Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer or hand mixer
• •Two rimmed baking sheets
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Cookie scoop or tablespoon measure

Instructions

1. 1

   Cream the butter and sugars

   In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with both sugars using a stand mixer or hand mixer on medium speed. Continue for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture turns pale and fluffy, scraping down the sides twice. You're looking for a lightened color and a texture that holds soft peaks when you lift the beater. This aeration creates the cookie's tender crumb.

   Butter should yield easily to pressure but not be greasy or melted. Leave it on the counter for 45 minutes before baking.
2. 2

   Add eggs and vanilla

   Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until fully incorporated. The mixture may look slightly curdled after the first egg. Don't worry. Add the vanilla with the second egg and beat until the batter is smooth and glossy. This takes about 30 seconds of mixing.

3. 3

   Combine dry ingredients

   In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisking matters here. It distributes the leavening evenly so you don't get pockets of baking soda that taste metallic and bitter. Twenty seconds of whisking saves you from ruined cookies.

4. 4

   Mix the dough

   Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until the flour disappears. Stop the mixer immediately. Overworking develops gluten and produces tough cookies. A few visible streaks of flour are better than an overmixed dough.

5. 5

   Fold in oats and chips

   Add the oats and butterscotch chips all at once. Fold with a sturdy wooden spoon or rubber spatula, working from the bottom of the bowl upward. The dough will be thick and resist you. Keep folding until the oats and chips are evenly distributed, about 20 strokes. The final dough should look shaggy and substantial.

   Reserve a handful of butterscotch chips to press into the tops of the cookies before baking. It makes them look professional.
6. 6

   Rest the dough

   Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 72 hours. This rest hydrates the oats, allowing them to absorb moisture from the butter and eggs. Chilled dough also spreads less in the oven, producing thicker cookies with better texture. The flavor deepens the longer you wait.

   If you're impatient, 30 minutes works. But 24 hours in the refrigerator produces noticeably better cookies. Plan accordingly.
7. 7

   Prepare to bake

   Heat your oven to 350°F and position racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm for 5 minutes if it's very firm. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls, spacing them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.

8. 8

   Bake until golden

   Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through and swapping their positions between racks. The cookies are done when the edges turn golden brown but the centers still look slightly underdone and puffy. They'll firm up as they cool. Pull them a minute early rather than a minute late. Overbaked oatmeal cookies become dry and crumbly within hours.

9. 9

   Cool and store

   Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. This allows the interiors to set without carryover heat making them tough. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The butterscotch chips will still be molten at this point, so handle with care. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Chef Tips

• •Dark brown sugar contains more molasses than light brown, which deepens the toffee flavor and keeps the cookies chewy longer. Don't substitute light brown unless you have no choice.
• •Old-fashioned rolled oats are essential. Quick-cooking oats turn to mush and instant oats dissolve entirely. The thick flakes give structure and those satisfying chewy pockets.
• •Butterscotch chips vary wildly by brand. Guittard and Ghirardelli taste like actual butterscotch. Cheaper brands taste like sweetened wax. This is not the place to economize.
• •For bakery-style cookies, use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop and increase baking time by 2 minutes. Larger cookies stay chewy longer in the center.
• •These cookies freeze beautifully. Flash-freeze the unbaked dough balls on a sheet pan, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes to the time.

Advance Preparation

• •Dough can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours before baking, and the flavor improves with time.
• •Unbaked dough balls freeze for up to 3 months. Bake directly from frozen at 350°F for 13 to 15 minutes.
• •Baked cookies keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 50g)