Soft & Chewy Butterscotch Cookies
Soft, chewy, deliciously rich butterscotch cookies with hints of vanilla and brown sugar.
Yield: cookies
Equipment
- large baking sheet or 2-3 smaller baking sheets
- parchment paper optional, for easier clean up
- stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl
- stand mixer or hand mixer
- Flour sifter optional
- Silicone spatula
- Cookie scoop with release handle
- refrigerator
- Oven
- cookie spatula optional
- wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter cubed, at room temperature
- ½ packed cup brown sugar light or dark
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup butterscotch chips
Instructions
To Prepare Cookies
- Cover baking sheet with parchment paper if desired and set aside.
- Add softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar to stand mixer bowl (or large mixing bowl). Using stand mixer (or hand mixer), mix ingredients together on low speed 30 seconds, then increase speed to medium. Continue mixing 2 to 5 minutes, until ingredients are creamed. Mixture should be fully combined, light, and fluffy. Note: Be careful not to overmix. Overmixing will make mixture greasy and soupy. If you overmix, discard mixture and start again.
- Once butter and sugar are creamed, pause mixer and crack egg directly into mixing bowl. Add vanilla extract, then resume mixing on low speed. Mix until ingredients are just combined.
- Sift flour through sifter and directly into mixing bowl, making sure any clumps of flour are broken up. Once all flour has been sifted, add baking soda and salt to mixing bowl. Resume mixer and mix until ingredients are just combined.
- Once dough has formed, add butterscotch chips to mixing bowl. Use silicone spatula to gently fold chips into dough mixture until chips are just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix.
- Use cookie scoop to portion dough into equal-sized scoops. Each scoop should be 1 tablespoon of dough for smaller cookies, up to 3 tablespoons of dough for larger cookies. Place dough ball on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Make sure to place dough balls on baking sheet approximately 1 to 2 inches apart.
- Place baking sheet filled with cookie dough balls in refrigerator. Chill dough at least 2 hours and no more than 36 hours. If chilling dough more than 2 hours, cover baking sheet with plastic wrap before refrigerating.
To Bake Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Adjust oven racks as needed to center cookies in oven. Note: if baking multiple sheets of cookies at once, position racks to divide oven into equal thirds.
- Remove cookies from refrigerator and place baking sheet directly into preheated oven.
- Bake cookies 10 minutes, then check doneness and bake another 1 to 4 minutes as needed. Cookies should be removed from oven when cookie edges are lightly golden. Cookie centers should look slightly underdone (cookies will finish baking outside of oven). Note: if baking multiple sheets of cookies at once, rotate baking sheets halfway through cook time to ensure cookies bake evenly.
- When cookies are ready, carefully remove baking sheet from oven. Set sheet aside and let cookies cool 5 minutes, then carefully remove cookies from baking sheet and transfer to wire cooling rack.
- Let cookies rest until cooled completely, then serve as desired or transfer to airtight container.
Notes
- Chilled dough won't spread as much as room temperature dough. For flatter, thinner cookies, skip the fridge, or let the dough come to room temperature before baking.
- Leftover Cookies: Store in a cookie jar or airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.
- Freezing Dough: Prepare the cookie dough as written. Scoop the unbaked dough into balls and line dough balls on baking sheet, making sure the dough balls don't touch each other. Place baking sheet in freezer and freeze dough 30 minutes, then transfer dough to freezer bag or other airtight container. Return dough to freezer and store up to 3 months.
- Baking Frozen Dough: No need to defrost! Place frozen dough balls on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake frozen dough at 375°F for 12 to 15 minutes. Begin checking doneness of cookies after 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving Size: 1cookie | Calories: 226cal | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 237mg | Potassium: 38mg | Total Carbs: 36g | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 23g | Net Carbs: 36g | Vitamin A: 266IU | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg