Easy oatmeal scotchies recipe makes soft oatmeal cookies filled with warm spices and sweet butterscotch chips. These easy fall cookies are made in one bowl with no chilling and take just 25 minutes from start to finish.
If you’re ready for fall baking but want something besides apple or pumpkin, these oatmeal scotchies are an easy cookie to make. The soft oatmeal butterscotch cookies have warm spices and plenty of sweet butterscotch chips in every bite.
They’re also about as low-effort as homemade cookies get. The dough comes together in one bowl, there’s no chilling, and you can have a batch ready in just 25 minutes.
These childhood favorites are perfect for an easy after-school treat, for weekday baking, or for whenever you want warm fall flavors without turning baking into an afternoon project.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. If you’d like to use unsalted butter, increase the salt to 3/4 teaspoon.
- Flour: It’s important to properly measure the flour. I recommend weighing the dry ingredient for the most accurate measurements. If not, you can stir or sift the flour to break it up, lightly spoon it into the measuring up, and then level. Avoid packing the flour as that will give you dry or dense cookies.
- Oats: I’ve only used old-fashioned oats in this recipe and haven’t tried it using quick oats.
- Kosher salt: I like to use kosher salt in this recipe. The kosher salt gives the cookies more of a salty bite throughout the cookie. If you would prefer to use table salt, use half of the amount.
- Butterscotch morsels: Using butterscotch chips, instead of chocolate chips or another type of morsel, is what makes these cookies scotchies.
How to make oatmeal scotchies
Here you’ll find instructions and step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Step 2: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl, add butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
Step 3: Add eggs and vanilla. Beat again until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 4: Add oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat again until just combined.
Step 5: Stir in butterscotch chips.
Step 6: Drop 1 ½ tablespoons cookie dough per cookie, about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Step 7: Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool on the cookie sheets before removing to a wire rack.
Recipe Tips!
- Stand mixer: You can make this recipe using a hand mixer (electric mixer) and a large mixing bowl. I recommend stirring the dough by hand once you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients to avoid burning out your motor.
- Measure the flour mixture carefully: Too much flour is one of the easiest ways to end up with dry cookies. Weigh it if possible (click “metric” just above the ingredients for the weights), or spoon the flour lightly into your measuring cup and level it.
- Don’t overmix the dough: Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, mix only as much as needed to finish the dough.
- Make evenly sized cookies: A cookie scoop makes portioning faster and helps the cookies bake at the same rate.
- Don’t overbake them: For soft and chewy cookies, remove the cookies from the oven when they’re just slightly under baked as directed rather than waiting until they look completely firm.
- Let them finish setting on the baking sheet: Freshly baked cookies continue to set as they cool.
Variations
- Add chopped pecans or walnuts for crunch.
- Use dark brown sugar and add toffee bits for even more buttery, caramelized flavor.
- Sprinkle a little flaky salt over the cookies to contrast with the sweet butterscotch.
- Add chocolate chips alongside the butterscotch chips.
- Add dried cranberries or raisins for another fall variation.
How to freeze
These oatmeal scotchies are great for freezing so you can bake a few fresh cookies whenever you want them.
- Scoop the dough. Portion the cookie dough into balls just as you would if you were baking them right away.
- Flash freeze. Place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet or plate and freeze until firm.
- Transfer to a container. Place the frozen cookie dough balls in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag.
- Freeze. Store the cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Bake from frozen. There’s no need to thaw the cookie dough first. Place the frozen balls on the prepared baking sheet and bake as directed, adding about 3–4 minutes to the baking time.
Tip: Write the baking temperature and time directly on the freezer container. Then you can bake a few cookies whenever you want them without having to look up the recipe.
Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. The cookies will keep for about 3 days when properly stored.
More easy cookie recipes!
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Oatmeal Scotchies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.½ cup salted butter, 1 cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla. Beat again until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat again until just combined.2 cups old fashioned rolled oats, 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Stir in butterscotch chips.2 cups butterscotch chips
- Drop 1 ½ tablespoons cookie dough per cookie, about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet.
Notes
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. If you’d like to use unsalted butter, increase the salt to 3/4 teaspoon.
- Flour: It’s important to properly measure the flour. I recommend weighing the dry ingredient for the most accurate measurements. If not, you can stir or sift the flour to break it up, lightly spoon it into the measuring up, and then level. Avoid packing the flour as that will give you dry or dense cookies.
- Oats: I’ve only used old-fashioned oats in this recipe and haven’t tried it using quick oats.
- Kosher salt: I like to use kosher salt in this recipe. The kosher salt gives the cookies more of a salty bite throughout the cookie. If you would prefer to use table salt, use half of the amount.
- Butterscotch morsels: Using butterscotch chips, instead of chocolate chips or another type of morsel, is what makes these cookies scotchies.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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