Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

If you’re craving thick, chewy Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies (aka Scotchies) with lightly golden edges and soft, cozy centers, this is the recipe to bake.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword butterscotch cookies, Oatmeal Cookies

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 12

Total Time 32

Servings big cookies (using a 2-tablespoon scoop)

Calories 470kcal

Author Kathleen

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt or about 1 teaspoon Morton kosher
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 3/4 cups butterscotch chips
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Instructions

Prep. Line baking sheets with parchment.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour (1 3/4 cups), cornstarch (1 tablespoon), baking soda (1 teaspoon), salt (1 teaspoon), and cinnamon (1 1/2 teaspoons).
Cream butter + sugars. In a large bowl, beat softened butter (1 cup) with brown sugar (1 cup) and granulated sugar (1/2 cup) for 2 minutes, until fluffy and well combined.
Add eggs + vanilla. Beat in the egg (1), then the egg yolk (1), then the vanilla (2 teaspoons), mixing just until smooth.
Add dry ingredients. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until combined—don’t overmix.
Stir in oats + chips. Fold in the oats (2 1/2 cups), 1 cup butterscotch chips, and pecans (1/2 cup) until evenly distributed.
Scoop + shape dough. Scoop 1/4 cup balls of dough. Roll them into balls to compress the dough into a cohesive shape. Shape the balls of dough into a tall cylander shape ~keep them tall (don’t flatten).
Arrange all the dough mounds on one cookie sheet.
Press the remaining butterscotch chips into the dough.
Cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough balls for 1 hour.
Bake + set properly. Place the dough mounds on the baking sheet at least 2 inches apart (about 6 cookies per sheet).
Bake 11–14 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the cookies look set around the edges — centers that still look a little underdone (a bit wet).
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving; they’ll finish setting as they cool.

Notes

Butter temperature matters. Softened butter should feel cool to the touch and hold its shape when pressed. If it’s shiny or greasy, your cookies will spread more than you want.
Chill for thickness. That short chill isn’t about flavor — it’s about structure. Cold dough hits the oven and sets before the butter fully melts, keeping the cookies tall and chewy.
Scoop tall, not wide. Resist the urge to flatten the dough. Tall mounds bake up thicker with soft centers.
Pull them early. The centers should look just set, not fully firm. They’ll continue cooking as they cool on the baking sheet.

Nutrition