Soft, chewy and bursting with butterscotch, Oatmeal Scotchies are oatmeal cookies at their best. Cinnamon sugar flavor and a lightly crisped exterior make these extra delicious!
A wholesome oatmeal cookie with butterscotch chips in every bite. After you try this classic Oatmeal Scotchies recipe, you’ll want to give No Bake Oatmeal Scotchies a taste too.
Why this Recipe is Best
Scotchies are oatmeal cookies made better with the addition of butterscotch. They bake up with an amazing chewy interior and a crunchy edge.
This Oatmeal Scotchies recipe is loaded with butterscotch morsels. When I say loaded, I mean loaded. I use two full bags of morsels in this recipe!
Most gets folded into the dough. The remaining cup gets pressed onto the baked cookies while they’re still warm.
The result is a satisfying chewy cookie with tons of butterscotch in every bite. Hints of molasses and cinnamon add a depth of flavor that makes them out of this world.
You’ll see this delicious cookie base again with our Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!
More Butterscotch Ideas: Butterscotch Blondies | Butterscotch Fudge
Ingredient Notes
- Unsalted butter. Melt the butter then let it cool before adding to the dough.
- Dark brown sugar. The darker variety has a richer molasses flavor that I love here. True butterscotch is made with brown sugar and butter as the primary ingredients, so it works wonders with the butterscotch chips. If necessary, light brown sugar can be substituted.
- Cornstarch. Adding this to the cookie results in a chewy texture that is soft and a cookie that is thicker than without it.
- Vanilla extract. The vanilla flavor is prominent here so I love to use my Homemade Vanilla Extract. Store bought is just fine too!
- Oatmeal. Use old fashioned rolled oats–not steel oats or quick oats.
- Butterscotch chips. You’ll need two full bags. Reserve 1 cup for topping the baked cookies.
Easy Instructions
Make the cookie dough.
First, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Use a hand mixer to cream together the melted butter and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Beat until just combined, then fold in the oats and mix again.
Fold in butterscotch chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Bake. Drop the chilled dough onto a baking sheet by the spoonful. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.
The edges will barely start to turn brown and the center will still look soft. This is normal. Be careful not to over bake!
Add more butterscotch. Remove the cookies from the oven and let the cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. While they’re still warm, press several butterscotch chips into the top of each cookie.
Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Tips and Tricks
- Enjoy cool. Oatmeal Scotchies are best when fully cooled. They get chewier as they cool down and the insides firm up a bit.
- Do not over bake. Oatmeal Scotchies will turn hard and crunchy if left in the oven for too long. Remember they will continue baking when you remove them from the oven. The cookies should look soft, but not runny, when ready to come out of the oven.
- Use a cookie scoop. I use this one to get beautiful uniform cookies every time.
- Substitutions. Swap out the butterscotch for white chocolate chips and craisins to make these delicious White Chocolate Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies.
- Holiday Favorite. These Carrot Cake Cookies with cream cheese frosting are based off today’s oatmeal cookie recipe. DELICIOUS.
Recipe FAQs
Melted butter makes the cookie chewier on the inside.
The melted butter has to cool down first so it doesn’t melt the sugar. Using hot butter results in a thin, oily cookie.
Yes, you can make oatmeal scotchies with light brown sugar. The flavor will be less rich than if you use dark brown.
You can also add a tablespoon of molasses to the light brown sugar to replicate the flavor.
You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to one week at room temperature.
These cookies freeze well for up to 3 months, too!
Yes, you can freeze this dough before baking. Roll into balls before freezing and use within 3 months.
