These are the BEST butterscotch chocolate chip cookies! They’re crispy on the outside, gooey and chewy on the inside, and loaded with chocolate and butterscotch chips. I’ve also added chopped pecans and a bit of extra flaky sea salt salt to balance out the sweetness of the butterscotch…making these cookies absolute perfection.
What makes these cookies so good?
For starters, can we talk about how these cookies require ZERO time in the fridge? If you’ve baked one of my cookie recipes, then you know I’m a big fan of chilling cookie dough. But not this time! These cookies can be made in under an hour but taste like they’ve been chilling for days.
The flavors are super rich with the melted butter, cinnamon, extra salt, and pecans. It creates a savory element in an otherwise super sweet cookie. Butterscotch is very sweet, so using a few salty and warm ingredients really help to balance out the flavors.
Last but not least, the texture of these cookies is absolute perfection. The outside is nice and crispy while the inside and soft and gooey…everything a cookie should be! Top with a little extra flaky sea salt and you now have the BEST butterscotch chocolate chip cookies.
How to make the BEST butterscotch chocolate chip cookies
These cookies are made just like any other, by combining the wet ingredients and then mixing in all of the dry ingredients. But here are a few extra tips to ensure they turn out perfect:
- Measuring the flour – To make sure your cookies spread evenly when baked, you must use the correct amount of flour. When measuring, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a flat edge. Don’t shake it down into the cup or scoop directly into the bag, this will lead to way too much flour in the dough and your cookies will turn out pale and puffy rather than rich and chewy.
- Creaming the butter – When mixing the butter and sugar, you want to end up with a paste-like consistency (like the picture above). It will take a couple minutes of mixing on medium-high speed, but don’t cut this step too short. Otherwise your cookies will turn out too tough and grainy.
- Sugar – You can either use light or dark brown sugar in this recipe. I used light brown sugar here, but dark brown sugar will give you a bit more chew and richness.
- Size – These best size for these cookies is 2 tablespoons worth. Most standard cookie scoops are this exact size. To test, pour two tablespoons of water into your cookie scoop to see if it’s the right size. If not, you can scoop by hand using a tablespoon.
- Baking – These cookies only bake for 10-12 minutes. Pull them out of the oven when the edges are golden brown and the center still looks a bit pale and underdone. They will continue to bake outside of the oven, giving you a gooey center and chewy outside.
Mix-in options
A classic butterscotch chocolate chip cookie consists of just chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. But for my recipe, I opted to include chopped pecans as well. They help balance out the sweetness of the butterscotch and add a bit more body to these cookies. You can’t even taste them, but you can tell a difference when they’re not there.
If you LOVE the bold flavor of butterscotch, you can leave the pecans out. Otherwise, they work perfectly in these cookies.
Other options include dark chocolate chips, chopped toffee, macadamia nuts, or pressing pretzels into the tops after they’re baked.
Don’t forget the salt!
What sets these cookies over the edge is the bit of sea salt on top. It adds a savory element to these cookies and helps enhance all of the flavors.
Can I make these without the butterscotch chips?
Yes! This recipe would be absolutely delicious as just plain old chocolate chip cookies. Swap the butterscotch chips for more semisweet chips or dark chocolate chips and the pecans with chopped walnuts (or omit completely).
How to store leftover cookies
These cookies are best served warm (just like most cookies) but remain delicious at room temperature. Store any leftovers in an air tight container at room temp and they’ll keep for up to 4-5 days before going stale.
Can I freeze the dough?
Yes you can. Scoop the dough into individual balls and place onto a small tray or plate. Chill uncovered for about an hour, then toss the cookie dough balls into a freezer safe bag.
Store in the freezer for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to bake, remove as many cookie dough balls as you need and let them come up to room temperature (about 30-45 minutes). Then bake as instructed.
For more of the best cookie recipes, check out my:
- Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Ultimate Monster Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Maple Snickerdoodles
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram and leave a review below if you make these Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
Watch how to make these cookies:
PrintButterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 15 cookies
Description
These cookies are crispy on the outside, gooey and chewy on the inside, and loaded with butterscotch and chocolate chips. Pecans and flaky sea salt are added to balance out the sweetness, making them SO GOOD!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup (165g) all purpose flour *see notes
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (100g) light or dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup (75g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup (120g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup (90g) butterscotch chips
- 1/4 cup (25g) chopped pecans*
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the melted butter and sugars either by hand or using an electric mixer. Keep mixing on medium high speed until the mixture lightens and thickens (about 3 minutes, see picture in post for reference).
- Mix in the vanilla and egg until smooth.
- Dump in the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Fold in the chips and nuts using a rubber spatula.
- Scoop the cookies out on to the baking sheet, spacing them a few inches apart as they spread quite a bit. Use a regular cookie scoop (2 tablespoons) for the best results.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown and the center is pale and puffed. The cookies will continue to bake and settle once they’re out of the oven so it’s ok if they look a little underdone.
