Butterscotch Chip Cookies Recipe
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Easy brown sugar drop cookies filled with a heavy dose of butterscotch chips. No chilling required!
WE’RE STARTING WITH MY FAVORITE DROP COOKIE BASE
With nearly 200 cookie recipes on my site, I have so many that start with the same base. Back in 2014, I developed a base recipe for cookies that has served me so well, I’ve put it in so many places around my site. These chocolate covered pretzel cookies, Andes Mint cookies, cookies & cream cookies, and salted caramel chocolate chip cookies are just a few.
These butterscotch chip cookies are just another addition to that collection.
Please, a show of hands… Who here agrees with me that butterscotch is a highly underrated flavor?
I feel a little bit bad for the butterscotch chips– they seem to be a staple in the baking aisle of the grocery store, and I think everyone probably has a bag of them in their pantry, but… Are you using them nearly enough?
The answer is probably a big giant NO.
And that’s why we’re here. Because butterscotch chips deserve a chance, friends, and these easy butterscotch cookies are where it’s at.
Ingredients for Butterscotch Chip Cookies
• all-purpose flour
• baking soda
• baking powder
• salt
• unsalted butter
• light brown sugar
• egg
• vanilla extract
• butterscotch chips
How to make Butterscotch Cookies
STEP #1
In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, then set this mixture aside.
STEP #2
Next, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat again on medium speed until everything is combined and no lumps remain.
STEP #3
Reduce the mixer speed to low, then slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 additions, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the butterscotch chips and mix again on low until evenly dispersed.
STEP #4
Using a cookie scoop, drop rounded balls onto baking sheet and bake.
Butterscotch Cookie FAQs
I spoke extensively about drop cookies vs regular cookies in my mini drop sugar cookies with sprinkles post if you’re interested in a cookie read, but all you really need to know right now is that you + this batter + a cookie scoop + your oven = fast cookies.
I baked these butterscotch chip cookies on a Monday night, fully prepared to send 12 of them to my son’s preschool class for his Thanksgiving party and to keep the other 12 (I doubled the batch!) to photograph while he was at school on Tuesday, and let me just tell you…
I had a HECK of a time trying not to eat them before I took pictures. And I will fully admit to bribing son #2 with one of these homemade butterscotch cookies (broken into about 10 pieces because I’m no dummy!) to sit still while I took the pictures.
I got many signs of “more” while he was still processing the bite before. And this kid is totally not a sweet-tooth kind of kid!
I absolutely cannot blame him.
They’re crunchy on the edges, soft and buttery in the middles, and there are approximately one billion butterscotch chips per bite, so I mean… Hi, hello, you need these butterscotch chip cookies.
Fun fact: if you want chewy butterscotch cookies, underbake them a bit. If you prefer crispy butterscotch cookies, bake them a minute or two longer.
So join me in this simple cookie recipe and dig out that half-empty bag of butterscotch chips, or open the one you bought on sale a few weeks ago when Thanksgiving baking was in full swing and spread the butterscotch love to those cookie trays with the best butterscotch cookies.
Because we owe it to those sweet little morsels, and ourselves, to grace the cookie world with cookies with butterscotch chips.
Butterscotch Cookies (with Butterscotch Chips)
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (135g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup + 2 Tablespoons (112g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (128g) butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate medium size bowl with a hand held mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat again on medium speed until everything is combined and no lumps remain.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 additions, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the butterscotch chips and mix again on low until evenly dispersed.
- Using a cookie scoop (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies), drop rounded balls onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until sides just begin to brown (mine took exactly 11 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week. Baked cookies may be frozen up to 2 months. Rolled cookie dough can be frozen, up to 2 months. Bake frozen on baking sheet for 11-13 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
I have made these twice already. Once as a gift and once because I needed a batch for myself 🙂 Thank you, there is definitely a shortage of butterscotch cookie recipes out there, a lot of them require oats. Mine did puff up a bit more that yours did, but no complaints here. I even baked a batch a bit longer to make them crunchier, and I think they were even better. .
Love this, Courtney! Totally an underrated cookie add-in, and as much as I love oatmeal cookies, I do sometimes just want the butterscotch!
These butterscotch cookies are SO tasty! After seeing this recipe, I made my first purchase in butterscotch land and I don’t think I’ll ever omit them from my baking-related shelf ingredients ever again! They come together quickly, with no chilling, which means I can have a dozen cookies all to myself in a very short amount of time. 🙂 Thank you for turning butterscotch into a lovely staple in the Huff house, Lynn!
Right? They’re totally an underrated ingredient/flavor.