Butterscotch Cookies
Dark brown sugar, vanilla, butterscotch chips, and an extra pinch of salt are added to a delectable buttery cookie dough as I continue to share all of my favorite fall cookie flavors.
Move over pumpkin and apple, fall has a new flavor in town, butterscotch. Although, yes, you can add cinnamon, pumpkin, apples, or even chocolate chips to accompany this cookie, I wanted to highlight the wonderfully warm and addicting flavors of butterscotch in this cookie. It’s very easy to do when there are butterscotch chips available at most grocery stores, so you don’t have to make the sticky candy yourself. Butterscotch lends its flavor to dark brown sugar, butter, and vanilla and has a rich caramel essence that is balanced delicately with salt.
The recipe as written is a wonderful butterscotch cookie with a butterscotch ganache topping. Simply drizzle warm ganache on top of the cookies or you can also dip the tops in a bowl of warm ganache as well. The ganache topping is optional and can be omitted, although it does add a creamy butterscotch component that reminds me of a smooth butterscotch pudding. Who doesn’t love that?
Why I Love This Recipe
Rich Flavor-the ingredients in this cookie are simple but pack a whole lot of flavors. The use of dark brown sugar adds more molasses to the cookie giving it a warmer flavor. The extra teaspoon of vanilla also adds warmth, along with the creamy butterscotch morsels which have a salted caramel type of flavor. The butterscotch ganache ups the buttery warm flavor and compliment the chewy cookie perfectly.
Texture-the use of dark brown sugar in this cookie creates a pleasantly chewy cookie with crisp edges. I use cake flour in the same ratio as all-purpose flour to create a cookie that has a finer crumb that won’t spread too much. Cake flour helps to tighten up the dough and omits the use of cornstarch in the recipe. I like to use cake flour with finer crumb in cookies like my birthday cake cookie and cinnamon roll cookie (coming soon). The butterscotch chips lend a creaminess, and the graham crackers provide stability to the cookie without interfering with the rich flavor of the butterscotch chips. The graham crackers also add a slight crunch, and the butterscotch chips very lightly caramelize on the edges and bottom of the cookie as they bake. These make the cookies so satisfyingly chewy; I promise you won’t be able to stop at one.
Simple Ingredients-There isn’t a whole lot that goes into these cookies, and they are very easy to make. The cookies and ganache took about 15 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients You Need
-Butter
-Granulated & Dark brown sugar-Dark brown sugar is a must in these cookies. You can use light brown sugar, but they won’t be as rich.
-Egg
-Salt
-Vanilla extract-I am using a teaspoon extra of vanilla in this recipe. The flavors are simple, and I want the vanilla to be pronounced alongside the rich flavor of the molasses in the dark brown sugar.
-Flour & Cake Flour- I am using two types of flour in this cookie because I want the cookie to be light and chewy but not spread too much. If you are using only all-purpose flour, I recommend adding a tablespoon to this recipe.
-Baking Soda
-Salt-for cookie dough. I use kosher salt.
-Sea Salt- for sprinkling on top of baked cookies. This isn’t necessary if you aren’t a salt fan you can skip this step entirely. I love not only how the salt looks on top looks on top of the cooled cookies, it also helps balance the sweet richness of these cookies. It also reminds me of the sweet and salty butterscotch candy my dad used to buy us as kids. Salt is good!
-Butterscotch Chips- I used the Guittard brand of butterscotch chips. One bag was able to make the cookies and ganache for this recipe.
-Graham Crackers-These lend a lovely crunch to the cookie which pairs well with the chewiness of the baked dough and the creamy butterscotch morsels. I didn’t add enough to add any honey flavor but enough to add a little more texture to a chewy cookie.
-Heavy Cream- for making a silky and beautiful butterscotch ganache.
Let’s Make Cookies!
The dough for this cookie is quite easy to throw together and only takes about 10 minutes to prepare. After making and scooping the dough, I let it rest in the fridge to firm up before baking. As with most cookies on this blog, letting the dough rest after they have been filled is essential and even more so with a dough that has dark brown sugar since the molasses in the sugar will allow your cookie dough to spread even more when baking. You can bake them after an hour or two of chilling, but they improve in flavor and texture if you can leave them overnight to chill.
