Butterscotch Cookies

Name: Butterscotch Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 cup butter ((softened)); 8 ounces cream cheese; .75 cup sugar; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 2.25 cups flour ((sprouted spelt flour)); 1 teaspoon baking soda; .50 teaspoon salt; 3.4 ounces butterscotch pudding mix ((1 package)); 1 cup butterscotch chips ((1/2 cup to 1 cup - I enjoy it both ways)); .50 cup bittersweet chocolate chips ((for drizzle)); .50 cup white chocolate chips ((for drizzle)); 2 teaspoons butter ((divided))

Last updated on April 15, 2020. Originally posted on December 9, 2019 By Elaine 32 Comments

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Do yourself a favor and make this butterscotch cookies recipe. Not only does the butterscotch flavor burst in your mouth, but the cookies are soft, chewy and delicious. Add these to your holiday cookie tray and you are going to have very happy guests.

A pile of butterscotch cookies on a plate white plate with a few cookies on another plate behind it

When I visit relatives, they look expectantly at my hands when they greet me at their door. Why? Because I usually have a few bags of cookies clutched in them.

They want my cookies.

Yes, they also like when I visit because I’m an easy and fun guest, but they really love when I bring my cookies. And I’m okay with that.

Wait until you taste these delicious butterscotch cookies and you will see what I mean.

Other cookies that my family love to see me carrying are the pistachio, pumpkin and chocolate cream cheese cookies.

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Helpful tips

Take the butter out an hour before you start the cookies. To soften it more quickly, unwrap the butter, cut it into pats and drop them into your mixing bowl.
There is no need to take the cream cheese out to soften ahead of time, as it is already softened.
Be careful not to over mix the dough, you want the cookies to be soft and succulent.
I used two different sizes of cookie scoops to show you how they would look. See the photo below where I explain it.
I dribble both dark chocolate and white chocolate on some of the cookies because I think chocolate enhances everything, but alas, Christopher does not think so. That part of the recipe is optional. You choose.

Ingredients and substitutions

Butter – I only use butter, not margarine as I don’t trust the ingredients. And I use organic whenever I can get it.
Cream cheese – organic.
Sugar – Organic cane sugar but you can also use white or brown sugar.
Egg – organic large.
Flour – I usually use white flour in my cream cheese cookies but I didn’t have enough in the cupboard, so I used my trusty sprouted spelt flour instead.
Pudding mix – butterscotch flavored.
Baking powder – a rising agent.
Salt – helps flavor the cookie.
Butterscotch chips – This really enhances the flavor of the cookie.

How to make butterscotch cookies

Pre-step

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Get out your stand mixer, cookie sheets and cookie scoop.

Step one

Get the wet ingredients – cream cheese, butter, sugar and egg.

Cream cheese on a green plate, butter, sugar and an egg for the cookies

Step two

Place cream cheese, butter and sugar in the mixer bowl. (A)

Butter and cream cheese in a mixer and then mixed together

Step three

Turn the mixer on and combine the ingredients until creamy. (B)

Step four

Get the dry ingredients – butterscotch pudding mix, flour, baking soda and salt.

Jello pudding mix, flour, baking soda and salt on a table and then added to the mixer

Step five

Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl. (D)

Step six

Mix until combined and then stir in the butterscotch chips.

Cookie batter in a big glass bowl with a cookie sheet and scoop behind it

Step seven

Use a cookie scoop to form the batter into balls of dough and place them on the cookie sheets. (I used the medium scoop for these.)

Balls of butterscotch cookies batter on a cookie sheet with the glass bowl in the background

Step eight

Bake for 15 – 17 minutes. Remember all ovens are different, check after 15 minutes. The cookies should be a little brown around the edges and slightly soft to the touch.

Freshly baked cookies out of the oven and still on the cookie sheet

Step nine

Let the butterscotch cookies cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

Step ten

This next part is optional.

Melt some chocolate (I chose to use bittersweet and white chocolate) on the stove with a teaspoon of butter until smooth. Spoon the chocolate in a sandwich baggie, cut off a corner and squeeze the chocolate over as many cookies as you like.

A large piece of butterscotch cookies with chocolate drizzle on them

This next photo shows the results of the cookies with the two different scoops.

The front cookie was with the medium scoop.

The cookie in the back is with the small scoop.

And the right cookie is still with the small scoop but I leveled it off so it looks rounder. Which one will you make?

Three different sized cookies on a white plate with the big plate of cookies behind it

Which one would you eat first?

Three cookies on a plate, one plain, one with chocolate drizzle and one with white drizzle on it

Let’s see the overhead view.

Overhead view of the pile of plain, white and chocolate covered butterscotch cookies

I hope you enjoyed this butterscotch cookies recipe. It makes an outstanding cookie!

And as always, may all your dishes be delish.

If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love the know what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!