Have you forgotten how delicious a Butterscotch Cookie can be? Well, think back for a minute. Then run to your kitchen and whip up a batch of these fast.
But that’s melted white sugar.
Butterscotch is melted brown sugar and I am all for using some melted brown sugar to add flavor to baked goods, like we do for the butterscotch cookie!
Who invented butterscotch cookies?
Butterscotch Cookies were invented by a team of candy designers way back in 1851 to please the sweet tooth of Queen Victoria, whose reign led to so many delicious inventions like these that the tradition of afternoon tea in Britain was invented for her and her friend the Duchess of Bedford. I’m seeing a Bridgerton-like script coming out of this relationship.
What’s the secret to AMAZING butterscotch cookies?
My Butterscotch Cookies, like all cookies, can only be as good as the ingredients you use and how you treat them. Choose in-date, high quality sugars, flours, and butters that are really butter (i.e., just cream and, perhaps, salt, churned together). Sift those flours to make sure they all separate like little dust motes. The cookie will hold together without any clumping of ingredients. Then, when they spread, they spread all that delicious flavor evenly.
I use grass-fed butter, a single-sourced, organic AP flour that I researched and trust, and high-quality organic sugar and it helps me create butterscotch cookies that induce that dreamy, swoon “mmmmmmmm” reaction when people taste them. That swoon means I’ve done my job right. This cookie batter is so good, you don’t even need the butterscotch chips– but adding them makes them super-spectacular and melty.
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (11 oz.) bag butterscotch chips
Instructions
Prep time – 10 minutes
Cooking time – 11 minutes
Yields – 36 servings
How many of you know—without looking it up!—what “butterscotch” really means? Is it butter and that liquor called scotch? Heck no! It’s simply melted sugar. You’re thinking, I think you’re confused, girl, melted sugar cooked and cooked until it turns brown is caramel.
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract on medium speed for 2 minutes until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until well combined.
Step 2: Combine dry ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Step 3: Gradually add this to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low, beating until just mixed. Gently fold in the butterscotch chips.
Step 4: Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes to firm up the dough, which helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
Step 5: Prepare for baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease with nonstick cooking spray.
Step 6: Shape and bake. Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough, roll into balls, and place them 1-1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. They will continue to cook on the sheet after you take them out, so don’t overbake.
Step 7: Cool the cookies. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. This will give them the perfect texture.
FAQs & Tips
You can make the dough ahead of time and store three days and freeze the dough or baked butterscotch cookies up to three months.
Everyone’s oven is different. Bakers know this. Baking in summer is different than baking in winter because there’s air all around us and the air is different. So, watch your cookies. Period. When you see that first sizzle at the edges, remove them and let the pan take care of crisping them.
You can either substitute or include a wide variety of chips here. Some days, I dice up a dark chocolate bar to contrast nicely with this super-sweet butterscotch for the best taste sensation you’ve ever had in a cookie! I know, I say that all the time, right? But I MEAN IT this time!
Serving Suggestions
Whenever I make a Cookie Smorgasbord for my kids, I always include these. I whip up some of my Delicious Vanilla Milkshakes, some chocolatey Triple Chocolate Cake Batter Milkshakes these Butterscotch Cookies, my cute little pink and delicious Valentine Sugar Cookie Bars, which are good any time of day, year, or month, and my Leprechaun Gnome Treats, which look so cute on the buffet table I cannot resist making them over and over. All these are colorful and fun to make with the kids, so it’s a real day of bonding, love, family, and fun!
Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 bag 11 ounces butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract on medium speed for 2 minutes until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until well combined.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add this to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low, beating until just mixed. Gently fold in the butterscotch chips.
- Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes to firm up the dough, which helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
- Prepare for baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease with nonstick cooking spray.
- Shape and bake. Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough, roll into balls, and place them 1-1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. They will continue to cook on the sheet after you take them out, so don't overbake.
- Cool the cookies. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. This will give them the perfect texture.
