Oatmeal Scotchies
If you’ve never heard of oatmeal scotchies before, do I have a treat for you!
Oatmeal scotchies are butterscotch oatmeal cookies that are soft and chewy and loaded with butterscotch chips.
While you could just call them oatmeal butterscotch cookies, oatmeal scotchies sound so much more endearing.
I’m convinced it’s the most underrated cookie flavor, and I’m here to give it the love and attention that this cookie deserves. This recipe is adapted from Hershey’s Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookie Recipe.
Making These Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
This recipe is pretty straightforward but does require an electric mixer of some sort to cream together the butter and brown sugar.
I’ve made these with both my hand mixer and my stand mixer, and they’ve turned out great both ways.
Another important step is chilling the dough for 30 minutes. If you don’t, your cookies will overspread!
This can cause your cookies to lose that wonderfully chewy texture, and lead to crispy cookies almost like my oatmeal lace cookies.
While those are delicious, that is not the texture we’re going for with these cookies.
Substitutions and Swaps
While I love this recipe for oatmeal scotchies just the way it is, I know some of you might not have all these ingredients on hand!
Below are some swaps and substitutions that can be made in this recipe.
- All-Purpose Flour – I haven’t tested this recipe out with gluten-free flour, but it should work if you use a good blend like King Arthur’s GF flour.
- Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter in this recipe. Just be sure to omit the salt that this recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter in its place.
- Brown Sugar – This recipe uses brown sugar. You can use light or dark brown sugar (I prefer light in this recipe), but I don’t recommend using granulated sugar. It causes the cookies to spread more and changes the overall flavor of the cookies.
- 1 Large Egg – This cookie recipe uses 1 large egg. You can try using a flaxseed egg in its place to make eggless or vegan variations of this oatmeal scotchies recipe.
- Rolled Oats – If you don’t have rolled oats or old-fashioned oats on hand, you can also use quick oats, but the texture of the cookies will be a bit less chewy.
How Many Cookies Does This Recipe Make?
This recipe makes 15 cookies using 3 Tbsp of dough per cookie. You can double this recipe if needed!
You can also make 30 smaller oatmeal scotchies using 1 1/2 Tbsp of dough per cookie. Bake them for 11-12 minutes at 350°F/175°C.
Tips for Making the Best Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
- Turn your oven on once you put the cookie dough in the fridge to chill. That way your oven will be preheated once your cookies are ready to be baked.
- Properly measure your flour (spoon into the cup measure and then level) or use a kitchen scale to measure your dry ingredients.
- Ingredients at room temperature mix together better! Set out any cold ingredients ahead of time.
- Use a cookie scoop (mine fits 3 Tbsp per scoop) to make sure your cookies are uniformly sized.
- Space your cookies about 3 inches apart before baking them! They spread a bit as they bake.
- Press extra butterscotch chips on top of the cookies once they’re baked. You can also garnish them with sea salt to make them look just as incredible as they taste.
Making These Oatmeal Scotchies in Advance and Storing Them
You can make these cookies in advance! If stored in an airtight container, they can last for up to 5 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge.
The cookie dough balls can also be made in advance and frozen for up to a month. When you’re ready to bake them, there’s no need to thaw the dough. Preheat oven to 350°F /175°C and place frozen cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart.
Baked cookies can also be frozen! These cookies last for up to a month if frozen in a ziplock bag or an airtight container.
Move them to the fridge the day before you plan to eat, then let them sit out at room temperature for a few hours before eating.
Let Me Know What You Think!
If you try this recipe for oatmeal scotchies, I’d love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment and rating below.
And don’t forget to tag me @chelsweets and use #chelsweets so that I can see your delicious creations!
Oatmeal Scotchies
Ingredients
Oatmeal Scotchies
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 113g
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 150g
- 1 large egg, room temperature 56g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 4ml
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 95g
- 1/2 tsp baking soda 3g
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, optional 1g
- 1/2 tsp fine salt 3g
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg, optional
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned or rolled oats 120g
- 1 cup butterscotch chips 175g
Instructions
Oatmeal Scotchies
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter and 3/4 cup packed brown sugar. Mix on a medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes with a paddle attachment until the mixture becomes lighter in color.
- Add in 1 large egg and 1 tsp of vanilla extract and mix on a medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth.
- Then mix in 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of salt, and a pinch of ground nutmeg on a low speed just until incorporated.
- Stir in 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats and 1 cup of butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula. The dough should be quite thick and sticky at this point!
- Scoop or roll out 15 equal-sized cookie dough balls (about 3 Tbsp of dough each) and place them on one of the prepared sheets. You can wet your hands lightly with water to make it easier to roll out the cookie dough if you do this by hand. Be prepared, your hands will get sticky and covered in dough!!
