
- Refrigerating the dough: I don't chill it and bake the cookies directly. The texture is fantastic. But the type of oats you use might differ from mine as they can vary depending on what part of the world you live in and what brand you buy. You should not have issues with quick-cooking oats because it hydrates quickly. With rolled oats, I recommend you test a few cookies first and see how they come out. Letting the dough rest from 1 hour to a day might help to make moister and softer cookies. The oats will soften with the extra hydration time.
- Baking: if making the cookies immediately, simply scoop and bake. If the cookie dough has been refrigerated for several hours to a day, it will be firmer, even after it comes to room temperature. Lightly press the top of each cookie before baking. When the dough is stiff, the cookies don't spread as much.
Frequently asked questions
Traditional oats are the best option because of the texture. Instant oats will work if that's all you have. I don't recommend steel-cut oats for this recipe as it's a very different texture.
The most probable cause is the butter being too soft or almost melted. This might happen with the butter you use when making the batter and also if the batter is left out at a high room temperature before baking. When this happens, the cookies spread too much before the edges bake.
It depends on the size of the cookie, but a medium one is around 160 calories (see nutrition info at the end of the recipe card of this post). Nutrition facts are estimated.
Refrigerating the cookie dough before baking will prevent them from spreading too much. Check that the oven temperature is right; a low oven might have the same negative result.
Related recipes you might like:
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Chewy Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup 210g dark brown sugar
- ½ cup 100g white sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 3 cups 255g old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ¼ 165g cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup butterscotch chips or chunks
Instructions
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or butter the pans.
- Beat soft butter with sugars in a large bowl 2 minutes, until smooth.
- Add egg and vanilla, and beat for 3 minutes.
- Add oats, flour, baking soda (sift it to avoid lumps), and salt. Mix just until incorporated.
- Add milk and mix until well incorporated.
- Add butterscotch chips or chunks and mix well.
- Bake them immediately or refrigerate the batter for 1 hour and up to a day. See note below.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
- Scoop walnut-sized balls (I use a small cookie scoop of 1.57-inch diameter) on the prepared sheets, leaving space between them, about an inch and a half. If using refrigerated dough, flatten them slightly on top.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden and beginning to firm around the edges, but the center is still soft. If you want crunchier cookies, bake them a minute or two more.
- Cool for a few minutes on a wire rack before lifting them carefully from the paper and cooling them completely.
- Keep in tins, cookie jars, or airtight containers.
Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier!
- Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use an oven thermometer (like the OXO thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Measuring the cookies: Use an ice cream or cookie scoop so that you're cookies bake evenly. Leave roughly a 1 or 2-inch separation between each (depending on the size), so they can spread comfortably during baking.
- Refrigerating the dough: I don't chill it and bake the cookies directly. The texture is fantastic. But the type of oats you use might differ from mine as they can vary depending on what part of the world you live in and what brand you buy. You should not have issues with quick-cooking oats because it hydrates quickly. With rolled oats, I recommend you test a few cookies first and see how they come out. Letting the dough rest from 1 hour to a day might help to make moister and softer cookies. The oats will soften with the extra hydration time.
- Baking: if making the cookies immediately, simply scoop and bake. If the cookie dough has been refrigerated for several hours to a day, it will be firmer, even after it comes to room temperature. Lightly press the top of each cookie before baking. When the dough is stiff, the cookies don't spread as much.
- Batching and freezing: Make a large batch (double this recipe, for example) and freeze them (I pop the baking sheet with the scooped-out cookies in the freezer and then transfer them to a bag when they are rock solid). It will save you time and always have freshly baked oatmeal cookies. There is a post dedicated to Freezer Baking that you can consult.
- Butterscotch chips or chunks: I love using both, and if you can't get chunks, you can use the Dulcey chocolate from Valrhona, chopped. I love Nestle Butterscotch morsels and Guittard Butterscotch baking chips. Also, I love to use Valrhona Caramelia chocolate and use as chunks.
- Variation: these work great with white chocolate or vanilla chips also. You can make a large batch, divide it and make different cookies simultaneously.
Susan says
The cookies are delicious: however, next time I make these, I will add additional butter. The dough was dry and crumbly and the cookies didn't spread. They came out in the same scoop shape that they were when they went into the oven.
Muna Kenny says
The cookies look perfect and chewy. I would love to try your recipe!
angiesrecipes says
Thick, soft and chewy...these oatmeal cookies are perfect for me!