These irresistible oatmeal butterscotch cookies will leave your mouth watering. Every soft and chewy bite is swirled with salted caramel and loaded with butterscotch chips! I dare you to eat just one.
I’ve always had a soft spot for cookies, but especially oatmeal cookies. From chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies to peanut butter oatmeal cookies and classic oatmeal raisin cookies, all of my willpower goes out the window!
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
I don’t often bake with butterscotch, but when I do, it always surprises me. Case in point: I didn’t expect to love these oatmeal butterscotch cookies as much as I do, and even more surprising is how much my husband loved them the first time I baked them!
It turns out, he’s a huge butterscotch fan. I’ve been hiding these cookies from him ever since. They’re a variation of my favorite salted caramel oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, made with sweet-salty butterscotch chips, chewy oats, and a swirl of homemade caramel.
Why Are These Impossible to Resist?
- Swirled with salted caramel. Salted caramel sauce is the unsung hero in many of my cookies and cake recipes (like this salted caramel butterscotch cake). It’s easy to make by melting down store-bought caramels, and tastes amazing in these oatmeal cookies!
- Soft Centers. Leaving these butterscotch oatmeal cookies slightly underbaked is the secret to a perfectly rich, tender cookie that practically melts when you bite into it. The key is to pull them from the oven when they’re still soft in the middle.
- Thicker cookies. Chilling the dough lets the butterscotch-caramel flavors mingle and keeps the dough from over-spreading, leaving you with a thicker cookie. It’s a necessary step that’s 100% worth it.
Ingredient Notes
These salted caramel and oatmeal butterscotch cookies need very few ingredients. I cover the important ones here. You’ll find the printable ingredients list with the full recipe amounts in the recipe card after the post.
- Butter – Either salted or unsalted butter, but since I finish these off with a flakey sea salt, I recommend unsalted.
- Sugars – Just like classic chewy chocolate chip cookies, this recipe uses granulated sugar plus brown sugar for added moisture. You could substitute all of one type of sugar for the other in a pinch.
- Rolled Oats – While quick oats and steel-cut oats make great breakfast cereals, old-fashioned rolled oats are best for baking cookies. They offer exactly the right amount of chewiness and texture.
- Salted Caramel – I melt Kraft caramels with milk, which prevents the caramel from hardening when baked. Do not use salted caramel sauce.
- Butterscotch Chips – If you don’t have butterscotch chips, this oatmeal cookie recipe works great with semisweet, dark, or white chocolate chips, too.
- Sea Salt – I like to add a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt flakes to the baked cookies for an even more sweet-salty contrast. Stick to coarse or flaky salt, as table salt won’t work here.
How to Make Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
This cookie recipe does require chilling the dough, the longer the better. I usually prepare the cookie dough and refrigerate it overnight so the flavors have time to come together. Follow the steps below. Scroll down to the recipe card for printable recipe instructions.
- Melt the caramels. Since the caramel needs to cool before it gets added to the cookie dough, I do this step first. Add the caramel candies and milk to a microwave-safe bowl, and heat in 45-60 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth. Stir in the salt, and leave the caramel to cool.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Meanwhile, soften cold butter in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. It should not be melted or too soft, this leads to additional, unwanted spreading. Afterward, cream the butter together with both sugars until it’s light and fluffy. Then, add eggs and vanilla.
- Add the remaining ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk flour with oats, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add the flour mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients, mixing to form the dough. Lastly, fold in the butterscotch chips followed by the cooled salted caramel.
- Portion and chill the dough. Scoop the cookies onto a baking sheet using a large, 3 tablespoon size cookie scoop. Give the tops of the cookies a light sprinkle of sea salt, and pop the whole pan into the fridge to chill for (at least) one hour.
- Bake. Take the cookie dough out of the fridge about 15 minutes before baking. In the meantime, line a new baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat. This is a must to prevent sticking. Transfer the chilled cookies to the baking sheet, and bake at 350ºF for 11-13 minutes until they’re set at the edges, but still slightly underbaked (not gooey) in the middle. Let the baked cookies continue to set up on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack.
Recipe Tips
- This recipe makes a big batch of cookie dough. It will make about 28 large cookies (using a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop) or 36 smaller ones (with a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop).
- Chill the dough. You’ll need to chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour and up to overnight in the fridge.
- Line the pan. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper, or even better, use a silicone baking mat. This helps to prevent the cookies from spreading and also keeps the bottom of the cookies from over-browning in the oven.
