Chewy oat cookies with butterscotch chips that are chewy with crisp edges, and can be out of the oven in less than 30 minutes. Also called oatmeal scotchies, it's a one-bowl recipe with great caramel flavor. The cookie dough can be used directly, refrigerated for a day or frozen for a month before baking.
I recently retested it as some readers were having issues with them being a little dry. This tweaked recipe took care of that.
Old-fashioned Scotchies
No matter the time of year, we're always baking cookies. And come the holidays or a celebration, it's the perfect homemade gift.
I'm sure you'll love this sweeter and more festive twist on one of our favorite cookie recipes, these chewy oatmeal cookies. Who doesn't love them? Butterscotch adds a fantastic caramel tone, and the dough can be frozen if you want to make it ahead and then bake fresh cookies as needed.
Also, these oat butterscotch cookies travel well, so pack them for road trips, give them as gifts, or send the kids to school to snack on them.
Oatmeal cookies can have a plethora of add-ins, and they all work so well, like the oatmeal cookies with chips and walnuts, our most popular cookie recipe. It's a perfect canvas for different flavors.
- Very easy to make: you just 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: They have a caramel undertone and just enough sweetness to let the flavors of the oats and chips 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; there is no need to thaw them!
Testing notes
Softened butter, but not melted. Too flat cookies might happen with almost melted butter. The cookies spread too much during baking before the edges bake. It should be easy to mix with a whisk, but not start to melt.
Measuring the cookies: Use a cookie scoop so that your cookies bake evenly. Leave roughly a 1 or 2-inch separation between each (depending on the size), so they can spread comfortably during baking.
This is a no-chill cookie dough, so bake them directly. If you don't want to bake the whole batch, cover well and refrigerate.
Baking after refrigerating the dough: If baking the cookies after the dough has been chilled for several hours or a day, let it come completely to room temperature before baking. The oats will have absorbed the liquid, and the dough will be stiffer. So the cookies will spread very little if you bake them cold.
Room temperature storage: As with most cookies, they 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 pretty quickly.
Variations: add ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon or use half butterscotch and half chocolate chips as we do for these chocolate butterscotch cookies. It's a fantastic combination!
Ingredients
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- 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.
- Butterscotch chips or morsels: they have a caramel flavor and are readily available at many supermarkets and online.
- Sugar: We use that magic combination of white and brown sugar together. You can use only light brown sugar, but I don't recommend using only white, as the cookies lack a bit of that deep caramel flavor.
- Baking soda: make sure it isn't expired.
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.
How to make scotchies
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
A hand-held electric or stand mixer with the paddle attachment will make this process easier.
Butterscotch chips
The chips (or morsels as they're sometimes called) are added at the end.
Make sure you integrate them well so every scoop of cookie dough has a good amount of chips.
Scoop
Use a cookie scoop so that your cookies bake evenly. Leave roughly a 2-inch separation between each (depending on the size), so they can spread comfortably during baking.
I use the small or medium cookie scoop of this set, which are 1.6 or 2 inches in diameter.
Vintage Kitchen Tip
Do a test bake! I always recommend baking two or three cookies to find your sweet spot regarding baking time and texture. Check the time to ensure you don't over or underbake them. Also, see how much they expand (if at all) and adjust accordingly if needed so they don't touch during baking.
Baking
You can add some extra chips manually on top of each cookie before baking.
Depending on the baking sheet I use, I add parchment paper or grease the pan. Some new cookie sheets don't require anything.
Freezing
This is one of the best ideas not only for holiday baking but also for baking fresh butterscotch oatmeal cookies when you feel like it.
- Quick freezing: my favorite way is scooping the cookies 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 without leaving 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.
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Chewy Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract, or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup butterscotch chips or morsels, I use Nestle Toll House butterscotch morsels
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or butter the pans.
- Beat soft ½ cup unsalted butter with ½ cup brown sugar and ½ cup white sugar in a large bowl 2 minutes, until smooth.
- Add 1 egg and ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract, and beat until very well integrated and smooth.
- Add 1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats, ¾ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda (sift it to avoid lumps), and ¼ teaspoon salt. Mix just until incorporated.
- Add 1 cup butterscotch chips or morsels and mix well.
- Bake them immediately or refrigerate the batter for 1 hour and up to a day. See Notes below.
- Scoop balls of dough (I use a small or medium cookie scoop, 1,6-inch or 2 inches in diameter) on the prepared sheets, leaving space between them, about an inch and a half. If using refrigerated dough, flatten slightly on top.
- Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes for small ones and about 10 to 12 minutes for medium ones, until golden and beginning to firm around the edges, but the center is still soft. If you want crunchier cookies, bake them for 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.
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!