Cream the butter and both types of sugars in a bowl until very creamy. I like to see the butter light in color and fluffy, this usually takes around 3-5 minutes on high speed.
I add in the egg, vanilla extract, and continue mixing on high for a few more minutes. I like to sift my dry ingredients on top of the bowl then mix on low until it just comes together.
I prepare the graham cracker sheets by breaking them apart into one-inch pieces, just a rough chop really since the paddle attachment of the mixer will continue to break them down slightly as they mix in the dough.
I add the butterscotch chips and graham cracker pieces to the dough and mix on low for several turns of the mixer.
I scoop the dough with a 3-ounce cookie scoop to get 12 portions of dough. I did have one half scoop left that I let my kids gobble up as my taste testers, so I didn’t count that one.
I chill the dough overnight before baking these cookies as the high amount of brown sugar will cause these cookies to spread a lot during baking if baked right away. I recommend letting them rest for at least an hour or two in the fridge before turning your oven on. Also, you can make this easy recipe in advance and freeze the dough. If baking from frozen add 2-3 minutes to your bake time.
I bake these cookies on parchment paper at 375*F for 10-12 minutes. I look for golden edges and set tops, or tops that look dry to the touch. Be careful not to overbake these as the butterscotch chips will burn on the bottom of the cookie.
I like to liberally sprinkle flaked sea salt on top when I take them out of the oven and let them cool ten minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
As my cookies are baking, I like to throw together the ganache quickly.
Butterscotch Ganache How-To
An incredibly easy recipe that takes minutes and two ingredients.
I place the butterscotch chips and heavy cream into a microwave safe bowl and give them a good stir. I place the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds.
I leave the bowl in the microwave for another 30 seconds just to let the heat distribute in the bowl and help to melt the butterscotch chips.
I take it out the stir it for a few minutes until is all melted through. This can take several minutes and the residual heat on the edges of the bowl will continue to melt the chips. I didn’t need to reheat these, they melted beautifully after 30 seconds. If you find that the chips haven’t melted enough, place the bowl back in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. You want to make sure you don’t overheat the chips, or they can seize up.
This ganache is great poured on top of the cookies, or you can dip the tops of the cookies as well and let them set up for smooth and shiny finish. You can also serve this on top of ice cream or cake as well.
Butterscotch Ganache: The Story
So, let me tell you a little story about this ganache. This glorious ganache that you will want to make and pour over everything, it’s that good. But to reduce the ganache down to being a good guy in this story isn’t giving it the proper dynamic credit this ingredient deserves. The ganache was a good guy turned bad, then made its way back into my good graces after tears, curses, and finally acceptance. I’m being ambiguous. Let me explain.
As a baker, I have a journal of sorts where I write my flavor ideas and combinations down not only to keep the creative juices flowing but to also keep my mind somewhat organized and uncluttered. I had written out two weeks ago, butterscotch ganache, warm creamy center, reminiscent of butterscotch candy fused with butterscotch pudding. I mean, not to toot my own horn but dang, that sounds great right?
I had a wonderful dark brown sugar cookie that I know had a lot of spread to it so I wanted to create a sturdy cookie that could hold a creamy filling without sacrificing the integrity of a good chewy cookie. To the kitchen I went. I gathered my ingredients thought about my ratios and tweaked and played until I got the cookie dough where I wanted it. It was delicious.
Now on to the ganache. I will be honest that I hadn’t made a ganache in a long time, but looking at my baking notes, I have several ganache recipes. They are incredibly easy and require very few ingredients, chocolate, and cream for most of them. I opted for cream since I knew butter was going to make the ganache too runny. Oh, how I was wrong. I happily made the ganache, set my camera up to ‘capture’ me mixing it up for some Instagram reels. I was chuffed. This recipe was going to be epic.
I let it set up in the fridge and noticed it was a little soft, but I thought hey, it should firm up overnight in the freezer inside of the dough. It will all be ok.
It was not ok.
I should have listened to that tiny inner voice. I should have noticed the nagging feeling at the edge of my mind that something was off, the texture of the ganache was lovely but not quite right.
