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. Just be sure to mix the dough a bit longer, to help give it structure.
- 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 cookie.
- 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 temp 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 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 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!
Other Recipes You Might Like:
Oatmeal Scotchies
Oatmeal Scotchies have to be the most underrated cookie flavor out there! The combination of butterscotch chips with chewy oats creates a unique and irresistible cookie that is a total crowd-pleaser.
Ingredients
Oatmeal Scotchies
- 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
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (113g)
- 3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (150g)
- 1 large egg, room temperature (56g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (4ml)
- 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 a medium-sized bowl, whisk together 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. 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.
- Pour in the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed just until incorporated.
- Stir in 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats and 1 cup of butterscotch cookies 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!
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 temp 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 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 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 Information
Yield
15Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 203Total Fat 4gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 13mgSodium 141mgCarbohydrates 28gFiber 1gSugar 21gProtein 2g
Carol Wise
Tuesday 3rd of September 2024
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!
UnaB
Saturday 3rd of August 2024
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?
Bryce
Wednesday 20th of December 2023
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 ??
Chelsweets
Friday 22nd of December 2023
Hi Bryce,
That should work just fine! The taste will be quite a bit different, but they should still be delicious :) Happy baking!
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