- Place the cookie sheet in the fridge for 30 minutes. As the cookies chill, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Rearrange the cookie dough balls between the two prepared baking sheets, spacing them 3 inches from one another.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes. The centers of the cookies will look a bit soft and underdone, but they will firm up as the cookies cool.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then place them on a wire rack to finish cooling and enjoy!
Video
Notes
How Many Cookies Does This Recipe Make?
This recipe makes 15 cookies using 3 Tbsp of dough per cookie. You can double this recipe if needed! You can also make 30 smaller oatmeal scotchies using 1 1/2 Tbsp of dough per cookie. Bake them for 11-14 minutes at 350°F/175°C.Tips for Making the Best Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
- Turn your oven on once you put the cookie dough in the fridge to chill. That way, your oven will be preheated once your cookies are ready to be baked.
- Properly measure your flour (spoon into the cup measure and then level) or use a kitchen scale to measure your dry ingredients.
- Ingredients at room temperature mix together better! Set out any cold ingredients ahead of time.
- Use a cookie scoop (mine fits 3 Tbsp per scoop) to make sure your cookies are uniformly sized.
- Space your cookies about 3 inches apart before baking them! They spread a bit as they bake.
- Press extra butterscotch chips on top of the cookies once they’re baked. You can also garnish them with sea salt to make them look just as incredible as they taste.
Making These Oatmeal Scotchies in Advance and Storing Them
You can make these cookies in advance! If stored in an airtight container, they can last for up to 5 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge. The cookie dough balls can also be made in advance and frozen for up to a month. When you’re ready to bake them, there’s no need to thaw the dough. Preheat oven to 350°F /175°C and place frozen cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Baked cookies can also be frozen! These cookies last for up to a month if frozen in a ziplock bag or an airtight container. Move them to the fridge the day before you plan to eat, then let them sit out at room temperature for a few hours before eating.Nutrition
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Looks amazing! What brand butterscotch chips do you use?
Can I just omit the butterscotch chips if I don’t have them?
I assume you mean butterscotch chips where it says to add butterscothch cookies in the recipe? I think they will be a real treat.
Should I use the shock or paddle attachment on my stand mixer?
@Tierney Meeker, I use the paddle attachment to make all of my cookies.
@Tierney Meeker, What’s a shock attachment? I have a stand mixer, but I only have a flat paddle, egg whip, & dough hook. I’ve never heard of a shock attachment & nothing comes up when I google it.
Hi Dee,
I usually make these with either a hand mixer or paddle attachment and my stand mixer. Hope that helps!
I found this recipe from the November baking club (and IG!) and finally got around to making them. I was skeptical, I’m a strong chocolate chip gal. But, these were absolutely AMAZING! I could not stop eating them, I will definitely be adding these to my baking rotation.
What is meant by a “Flaxseed Egg?” I’d like to make these for someone who has an egg allergy.
What if I didn’t use butterscotch and used peanut butter and chocolate chips instead? Asking because I mixed the bags up and already mixed it all ??
Hi Bryce,
That should work just fine! The taste will be quite a bit different, but they should still be delicious 🙂 Happy baking!
These cookies were delicious, however, mine spread quite a bit and were very crumbly and delicate. Any pointers to help them maintain their thickness and make them less delicate?
I saw you make these for your neighborhood little bakery and they looked delicious. I can confirm they are! I made a triple batch to share at our block party this weekend. Great recipe!
These cookies are delicious and very easy to make. The dough is very sticky which I used my hands on the first batch. But I remember my mother used 2 spoons to put the dough on the cookie sheet. She added the dough on one spoon and used the other to drop the dough. I used this method, so glad I remembered her method. The cookies came out great and will be making them again. Thanks for sharing!!!
Hi Mary,
This absolutely warmed my heart, I love that you brought in your mom’s method! Those little memories in the kitchen are so special, and it’s amazing how they come back just when we need them. I’m so glad the cookies turned out great and that you’ll be making them again. Thank you for sharing this sweet story, it made my day!
Fantastic recipe! I chilled the dough in my mixing bowl and then scooped it out with a 1 inch cookie scoop. 11 min in my oven and they were perfect. I added butterscotch chips to the top after baking. They’re delicious and pretty!
Hi Mirae,
Yesss that sounds like such a win! Chilling the dough in the bowl is a great shortcut, and I love that you added the butterscotch chips on top after baking! I’m thrilled to hear that they turned out so well 🙂
These cookies turned out great. We added a whole bag of butterscotch chips because we love butterscotch. I also left off the nutmeg
Hi Sheri,
So glad you loved them!! A whole bag of butterscotch chips sounds like the dream, I fully support that kind of energy!! And leaving out the nutmeg totally works if you’re going for a more classic butterscotch-forward vibe. Thanks for baking them and putting my recipe to such good use 🙂