Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Scotchies — 😍❤️🎉 Soft, chewy, and hearty without being too dense! They’re thick enough, but not overly thick, and are just enough to sink your teeth into. Best of all, they’re loaded with sweet butterscotch chips!
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Oatmeal Scotchies Recipe
These butterscotch chip cookies are a tasty trip down memory lane. My grandma used to make them, and I hadn’t had them in ages. So, I changed that.
They turned out to be my favorite oatmeal cookie to date. They’re soft, chewy, and hearty without feeling like I need to strap a backpack on and take them mountain hiking. Sometimes oatmeal cookies get a little too oaty and hearty. I want a cookie, not a granola bar.
They’re also thick enough, but not too thick. Sometimes really thick oatmeal cookies turn dry or cakey, a total deal-breaker. Plus, really thick cookies take longer to bake, and you run the risk of the bottoms getting too dark before the tops are set.
And they’re not too thin. There’s nothing worse than biting into a paper-thin cookie that just sort of disappears. I don’t like thin cookies in general, but thin oatmeal cookies are particularly unsatisfying.
Best of all, they use butterscotch chips. I just love butterscotch and I find it’s very under-represented in recipes in general. After making my favorite peanut butter to date, I vowed to use more butterscotch in my baking.
For anyone who dislikes raisins in your oatmeal cookies, your wishes have been granted. No raisins, nor chocolate chips. Just loads of butterscotch.
Oatmeal cookies, when done right, are some of my favorite cookies. I found myself going back for one more, one more. The chewiness, the hearty texture, the nuttiness of the oats, and nostalgic memories of gobbling vast quantities of my Grandma’s oatmeal cookies make these my new favorite oatmeal cookies. And the abundance of sweet butterscotch chips doesn’t hurt, either.
What’s in Oatmeal Scotchies?
To make these oatmeal butterscotch cookies, you’ll need:
- Egg
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar and granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Old-fashioned oats
- All-purpose flour
- Cinnamon and nutmeg – I prefer my oatmeal scotchies to be well-spiced, so I wasn’t shy about adding the cinnamon or nutmeg. Adjust to your preferences, as needed
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butterscotch chips – When measuring the butterscotch chips, I measured 1 heaping cup. Don’t be skimpy on the butterscotch
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Oatmeal Scotchies
These oat scotchies require a bit of planning, but they’re simple to make. Here’s an overview of the process:
- Cream the egg, butter, sugars, and vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the dry ingredients, and beat again. Incorporate the butterscotch chips.
- Use a 2-inch medium cookie scoop to portion the dough into about 20 mounts, place them on a plate, and flatten them slightly. Cover the plate with plastic wrap, and chill.
- Arrange the cookie dough on two baking sheets lined with Silpat mats or parchment paper greased with cooking spray, leaving space between each cookie.
- Bake just until the edges are soft and the tops are barely set. Cool on the trays for about 5 minutes, and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Before baking, you must chill the dough. It’s too soft coming out of the mixing bowl for immediate baking, and if you don’t chill it first, I guarantee the cookies will spread out into thin puddles.
Chill it for at least 3 hours or up to 5 days. Bake as many mounds as you want at one time, and keep the remaining dough in the fridge.
No, quick oats are more finely ground than old-fashioned oats and will make your oatmeal scotchies dry.
You can store leftover cookies in an airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week. Or, freeze them for up to 3 months.
Yes! Unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. So, consider baking only as many cookies as desired, and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
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Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Scotchies Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer Fitted with a Paddle Attachment
- 1 (2 inch) Medium Cookie Scoop
- 2 Baking Sheets
- 1 Wire Rack
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned whole rolled oats, not instant or quick cook
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 heaping cup butterscotch chips
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl and hand mixer), add the egg, butter, sugars, vanilla, and beat on medium-high to cream ingredients until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Stop, scape down the sides of the bowl and add the oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, optional salt, and beat to just incorporate, about 1 minute.
