Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 34 min
Ingredients: 16 tablespoons butter (unsalted, cold); 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 3/4 cup brown sugar; 2 eggs; 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 tsp kosher salt; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/4 tsp baking powder; 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips; 1/2 cup butterscotch chips; Pinch flaky sea salt (optional)

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These easy homemade Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies are melt-in-your-mouth good! With buttery, crispy edges, a fudgy chewy middle and all the flavors of rich chocolate and sweet butterscotch, these decadent cookies are simply irresistible!

Butterscotch cookies with a bite taken out of it.

Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Cookies

Every once in a while you run across a recipe that checks all the boxes for the perfect cookie. That’s exactly how we feel about these incredible butterscotch cookies.

With crispy edges, a drool-worthy chewy center and the sweet combination of butterscotch and chocolate in every bite, they never last long in our house! The addition of flaky sea salt adds the perfect hint of saltiness, balancing out the sweetness of the butterscotch. Cookies seriously don’t get much better than this!

If you love cookies, you’ll also want to try these easy Butterbeer Cookies, decadent S’mores Cookies or these White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies.

Butterscotch chocolate chip cookie broken apart

Why We Love This Recipe

Delicious flavors: Each cookie is packed full of chocolatey, butterscotch flavors that will leave you wanting more.
Irresistible texture: The rustic texture makes the cookies look as good as they taste (almost).
From-scratch recipe: Nothing beats the taste of made-from-scratch cookies, especially when they’re this easy!

Ingredients

Unsalted butter, cold
Granulated sugar
Light brown sugar
Eggs
Vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
Kosher salt
Baking soda
Baking powder
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Butterscotch chips
Pinch of flaky sea salt (optional)

How To Make Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut cold butter into cubes and place in a stand mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment, beat butter for 30 seconds to get it started.

Step 2. Add the brown sugar and granulated white sugar, mixing until just combined. The butter and sugars should look like large pebbles.

A mixing bowl filled with ingredients for a cookie recipe.

A mixing bowl full of ingredients for cookies

Step 3. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat for about 5 minutes on medium speed.

Step 4. Mix until smooth. Be sure to stop every minute or so to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

A mixing bowl with ingredients for butterscotch chocolate chip cookies

A bowl full of ingredients for a cookie batter.

Step 5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ones.

Step 6. Mix on low speed until just combined. At this point you’ll still see a little powder from the dry ingredients.

Step 7. Fold in the semisweet chocolate chips and butterscotch morsels.

Step 8. Mix until you no longer see pockets of dry ingredients. This shouldn’t take more than a minute. Do not over-mix. The dough doesn’t need to be smooth and should still have some texture.

Butterscotch chocolate chip cookie dough in a mixing bowl.

Step 9. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out 2 cookie dough balls, then combine them to form a ball without rolling them together. They don’t need to be smooth because you want to keep the texture as is. Place on a small prepared baking sheet.

Step 10. Continue until you’ve used all the dough and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

A person using a cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough onto a baking sheet.

Chocolate chip butterscotch cookies on a baking sheet.

Step 11. Transfer cookie dough balls onto a large cookie sheet if needed. Be sure to place them 2 inches apart to give them time to spread while baking.

Step 12. Sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt on top (optional) and place in the oven for 14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Chocolate chip butterscotch cookies on a cooling rack.

Storing Leftover Cookies

Baked cookies: Leftover cookies, if you’re lucky enough to have any, can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen in an freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Cookie dough: Unbaked dough balls can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. To freeze, just place dough balls into freezer bags (and be sure to write the date of when they were originally made).
Baking: You can bake the cookie balls while still frozen but you’ll want to adjust the time. Typically adding two minutes to the original bake time is enough. Check them at the original bake time and if they look underbaked, add 1-2 mins at a time until the edges are slightly golden brown.

Butterscotch chocolate chip cookies on a cooling rack.

Variations and Add-ins

Chocolate chips: Swap the semi-sweet chips with milk chocolate, white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips.
Nuts: Chopped pecans or walnuts can add delicious crunch without significantly changing the texture of the cookies.
Toffee bits: Adding toffee bits will add even more buttery flavor to the dough.
Dried fruit: Feel free to fold in diced dried apricots, cranberries, or raisins for a bit of added chewiness.
Cinnamon: Especially during the winter months, a touch of ground cinnamon adds a warm flavor that complements the butterscotch perfectly.
Coconut flakes: You can add about 1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes. Any more than that could change the texture of the cookies.

A stack of chocolate chip butterscotch cookies on a cooling rack.

Top Tips

These make 12 large cookies because each cookie uses 2 scoops of dough. You can get 24 regular-size cookies by just using 1 scoop per cookie. Just reduce the baking time accordingly.
Hot cookies will be tender and will easily break. For that reason let them sit on the pan for about 5 minutes, then you can transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Because we finish these cookies with sea salt, you’ll want to use unsalted butter to make the dough. If you use salted butter, you’ll want to skip adding the sea salt to the tops.

Butterscotch chocolate chip cookie with a bite taken out of them.

Recipe FAQs

Why does my dough seem dry or crumbly?

If the dough appears too dry it’s usually because you added too much flour. Make sure you use level measures when adding ingredients. To fix the dough, try adding a tablespoon of milk until the consistency looks like the image above.

What causes uneven baking?

Some ovens tend to bake hotter on one side compared to the other. If you have this issue, just move the cookie sheet to a higher or lower rack halfway through baking.

How do I know when the cookies are done baking?

The edges should be golden, and the centers should look set but not as brown as the edges. The cookies will continue to bake for another minute or so on the cookie sheet after they are out of the oven.

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