No need to thaw the froze cookies before baking. Just add a minute or two to the baking time.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
- Butterscotch Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Seven Layer Bars
- No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe
- Caramelitas
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Oatmeal Scotchies
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 packages butterscotch morsels 11oz each
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and cornstarch together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine butter and brown sugar together with a hand mixer on high speed for about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another minute.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on low, just until combined. Add in the old-fashioned oats and combine on low speed. Fold in all but 1 cup of the butterscotch chips.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Drop cookie dough by about 2-3 Tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Don’t overbake. The edges will start to brown first. The middle of the cookie may seem like it’s underbaked, but it will continue to bake when it’s taken out of the oven.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to sit on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes. Press a few of the reserved butterscotch chips into the top of the cookies. Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- Using a cookie scoop like this one is the easiest way to get beautiful cookies that are uniform when baked.
- STORAGE: Store cookies in an airtight container, at room temperature for up to a week. Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months.
- FREEZING DOUGH: Dough can be frozen, unbaked for up to 3 months. I recommended rolling (scooping) the dough into balls before freezing. When baking, add and additional 1-2 minutes to bake time for the frozen cookie dough.
- Why use melted butter? Results in a chewier cookie on the inside.
- Why does the butter have to cool? Using hot butter will melt the sugar and produce an oily, thin cookie.
- Cornstarch. Adding this to the cookie results in a chewy texture that is soft and a cookie that is thicker than without it.
- Why all DARK brown sugar? Real butterscotch has brown sugar and butter as the primary ingredients. It helps to emphasize the underlying flavors of the butterscotch. It also results in a more moist, soft cookie than using granulated sugar. Light brown (or a combination to make the 1 ½ cups) can be substituted. You could also add 1 Tbsp of molasses to the cookie dough if using light brown sugar. Using the dark brown also produces a slightly sweeter cookie.
- All ingredients should be room temp to allow them to combine better.
- Refrigerating the dough allows the cookie to hold its shape better when baking. If refrigerating the dough for more than a couple hours, leave the dough out on the counter for about 30 minutes before baking to allow it to soften and be scoopable. Refrigerated dough also has an enhanced flavor, and helps the cookie to brown. It also changes cookie texture as the flour is able to absorb and break down the sugars.
- Pressing the butterscotch chips on top after baking kept them on top of the cookie and helps them look enticing. This is totally optional. If you skip this step, add all the morsels to the cookie dough instead.
- Do not sub quick oats. They will absorb all the moisture leaving a dry and crumbly cookie.
Video
Nutrition
If you love butterscotch treats, stop what you’re doing and make Oatmeal Scotchies right now! With buttery molasses flavor and the perfect chewy texture, these cookies are always a good idea.
***IMPORTANT TIP*** Put the bowl of dough back in the refrigerator while each set of cookies is baking. My last pan spread out too thin and got too brown around the edges. first 2 pans were PERFECT after 1 hour 15 min in the fridge. I even substituted 2/3 cup of almond flour for 2/3 of the AP flour. Used about 14 oz of butterscotch morsels by weight, this was perfect for me.
Already saved and will be making these again!
Can I substitute the flour for almond flour? 🙂
I might try it with all almond flour soon, but substituting almost 1/2 of the AP with Almond flour made no noticeable difference. I would say it is worth trying, for sure.
Pretty darn delicious. The FAQs and tips were very helpful. I only used one 11oz bag of chips and it was the perfect ratio for me. If making again I might even use a little brown sugar as they were pretty sweet for my taste.
I live in the mountains of New Mexico. How Can I adjust the Oatmeal Scotchies recipe for high altitude (6,700 ft.)? Most baked goods come out very dry and crumbly. Thank you.
How delicious! There’s nothing like a burst of classic BUTTERSCOTCH flavor. These cookies hit the mark!
We love these cookies! I have already made two batches, they don’t last long around my crew!
Just made these… so good! I only used one bag of butterscotch chips because that’s all I had and they were still delicious!
Just made the b s cookies. Put the whole bag of butter- scotch morsels in 11oz in batter. But used 2 cups of Bob’s red mill Muesil and 1 cup of oats turned out superb
Sounds yummy. I have some salted caramel chips on order. Do you think they would be an okay substitute?
You can. But it won’t have the same butterscotch flavor. Still good I’m sure!