Get ready to sink your teeth into these soft and chewy Butterscotch Cookies! Every bite is flavored with brown sugar, vanilla, and creamy butterscotch chips. A sprinkling of flaky sea salt balances out all the sweetness making these cookies seriously addicting.
These salted butterscotch cookies are pure gold. If you love the combo of sweet and salty (like me!) you will go crazy for these. I like to think of this recipe as the elevated version of the butterscotch cookies from our childhood.
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Why you’ll love this recipe
Ease: This cookie dough comes together in under 10 minutes. No fancy techniques or equipment needed.
Texture: Crisp edges, soft centers, and chewiness throughout. The perfect cookie texture!
Flavor: The delicious flavor combination of butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and butterscotch with hints of sea salt.
Freezer friendly: Freeze leftover baked cookies or freeze unbaked cookie dough balls to make freshly baked cookies any time.
How to make butterscotch cookies
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
- Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and combined.
- Add egg and vanilla.
- Beat in dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt)
- Sir in the butterscotch chips.
- Scoop the dough into balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Top with flaky sea salt and bake.
Recipe tips
- Butter should be softened to cool room temperature. It should be soft but still cool to the touch. If the butter is over-softened (or beginning to melt) the cookies will spread too much in the oven.
- Flour should be weighed (ideally) or measured using the method provided in the recipe card.
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. This helps the cookies bake evenly and prevents them from spreading too much.
- Use a cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies.
- Under bake the cookies. You should remove these cookies from the oven when they are just starting to turn light golden brown but they are still undercooked. They should be so soft that you cannot pick them up off the baking sheet without them falling apart. They will firm up as they cool on the baking sheet.
- Add a few extra butterscotch chips on top of the cookies right after baking. This makes the cookies a bit more pretty and makes the butterscotch chips more visible. I don’t recommend adding them to the dough balls before baking because the exposed butterscotch chips might burn in the oven.
Serving and storage
Serving: Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.
Storage: Store tightly covered at room temperature for several days or store in the freezer (below).
Freezing cookies and dough balls
Baked cookies: Baked cookies can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Cookie dough balls: Freeze, double wrapped, for up to 2 months. Allow the dough balls to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet, adding a minute or two to the bake time. Give the chilled dough balls a little smoosh down before baking to encourage spreading.
Option to add chocolate chips
Feel like switching things up a bit? Swap out ⅓ cup butterscotch chips for chocolate chips! The chocolate tastes incredible paired with the butterscotch.
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Recipe
Salted Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients
- 1⅔ cups (210g) all purpose flour*, see note
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch**
- ½ cup (107g) light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170g) butterscotch chips
- flaky finishing salt (like Maldon), for topping
- additional butterscotch chips, for topping cookies (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined, scraping the bowl and beater(s) as needed. Add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add 1 cup butterscotch chips and stir by hand until combined.
- Scoop 2-tablespoon portions of dough and place the dough balls a couple inches apart on the baking sheets. Sprinkle the top of each dough ball with flaky salt. Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are beginning to turn golden brown and the center is still slightly underdone. If necessary, rotate the baking sheets halfway through cooking time, so that the cookies brown evenly. Make sure not to over bake; the cookies should be soft enough that you cannot pick them up off the baking sheet when they are fresh out of the oven (they will firm up as they cool). Place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool completely. If desired, you can gently place a few extra butterscotch chips onto the top of each cookie when they are fresh out of the oven.
Video
Notes
- Whisk the flour several times to lighten it, scoop a heaping portion, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Stir the flour with a spoon to lighten it, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off.
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Cari
Oh my goodness I made these today after scouring Pinterest for a killer butterscotch cookie recipe. We’ve been home bound for 3 days due to a blizzard so I wanted a yummy cookie to pick us up! This was it!
My only changes to the recipe were that I added a little more brown sugar and less white because I wanted to finish the brown. I refrigerated the dough about 20 mins before baking and flattened them with the back of the spatula before adding the finishing salt. (I always salt my cookies when they come out of the oven vs before baking. ).
We love them, will definitely make them again.
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
Mary
Funny, I’m making them during a blizzard today. Great minds think alike.
Mary
Really good cookies! They have the texture and look of peanut butter before they completely cool. I make cookies for the assisted living where my friend lives, so I couldn’t add the extra salt, but they are winners!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them!