Cookies Indulgent

December 5, 2018

Salted Brown Butter Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

Name: Salted Brown Butter Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks); 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 large eggs, at room temperature; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats; 2 cups cornflakes (I used Kellogg’s); 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 cup butterscotch chips; Fancy Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling on top

Incredible sweet and salty brown butter butterscotch oatmeal cookies with nutty, caramel flavors in every bite thanks to the brown butter! This magical cookie is baked with cornflakes for a delicious texture and will wow anyone.

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

30 mins

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You’re in for a SERIOUS treat as these salted brown butter butterscotch oatmeal cookies are inspired by one of my favorite cookies in Chicago.

About a year ago, Abra started telling me about these amazing cookies at Beatrix, one of our go-to restaurants in Chicago. One night after dinner, we decided to get the salty butterscotch oatmeal cookie from their bakery and from that point on, it’s been my new favorite. It’s crunchy on the outside, has a chewy texture in the middle, is sweet, salty, full of butterscotch chips, oats and absolutely delicious.

I thought about how I could recreate the cookies to make an exact version and after several rounds of testing I’m SO happy with the result. This recipe is one of my favorite cookie recipes ever.

FREE Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking

Ingredients in these butterscotch oatmeal cookies

These chewy butterscotch oatmeal cookies, or “oatmeal scotchies” as some people call them, are super easy to make and have some special ingredients that make them incredible. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:

Butter: we’re, of course, browning the butter to give the recipe a caramel flavor and a unique nutty flavor. If you don’t know how to brown butter, I have a tutorial here.
Brown sugar: these cookies are made with brown sugar only (no granulated sugar). It keeps the cookies chewy in the middle and adds a hint of molasses flavor.
Eggs: you’ll need 2 eggs in this cookie recipe.
Flour: we’re using regular all purpose flour for the perfect texture.
Oats: we use rolled oats in this recipe to give it a nice texture. Trust me, they’re perfect so please don’t use quick oats.
Cornflakes: yes, you read that right! Cornflakes are added to the dough to give the cookies a crunch factor. I know it seems a little odd, but trust me, they are necessary.
Butterscotch chips: who doesn’t love butterscotch morsels? Of course, if they aren’t your thing you could always use regular chocolate chips (or maybe a mix of both YUM).
Baking staples: don’t forget the vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Learn how to make your own vanilla here!
Maldon salt: you know, the fancy salt. Coarse sea salt also works! It’s sprinkled over the cookies.

A note on substitutions

Please be sure to make the recipe as-is so that the oatmeal butterscotch cookies come out perfectly. If you’re looking for a gluten free alternative, check out all of my gluten free cookies here.

I haven’t tested a vegan version of the cookies, but let me know if you try it with flax eggs. You’ll then have to use vegan butter, which you cannot brown.

Can I use quick oats or steel cut oats?

I would not recommend swapping the rolled oats for steel cut or quick oats as the texture will be very different.

Choose your cookie mix-ins

I LOVE the flavor of butterscotch in these cookies, but you can feel free to swap the butterscotch chips for any other mix-ins like:

White chocolate or dark chocolate chips
Dried cranberries, raisins, or dried cherries
Peanut butter chips (yum!)

Looking for thicker cookies?

Feel free to add an extra 2-3 tablespoons of flour to the dough!

Don’t forget these tips for perfect butterscotch oatmeal cookies

Do not use substitutes. Please be sure to follow the recipe as written unless substitutes are noted. Changing the flour will likely affect the taste and texture of these cookies.
Use room temp ingredients. After you brown your butter you’ll want to make sure that it is cool so that it doesn’t coagulate with the other ingredients. The same goes for your eggs — simply run the eggs under warm water for about a minute (or place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes) before adding them to your dough.
Use fresh baking soda. Make sure your baking soda is fresh to ensure that these butterscotch cookies bake up properly.
Measure your flour correctly. Do you know the best way to measure flour without a scale? Get my tips & tricks in this video!

Storing & freezing tips

To store: store these butterscotch oatmeal cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
To freeze: you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks for freezing cookies here.

More cookie recipes you’ll love

Get all of my cookie recipes here!

I really hope you get a chance to bake these butterscotch oatmeal cookies for family & friends! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them.

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Salted Brown Butter Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

4.97 from 30 votes

Monique Volz of AmbitiousKitchen.com

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

24 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups cornflakes (I used Kellogg’s)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butterscotch chips
Fancy Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling on top

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt butter in a medium skillet or pan over medium heat. After a few minutes, the butter will begin to crackle and then foam. Make sure you whisk constantly during this process. After a minute or two, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown, turn a golden amber color and give off a nutty almost hazelnut-like aroma.
Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning but make sure you scrape all the yummy brown bits from the pan with a rubber spatula; this is where the flavor is! Set brown butter aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.
Add every last bit of brown butter and brown sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on medium-high until well combined, about 1 minute.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.
Add the dry ingredients: flour, oats, cornflakes, baking soda and salt. Beat on medium speed until just combined, about 1 minute. The cornflakes should be well blended into the dough.
Lastly add in butterscotch chips and mix on low speed until just combined.
Use a medium cookie scoop to grab about 1 large heaping tablespoons of dough. Drop on prepared cookie sheet, leaving at least 2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.
Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Sprinkle cookies with a little fancy sea salt and serve. Makes 2 dozen cookies. Feel free to double the recipe to serve more!