These Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies with Walnuts are the perfect way to ease into fall baking. The sweet, caramel-ey flavor of butterscotch is so good in an oatmeal cookie – much better than raisins in my opinion. The walnuts add the perfect crunch, but can be left out if you prefer. I like to keep any leftover cookies in my freezer – they’re absolutely delicious cold, but can be warmed in the microwave for a quick and easy treat with coffee or tea on a crisp day!
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My brother-in-law brought a batch of these last time he visited and I immediately knew I had to share this recipe with you all. I’m not usually drawn to an oatmeal cookie personally, but these really are special. You’re going to love them – and thanks, Daniel, for sharing this recipe with us!
These oatmeal butterscotch cookies were a wonderful thing to celebrate my kids starting school (worthy of celebration for many reasons, including my ability to get back into the swing of getting new recipes to you!).
And if you need a nut free version, you can absolutely omit the walnuts in this recipe. This is perfect for packing as a nut-free treat for lunch, for schools with such rules.
I almost never bother with two bowls – one for wet and one for dry ingredients – when making cookies. Instead, I add everything aside from the flour, then stir in the flour last. For cookies, you don’t want to over-mix flour, as more mixing causes more gluten to develop which can yield a tough texture for delicate treats such as cookies. Here’s how I make oatmeal butterscotch cookies in one bowl!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter – I almost always use salted butter for baking. I’m a rebel like that. Feel free to use unsalted!
- Brown and white sugar
- Eggs
- Cinnamon – you can add other warm spices if you want, like nutmeg or ginger, or even pumpkin pie spice mix.
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- Rolled oats – I think you can use quick oats here too, but use a little less of them or weigh them in grams, since there will be more in volume per cup.
- All-purpose flour
- Butterscotch chips – The obvious star of the show here – they’re oatmeal butterscotch cookies after all – but there’s no reason why you couldn’t use this recipe with other baking chips like chocolate or peanut butter!
- Walnuts – You can omit these, or use other nuts if you prefer. I think macadamia would be delicious, or pecans.
How to make Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
First, beat together the butter, brown and white sugars, and eggs until nice and fluffy. I like to use a standing mixer to make easy work of this and set a timer to three minutes while it mixes on high speed.
Then, add the spices and such. Cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract are mixed into the butter and sugar mixture.
Now we’ll add the oats and flour. Mix that in on a lowish speed until it’s just combined – you don’t want any dry spots, but don’t over-mix. Finally, gently mix in the butterscotch chips and walnuts.
At this point, you can let the dough chill in the fridge for a couple of hours, or longer, if you like. Doing this will allow the oats to absorb some of the moisture and soften up a bit more, and help the cookies maintain a firmer shape while baking. It’s not that serious though – feel free to skip this. Here’s more on why chilling cookie dough can make a difference.
You’ll scoop the cookies onto a parchment-covered baking sheet. If you like, you can reserve some of the butterscotch chips and walnuts to top the cookies with before baking. This is how food bloggers get pretty pictures of cookies, in case you ever wondered. But I never do this if I’m not photographing! It’s too fussy.
Bake until just underdone, and then let cool on a rack for 5 minutes. See the difference in that photo of cookies with butterscotch chips and walnuts placed on top, verses not? They all taste the same.
Ta-da! Now go enjoy an oatmeal butterscotch cookie. You deserve a little treat after all of that.
This is a summary of how to make this recipe. Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions, written in traditional recipe format, or Jump to Recipe.
Storing the oatmeal butterscotch cookies
These cookies will stay good in an airtight container on the counter for about 3 days. After that, they will start to be crumbly and dry out.
My favorite way to store the leftover oatmeal butterscotch cookies is in the freezer. After they’ve been out for a day, I transfer them to a zip-top bag and keep them in the freezer. They’ll last for months in there, and it’s easy to take one or two out to eat cold (delicious!) or pop in the microwave briefly to warm up. That way, they maintain more of their moisture and chewy texture.
Other oatmeal cookie(ish) recipes
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Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies with Walnuts
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Electric or Standing Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened salted butter (two sticks, see notes for unsalted)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 11 oz. butterscotch chips (one standard package)
- 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
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Instructions
- In a large bowl (or bowl of a standing mixer) beat together the 1 cup softened salted butter, 1 cup packed brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, and 2 large eggs on high speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Stir in the 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Add the 3 cups rolled oats and 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour and stir until just combined.
- Fold in the 11 oz. butterscotch chips and 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts.
- Optional: Cover and chill the dough for a couple of hours, or up to 24 hours (this will help the oats absorb some of the liquid and be softer in the cookie, and help the cookies maintain an firmer shape, though if you aren't picky you can go ahead and bake right away, it's not that serious!).
- When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, arrange your oven rack in the center of the oven, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Measure out the cookies in approximately 2-tablespoon amounts (I use a medium cookie scoop to do this) on the parchment lined sheet. If you want smaller cookies, you can do them in 1-tablespoon amounts (cook for a little less time in this case)
- Bake each batch for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. They should look slightly underdone. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes, then enjoy!
Notes
- Salted vs. unsalted butter: I’m a bit of a rebel when it comes to baking and almost always use salted butter. I just prefer the flavor more, and it’s what I always have on hand. If you want to use unsalted, that’s fine – just be sure to add a full teaspoon of salt to the batter, instead of the half teaspoon listed in the ingredients.
- Make ’em pretty: If you want, you can save some of the butterscotch chips and walnuts to place on top of the cookies before you bake them. This makes them pretty enough to photograph – a trick food bloggers often use so you can see the ingredients that are in the cookies clearly from the photos.
- Walnut substitutes: You can omit the walnuts for a nut-free version, or you can swap them out for another nut, such as pecans or macadamia nuts.
- Butterscotch chip substitutes: These are really the star of the show here in my opinion, but there is no reason why you couldn’t use this oatmeal cookie recipe with another baking chip like chocolate or peanut butter! I saw a salted caramel one in the store the other day that looked great for this recipe, too.
- Add other spices: Other warm spices like nutmeg, allspice, and ginger would work well here in addition to the cinnamon. You can try using a pumpkin pie spice mix, if you like.
- This recipe yields about 48 cookies. They don’t spread much, so you can fit about 15 (in a 3×5 grid) on a standard baking sheet. That means you’ll need to do 3-4 batches of baking, so be sure to plan on this for timing!
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Sterling Nelms
I like your blog.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Why thank you!
Bernadette Budniakiewicz
I’ve recently discovered sprouted oats. Do you think it would work in your recipe?
Elizabeth Lindemann
I think they’d work great! They can be substituted directly, and may even work better in this because they have a softer texture. Good luck, and hope you like it!