- Fix cookies that spread in the oven. The trick is to do this while the freshly baked cookies are still warm. Use a flat edge, like a spatula or knife, to gently shape the edges of the cookies back into a circle.
How to Store
- At room temperature. Store these oatmeal butterscotch cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days.
- Freeze. First, pre-freeze the baked and cooled cookies in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then, transfer the cookies to an airtight container or freezer bag to keep them frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw the cookies at room temperature.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
- Prep Time: 75 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 27 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These oatmeal butterscotch cookies are extra soft, chewy, and easy to make! Every bite is swirled with salted caramel and studded with butterscotch chips.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (220g) light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (143g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons (7.5ml) pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (300g) all-purpose Flour
- 2 ¼ cups (181g) rolled oats
- 2 teaspoon (10g) salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon (4g) baking soda
- 20 Kraft caramels, unwrapped
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) milk
- 1 bag (11oz) butterscotch chips
- Flakey sea salt for garnish
Instructions
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine caramel bites and milk. Microwave in 45-60 second increments, stirring each time. Caramel will be very hot and can burn easily. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt. All the caramel to cool.
- Soften the butter in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Combine the softened butter with the brown and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until well combined, 2-3 minutes.
- Next add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue beating until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, salt (1 tsp) and baking soda. Stir to combine and slowly add the dry ingredients into the dough, mixing on low speed until dough starts to form.
- Before the dough thickens, add the butterscotch chips. Beat a couple of times until they start to incorporate.
- Once the caramel is melted and smooth, add to cookie dough. Beat just until combined.
- Pre-scoop the dough using a large cookie scoop and place on a sheet pan. Sprinkle with flakey sea salt. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Remove each batch 10-15 minutes before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes. The center of the cookie should be slightly under baked but not too gooey. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- These must be refrigerated for a minimum of one hour, but the longer the better.
- These cookies can be frozen once baked. Place on a cookie sheet with layers of parchment paper in between each layer. Once frozen transfer to an airtight container.
- When your cookies come out of the oven and they do spread or are misshaped, take a flat edge, such as a knife and press the edges of the cookie back towards the middle of the cookie, shaping it into a circle.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 293
- Sugar: 31g
- Sodium: 393mg
- Fat: 9g
- Carbohydrates: 48g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 37mg
Love your recipes. So good and easy to make. Thank you for sharing
Thank you Linda!
Shoulldn’t the instruction for puttting the cookies on parchment paper be included in #7? I put the cookies on the sheet pan before reading the next instruction, which says to use parchment paper.
I don’t have a fridge big enough to put a half sheet tray in. So I place the balls of dough on a 9×13 inch pan, or on a plate in the fridge and then transfer to my cookie sheet when baking.
I cant find caramel can I use caramel syrup instead?
Hi Jan, I don’t think caramel sauce would work, it’s too thin, but I haven’t tried is, so I am not sure. Do you have caramel bits?
Hi no I don’t have caramel bits but i really want to make these cookies so can I skip out the caramel?
I recommend following this recipe for my regular oatmeal cookies and swapping out the chocolate chips for butterscotch chips. The ratios of the dry ingredients are different since there’s no caramel but they’re still super good!
Thank you so much
These cookies are fantastic—completely addicting. I’m making my second batch today and am already trying to figure out how NOT to eat a dozen! My first batch made way more than 24 good sized cookies, which is not a problem. I cannot find Malden sea salt anywhere around here, or really any flakey sea salt, and thus my cookies were not quite as pretty. They were still delicious.
Thank you so much Natalie! I am so glad to hear that. I usually order it off Amazong but it lasts a long time
Hi. I make my own salted caramel and would like to use it in the recipe. How much should I use? 20 caramels would be about a cup melted? More?
Hi Stephanie- I would say it’s less than 1/2 cup
Thank you, I used 1/3 cup and they came out wonderfully.
Perfect! I am so glad to hear that.
Can you substitute caramel topping for the caramel bites? If so, how much would you recommend?
Hi Chelsea, I have never tested the recipe this way so I can’t say. I know that the sauce is a thinner consistency and not really meant for any type of “candy making” so it may not be a simple swap.
Step one has salt added twice. How much sea salt goes in at the beginning of step one vs. the table salt added at the end of step one?
Hi Cynthia- I see that now- that’s confusing! Thanks for letting me know. 1 teaspoon sea salt in added in the caramel and 1 teaspoon sea salt is added in the cookie dough. It’s updated to be more clear now.
Thank you! First batch just came out and they’re a big hit.
Awesome!!! These are one of our favorites!!