- Sprinkle with a little sea salt and transfer to a cooling rack. Let them cool for about 10 minutes then dig in!
Notes
FLOUR – To measure the flour, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with a flat edge. Don’t shake or press it down into the cup and don’t scoop directly from the flour bag. This will lead to too much flour in your cookies and they won’t spread nice and even.
NUTS – If you don’t like nuts, you can leave these out.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
Keywords: butterscotch chocolate chip cookies, butterscotch cookies, cookie recipes
Debbie says
The cookies were very good, but they spread out quite a bit, which makes them so thin. I used the right amount of flour and butter at correct temperature. I prefer my cookies thicker. Did I do something wrong?
★★★
Jenna says
Did you use Irish or European-style butter? A higher fat butter can lead to a thinner cookie. Otherwise, you can mix in a couple extra tablespoons of flour and/or chill the dough for a bit.
Jodi says
THE ALL TIME BEST COOKIES EVER!
I made them to share with my neighbors, but wound up eating 75% of them myself.
The flavors blend together to form a richness I’ve never had in any other cookie.
These will be my “go to” cookie from now on.
★★★★★
Andrew says
We love this recipe! Our kids aren’t big on the nuts, so we just add in an extra 1/4 cup of the butterscotch instead. They are delicious!!
★★★★★
Amanda says
They were great! I red the comment about them being thin so I chilled for 20 min, I Also ran out of butterscotch so I used peanut butter chips yum! Tomorrow I will make the butterscotch version
★★★★★
katie says
Amazing! My new favorite cookies to make and share, thank you!
Karen Gordon says
Wow. Amazing. Didn’t change a thing.
★★★★★
Mackenzie says
I have made dozens of chocolate chip cookies recipes in the hopes of finding my perfect cookie. While they might be good, they’re never exactly what I want in the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and many of them want you to chill the dough. This recipe is so easy to follow, so low maintenance, and I could tell from the dough before I even baked them that the cookies were going to be incredible. These are hands down the best cookies I’ve ever made. I’m not sure why they’re so good when the recipe is so easy, but I’m having trouble stopping myself from eating them. I made them exactly as directed, with butterscotch, chocolate, and pecans. The only substitution I made is to use chocolate chunks instead of chips as a personal preference. The flaky sea salt really just puts these over the edge. As soon as this batch runs out, I’m probably going to make them again. Thank you for this perfect recipe.
★★★★★
david says
These were terrific! Easy to make and great taste. Thanks so much
★★★★★
LaRee says
This is a truly fantastic cookie recipe! I’m baking my second batch in less than a week, and I’m baking after an exhausting day at work. This time I’m putting at least 6 of the cookies aside just for me! My guys gobble them up too fast. I can savor 6 cookies over that many days. 😋
★★★★★
Sara says
Perfection!
★★★★★
Liz says
A new cookie favorite! Do yourself a favor and make these asap. They were a huge hit for a party and will be making them again soon. Thank you!
★★★★★
Katerina says
My #1 go to for cookies!! Thank you for sharing your amazing recipe!
★★★★★
Heidi says
I’m not the best baker and fail at most recipes however I followed all the directions and this wound up being the best cookie recipe ever! These are absolutely delicious.
★★★★★
Brooke says
They’re absolutely perfect. I was hesitant as the flavour profile was a new one to me, but I love butterscotch. I only had milk chocolate and salted butter, but they turned out amazing nonetheless. I’m making them a second time in a week. The salt on top truly is the cherry on top. I couldn’t believe how it made the flavours pop. And I don’t typically like nuts in baked goods but I loved this with pecans.
★★★★★
Jasmine says
These were so easy to make and so delicious. Definitely our new favorite cookie. I followed the recipe almost exactly, only I used walnuts instead of pecans because that was all I had on hand. I also added two dashes of cayenne pepper. The cayenne added a very faint hint of spice which went really well with the sweet and salty combination.
Nina says
Delicious! I subbed with 60% dark chocolate chips to balance out the sweetness as I didn’t have pecans and I also used plant-based butter —it turned out amazing!! Crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. My dough was too sticky to shape into balls so I chilled it in the freezer for about 10 minutes to make them more manageable. Will try them with pecans next time and I also want to try them without the butterscotch and with walnuts as I’m sure they will be great!
★★★★★
Trudy Taylor says
The only thing I did different with this recipe was I used semi sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and butterscotch chips. They were absolutely delicious. I shared them with my two grown sons and my best friend and her husband. Everybody loves them so much and they went so quick, I’m going to make another batch ASAP. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’m obviously going to make these over and over again. Definitely the best cookie recipe I’ve come across ever.
★★★★★
Jenna says
Sounds delicious! Thank you!