Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
These Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies are sweet and salty with nuggets of caramel and butterscotch flavors. They can be made soft and chewy or buttery and crisp, depending on how you bake them.
My family constantly begs for these cookies and my Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies, and we adore every bite!
A Quick Look at the Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
- ⏲️ Ready In: 45 minutes
- 👨👨👦👦 Makes: 4 dozen cookies
- 🍽️ Calories: 171kcal
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Butter, Sugar, Brown sugar, Flour, Oatmeal, Corn flakes, Butterscotch morsels, pecans – optional, but recommended for great crunch!
- 💯 Why You’ll Love These Cookies: Whether you prefer soft and chewy cookies or buttery and crisp (depending on how you bake them), these nuggets of butterscotch goodness never disappoint!
We are big fans of homemade cookies, likely because both of my Grandmas always had a cookie jar full of them and always encouraged us kids and grandkids to enjoy them when visiting.
I’m not sure where I ever came across this recipe, but I’ve been making it for years and years, tweaking it over the years to create the perfect butterscotch and oatmeal cookie mix.
We really enjoy the added crunch of the cornflakes and the pecans since the body of each cookie is soft and chewy, unless you happen to over bake them which I’ve done many times.
Even as very crispy butterscotch oatmeal cookies they are delicious and that way I’ve always got a cookie I can dip into a glass of milk or a cup of coffee.
These cookies are my family’s absolute favorite cookie….even more so than Smores Cookie Bars and Chocolate Chunk Snickers Bar Cookies.
Ingredients and Substitutions
For a complete list of ingredients, see the detailed recipe card below.
- Unsalted butter: I cook with unsalted butter because I like to add the amount of salt I prefer to my recipe myself. However, if you’ve only got salted butter on hand – use it!
- Granulated sugar and dark brown sugar: If you want deeper flavors of caramel in these cookies, swap out the granulated sugar for all brown sugar.
- Quick oatmeal and old fashioned oatmeal: I use a little of both in this recipe simply because I like the texture using both produces. You can totally use just one or the other in this recipe.
- Butterscotch morsels: I really prefer Nestle brand, but use your favorite.
- Cornflakes and pecans: Both of these ingredients give these cookies lots of crunch!
Step by Step Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with both sugars until well blended. Add the eggs, then beat in the vanilla and the water.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, combine the flour soda, baking powder and salt; add the dry ingredients to the prepared butter mixture and combine well. Add the oatmeal, butterscotch morsels, corn flakes and pecans.
Step 3: Stir by hand until the ingredients are incorporated well.
Step 4: Place heaping spoonfuls (about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough) of cookie dough, approx. 2″ apart, onto a greased parchment-lined baking sheet. Gently flatten each mound of cookie dough just slightly, using a fork.
Step 5: Bake the cookies, uncovered, on the center rack for 10-11 minutes for softer/chewier cookies or 12-13 minutes for crispier cookies. The cookies should be golden brown and slightly set at the center when lightly touched with your fingertip. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
Step 6: Once the cookies have cooled completely, store in an airtight container.
Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies Tips
- If you prefer to keep your cookies on the crispier side, store them in an air tight container with a few saltine crackers included on top. The crackers will absorb any moisture or humidity in the container so the cookies can’t.
- If you miss the cookies when they are baked fresh from the oven, you can always pop a couple of cookies into the microwave for 8-10 seconds to rewarm them when you need a snack. They will be the next best thing to fresh-baked!
- Having your ingredients at room temperature (instead of ice cold from the fridge) will make it easier to mix the dough and also helps to produce cookies that are a bit fluffier in texture.
- My Grandma Lucille taught me to always bake a couple of test cookies before I do anything else. This allows you to adjust your dough if you need to before you bake the entire batch. If the test cookies flatten out too much as they bake, you know you need to add a little more flour to your dough to keep the cookies more stable as they bake. Once you add more flour, keep baking test cookies until you get the desired consistency preferred. I do this a lot in the summer here in Kansas where we have so much humidity!
Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies FAQs
Surprisingly, yes! Investing in good-quality, heavy-duty cookie sheets is so worth it. They help your cookies brown better on the bottom so they have more flavor and better crunch.
And if you always hand wash your cookie sheets (no dishwasher!), they will last a lifetime.
Nope. The main reason I use parchment paper for easy clean up.
Remove the parchment from the cooled baking sheets and simply wipe them off with a paper towel. You can also fold up the parchment sheet and reuse it several more times.
You sure can. I try to stick to baking two sheets of cookies per oven at a time so there’s plenty of room inside for the heat to circulate, even when I’m using convection bake where the heat is constantly blowing.
Halfway through the baking time, I rotate my baking sheets from top to bottom and also front to back so my cookies all bake evenly.
More Dessert Recipes
I love simple desserts to spoil my guys. These Cake Mix Caramel Brownies are another favorite. They are soft and delicious and soooo chocolatey! Or try these Peanut Butter Polka Dot Bars if you are cooking for kids. They love the M&Ms on top that make them look fun and festive! Or keep up the butterscotch kick and try these Butterscotch Bars!
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Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups quick oatmeal, or use half quick oatmeal and half old-fashioned oatmeal (whole oats)
- 11 ounce bag Nestle butterscotch morsels
- 2 cups sort-of-crushed corn flakes
- 1 cup toasted chopped pecans or walnuts
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with both sugars until well blended.1 cup unsalted butter, softened , 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- Add the eggs, then beat in the vanilla and water.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon water
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour soda, baking powder and salt; add the dry ingredients to the prepared butter mixture and combine well.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- By hand, stir in the oatmeal, butterscotch morsels, corn flakes and pecans until the cookie dough is well combined.2 cups quick oatmeal, or use half quick oatmeal and half old-fashioned oatmeal (whole oats) , 11 ounce bag Nestle butterscotch morsels, 2 cups sort-of-crushed corn flakes, 1 cup toasted chopped pecans or walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place heaping spoonfuls (about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough) of cookie dough, approx 2" apart, onto a greased parchment-lined baking sheet. Gently flatten each mound of cookie dough just slightly, using a fork.
- Bake the cookies, uncovered, on the center rack for 10-11 minutes for softer/chewier cookies or 12-13 minutes for crispier cookies. **The cookies should be golden brown and slightly set at the center when lightly touched with your fingertip.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Once the cookies have cooled completely, store in an air tight container.
Notes
- If you prefer your cookies on the crispier side, store them in an airtight container with a few saltine crackers on top. The crackers will absorb any moisture or humidity in the container so the cookies can’t.
- If you miss the cookies when they are baked fresh from the oven, you can always pop a couple of cookies into the microwave for 8-10 seconds to rewarm them when you need a snack. They will be the next best thing to fresh-baked!
- Having your ingredients at room temperature (instead of ice cold from the fridge) makes it easier to mix the dough and helps produce cookies that are a bit fluffier.
- My Grandma Lucille taught me to always bake a couple of test cookies before I do anything else. This lets you adjust your dough if needed before you bake the entire batch. If the test cookies flatten out too much as they bake, you know you need to add a little more flour to keep the cookies more stable. Once you add more flour, keep baking test cookies until you get the desired consistency. I do this a lot in the summer here in Kansas, where we have so much humidity!
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Chef Alli is not a dietitian or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate.