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These Salted Butterscotch Cookies are chewy, buttery cookies bursting with sweet butterscotch chips, made even better by a touch of sea salt on top. I make them with browned butter and just a handful of pantry staples. You won’t believe how delicious these turn out!
If you love the butterscotch flavors in this easy cookie recipe, you’ll want to make these kitchen sink cookies, next!
I am a BIG fan of butterscotch (see my ultimate butterscotch cake and loaded butterscotch cheesecake), and I LOVE the sweetness and flavor of butterscotch morsels. Especially in these butterscotch cookies! Here’s why you should make this easy cookie recipe ASAP:
- Chewy and crisp. I leave these butterscotch cookies a little soft-baked so that the inside is chewy while the edges are crisp and buttery. The little pockets of butterscotch chips shine in every bite!
- Browned butter flavor. Browning the butter beforehand fills these butterscotch cookies with an unbelievably rich, nutty flavor. It makes all the difference and the browning process takes just a few minutes.
- Quick. There’s very little hands-on time needed to make these cookies, and just an hour of chilling the dough. Once they’re in the oven they bake up quickly, and come out tender, chewy, and totally irresistible.
These cookies come from the new cookbook, “Crazy for Cookies, Brownies and Bars,” from my friend, Dorothy, who blogs over at Crazy for Crust. I’ve long been a fan of Dorothy’s and am happy to call her a friend. I’m totally in love with her new book. It has everything from classic cookies to brownies and bars, to skillet cookies, sandwich cookies, and even a couple of cookies for your furry four-legged friends. These Salted Butterscotch Cookies stood out to me most because I love butterscotch, but many others call my name, like her cookie stuffed into another cookie. Yes, please!
So definitely be sure to check out her book and while you wait for it to arrive in the mail, make these cookies.
What You’ll Need
These cookies have a simple list of ingredients, so you might already have everything you need in the pantry. Check out some notes here, and scroll down to the recipe card for a printable ingredients list with the full recipe details.
- Butter – I brown the butter before I add it to the cookie dough for even more awesome flavor. If you’ve never browned butter before, I walk you through the easy steps below!
- Brown sugar – Packed. I used light brown sugar, but dark brown would work too.
- Egg – For structure and moisture.
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda and salt – For rise and moisture. Ensure you’re buying baking soda and not baking powder, as they aren’t the same thing.
- Flour
- Butterscotch chips – You’ll find butterscotch chips, also called butterscotch morsels, in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips. If you’d prefer to make these cookies with chocolate chips, that’s fine, too!
- Sea salt – The finishing touch! Sea salt flakes make the buttery flavors in these cookies pop. You’ll want to use coarse or flaky sea salt, like Maldon salt or similar, and not table salt.
Tips and Variation Ideas
- Don’t walk away from the stove. The browned butter can burn quickly, so keep an eye on it. When the brown flecks begin to appear, you can cook it a touch longer, but remove it from heat before it burns.
- Use a light-colored pan. It’s almost impossible to see when the butter is browning if you use a dark pot or saucepan. Use a light stainless still pan or similar so that you can see when the butter changes color.
- Measure using a food scale. I’m a big fan of using a food scale for measuring ingredients to ensure everything is correct. Over or under-measuring, especially flour can make a big difference in your results.
- Or, use the spoon and level method. If you don’t have a scale, measure flour by spooning the flour from the bag into the measuring cup rather than scooping it directly from the bag. Afterward, level the flour off with the back of a knife.
- Get creative with flavors. Go ahead and add chocolate chips or toffee bits for additional flavor. You might also like my classic chewy chocolate chip cookies! For a fun fall variation of these salted butterscotch cookies, try these pumpkin butterscotch chip cookies.
Storage and Freezing
- Storing. These salted butterscotch cookies are fine to store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freeze. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. To freeze the unbaked cookie dough, portion the dough into balls and pre-freeze it on a baking sheet. Freeze the dough airtight for up to 3 months and defrost in the fridge before baking.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Chill Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 32 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Salted Butterscotch Cookies are chewy, buttery cookies filled with creamy butterscotch chips and finished with a sprinkle of sea salt. So easy to make and so delicious!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, sliced
- 1 cup (225g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups (163g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups (225g) butterscotch chips
- Sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Melt, then cook, stirring often, until the butter browns, about 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the size of your pan. The butter will foam, and then little brown flecks will appear and the butter will turn a golden amber color. Don’t walk away from the stove, because it can burn quickly.
- Pour the browned butter into a large bowl. Add the brown sugar and stir or mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in the egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt, then stir in the flour. Stir in the butterscotch chips.
- Scoop balls of cookie dough (each about 2 tablespoons) and place them on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line a second sheet with parchment paper. After they have chilled, place the cookie dough balls 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the cookie sheets. Bake each batch separately for 10-14 minutes or until the tops just lose their glossy sheen.
- Sprinkle the hot cookies with sea salt. Let cool for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 173
- Sugar: 20.9 g
- Sodium: 156.4 mg
- Fat: 5.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.9 g
- Protein: 1.3 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
First like to say we really like this recipe. Second, for whatever reason I can’t get the cookie to spead our. They alway come out like drop cookies. I’ve tried different cookie sheets and nothing works. But they always get eatten.
This recipe sounds wonderful. I love baking larger (3″ diameter) cookies. Can you tell me about how large these cookies bake to, as I see the recipe yields 18. Thank you.
The best cookie I’ve made and eaten in awhile. I’m an avid baker and cook. This recipe is subperb!