- Add the butterscotch chips and beat momentarily to incorporate.
- Using a 2-inch medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons), form dough mounds (I made 20). Place dough mounds on a large plate. Flatten mounds slightly. Cover plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough; cookies will spread and bake thin and flat.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line 2 baking sheets with Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mats, parchment, or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. I bake 8 to a tray.
- Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until edges are set and tops are barely set, even if slightly underbaked in the center and glossy. Cookies may not appear to be done, but they firm up dramatically as they cool. Baking longer results in cookies with dark or burnt bottoms and that set up too crisp and hard and don’t stay soft over time.
- Allow cookies to cool on trays for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes:
ALL OF MY OATMEAL COOKIE RECIPES!
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Easy Oatmeal Cookies — An incredibly FAST and EASY recipe that produces perfectly thick cookies with chewy edges and soft centers! One bowl to wash, no mixer to drag out, and no waiting around!
Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies — These cookies are soft, moist, and oh-so chewy. They taste like banana bread and chocolate chip cookies rolled into one dessert!
The Best Chocolate Chip Oatmeal M&M’s Cookies — Soft, chewy, and LOADED with M&Ms and chocolate chips in every bite! Make them today! The cookies are SO GOOD they got me a marriage proposal!
Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies — 3 favorite cookies combined into 1 so you don’t have to choose! Easy, no-mixer recipe, and always a hit!
Cowboy Cookies— These cowboy cookies are packed with oats, chocolate chips, Cornflakes, and shredded coconut. This is a flexible recipe that you can make with different mix-ins to suit whatever is in your pantry!
One-Bowl, No-Mixer, Extra-Large Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie — A FAST and EASY recipe for ONE XL soft and chewy very THICK cookie loaded with chocolate! No mixer needed and so DELISH!
great
These are great! However I would edit your total time on the recipe to include the time in the fridge. I wasnât expecting that when I started to make them and was disappointed with how long they have to set. Other than that these are amazing!
I’m glad the cookies turned out amazing.
These are great! However I would edit your total time on the recipe to include the time in the fridge. I wasnât expecting that when I started to make them and was disappointed with how long they have to set. Other than that these are amazing!
I was looking for a scotchie recipe that was heavy on the spices and SO happy I went with yours. I loved the amounts of cinnamon and nutmeg. I did add a bit of molasses to go for a dark brown sugar flavor. The cookies were to die for and Iâll be making these over and over. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and Iâm glad it came out great for you! I haven’t made these in ages myself…thanks for the reminder :)
I’ve never been into baking but this year I really wanted to indulge from scratch! Absolutely love this oatmeal recipe with butterscotch chips! Needless to say my hubby is enjoying all my baking adventures. Thanks & Merry Christmas!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it worked out great for you! Glad you have been bitten by the baking bug and your hubby is the lucky recipient!
This is my most favorite oatmeal cookie recipe ever!! I’ve made these several times and I love them. These are my new fall picnic/festival/group get together go to cookie. They are always a big hit and I never have any left to bring home.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it’s your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe ever! Glad they’re a big hit where ever you bring them!
*Goldilocks
:)
Thanks for the recipe! I have a big bag of butterscotch chips and had no idea what to use them on. (I, too, am indecisive.). Now I can make these!
Glad you found a way to use your butterscotch chips!
Will these cookies taste good without any add-ins? I’m looking for just plain oatmeal cookies, no chips or raisins added, will these work minus the butterscotch chips? Thanks!
I would make these then and skip the chocolate chips.https://www.averiecooks.com/the-best-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Can these be made with lots of raisins if so how do I make the recipe with the butterscotch chips and double raisins so the cookies stay soft and chewy ??? Looking forward to hearing from you!!! Thanks
I’m sure you can add raisins and how many to add will just depend on how the dough looks while you’re adding them, as well as the butterscotch chips, so that the dough to add-ins ratio stays appropriate for your tastes.