I baked the cookies the next day and yes, there was something off. Really off! The ganache leaked out of the cookie creating a huge, delicious mess. They were excellent in taste and had a great toasted caramel flavor but not visually appealing at the slightest. Baker fail. The ganache had failed me or maybe I failed it? It was never going to fully shine as a filling component. She wanted to be the star and looking back now I get it, but in the moment, I was quietly livid.
After baking several more to confirm the ganache was the culprit, I threw in the towel. Almost a whole batch of cookies did not live up to my wonderful stuffed cookie dreams and I felt absolutely gutted. Remember I shared these would be STUFFED cookies with butterscotch GANACHE. I am a fraud in my mind at this point.
But, silver lining, I always leave a few test cookies to bake that are unstuffed and they came out great. It was everything I ever wanted in a butterscotch cookie, rich, warm, gooey, and chewy. A cookie that I would be confident and proud to share with my beloved cookie fans.
I tried to think of ways to incorporate a filling for this cookie recipe, but nothing was quite sticking. I looked over at the leftover bowl of ganache cursing it and its audacity to follow baking science instead of my own falsely conceived notions. The biggest reason for my frustration was also because the ganache was so creamy and delicious, I couldn’t give up on it quite yet.
I placed the bowl of ganache to warm up. I chopped the butterscotch cookies in half, I set my camera up to record my process, and I poured that melted topping allover those warm cookies. It was glorious! Surprisingly therapeutic, I felt complete in my baking journey for the week. I accepted the ganache to take center stage, to humble me, and to keep my creative fire alive. I am not a huge fan of not achieving what I set out to do, so don’t worry a stuffed butterscotch cookie will be coming soon. I will be going back to the drawing board to create a fresh recipe for that one.
The science behind my failure is quite simple and I feel silly even typing it out, but you can’t bake a filling inside of a cookie that has a high fat ratio and expect it to stay put in a hot oven while baking. Especially when the dough is also soft and doesn’t have a lot of structural support from extra flour or cornstarch. Even with adequate freeze time, these two issues combined with the soft dough and soft filling, is still a recipe for stuffed cookie disaster. After baking stuffed cookies for 5 years, one would think I would have this down, but alas, even the best bakers make very silly mistakes.
If you read this far, you awesome cookie fan, go make some cookies! You deserve it.
If you try this recipe and love it as much as I do, please tag, follow, and like @sunshinetxcookies on Instagram and Facebook. New posts every Thursday so be sure to follow me for more delicious cookie recipes. Happy Baking!
Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients
- 1½ sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ tspn salt
- 2 tspns vanilla extract
- 1 tspn baking soda
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- 4 graham cracker sheets roughly chopped.
- flaked sea salt for sprinkling on top of cookies.
Butterscotch Ganache Topping
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
Butterscotch Cookies
- Cream together butter and both types of sugars in a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand held mixer. Beat on high for 3-5 minutes or until paler and creamy.
- Scrape down the bowl before adding vanilla and egg. Continue to mix thoroughly on high for a few minutes.
- Using a sifter over the butter mixture, sift flour, baking soda, and salt over the wet ingredients.
- Mix on low until the dough comes together.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom before adding the cup of butterscotch chips and chopped graham crackers. Mix on low just until they are mixed into the dough.
- Scoop 12 portions of dough with a 3 ounce cookie scoop onto a parchment lined baking tray.
- To avoid spreading in the oven, I recommend chilling your dough in your fridge for 2 hours and up to overnight.
- Bake cookies at 375*F for 10-12 minutes. The edges should be golden brown and they will slightly spread so don't overcrowd your baking sheet. I bake 6-9 at a time.
- Sprinkle with as much or as little sea salt as you like on top after you take them out of the oven.
- Cool on pan for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling.
- While the cookies cool, I prepare the butterscotch ganache.
Butterscotch Ganache
- In a heat safe bowl combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream.
- Microwave for 30 seconds then let it sit in the microwave for 30 seconds before taking it out.
- Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir until it is smooth and combined.
- These cookies can be enjoyed on their own, with butterscotch ganache drizzled on top, or even the tops of the cookie dipped in. YUM.
