Chewy and packed with butterscotch chips, this sourdough oatmeal butterscotch cookies recipe is the perfect cure for any sweet tooth. Adding sourdough discard and old-fashioned oats creates chewy cookies with lightly crisp edges. The browned butter butterscotch chips give these cookies an indulgent creamy flavor and nuttiness. Eating just one won’t ever be enough!
Personally, I am a HUGE chocolate fan and I will almost always choose a dessert made with dark chocolate before trying anything else.
At one family gathering, my now husband convinced me to skip the chocolate desserts and try his uncle’s butterscotch oatmeal cookies. I was hooked! They were so good that we even asked his uncle to make them for our wedding reception.
Now, I wouldn’t dare ask for the recipe since he holds it pretty lock and key. But of course, I had to experiment and incorporate my own favorite ingredient – sourdough starter.
The end result was fabulous!
First off, the smell of the creamy butterscotch chips and a hint of cinnamon is heavenly. The taste is even better! The sourdough oatmeal cookies are like autumn in a cookie. But trust me, they are delicious all year round.
Baked until golden brown, the cookies have a delightful chew from the oats, but a slight crunch on the edges. They are everything you want from a freshly baked cookie and more.
Serve these sourdough oatmeal butterscotch cookies with a hot cup of coffee as an afternoon pick-me-up or with an ice-cold cup of milk for an after-dinner dessert.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
Delicious: Chocolate Chip Cookies will always be some of my favorite cookies, but when you are looking for a hint of variety, sourdough discard oatmeal cookies will surely cure any craving. The butterscotch flavor and browned butter give this chewy cookie an extra nutty and indulgent flavor. The perfect sweet and salty combo.
Simple to make: The hardest part of this recipe is waiting for the dough to chill before baking! But believe me, it is all worth it. Otherwise, this amazing recipe is simple to make. If you are using a stand mixer, this will be a quick one-bowl recipe.
No food waste: I’m always looking to incorporate some of my sourdough discard into any family favorite recipe, like my Sourdough Blueberry Buckle and Sourdough Crepes. The sourdough discard delays gluten development, creating a softer cookie. I love knowing that these sourdough discard recipes have some healthy fermentation. This means I can have two cookies now, right?
Ingredients:
Flour – Bread flour makes a more chewy cookie, but all-purpose is an excellent substitute.
Baking Soda – Make sure your baking soda hasn’t expired. Its shelf life is 6 months after opening. If it has expired, the cookies won’t have the proper rise.
Ground Cinnamon: Feel free to add more or less to your personal preferences.
Salt– Salt is essential in any sweet treat as it brings balance, yet exemplifies the sweetness! My favorite salt to use in all my baking and cooking is Redmond’s Unrefined Sea Salt for extra minerals.
Old-fashioned Rolled Oats – Skip using quick oats for this recipe. Old-fashioned rolled oats are a bit thicker, making for a chewier cookie. They will also soak up extra liquid from the cookie dough while chilling.
Unsalted butter – Many cookie recipes use unsalted butter to help control how much salt is added to a recipe. Each stick of butter has about 1/4 tsp of salt in it. Before mixing the cookie dough, we will brown the butter for a more rich and nutty flavor.
White Sugar
Dark Brown Sugar
Eggs – The eggs give a rich flavor to this cookie dough.
Vanilla Extract – Pure vanilla extract is best, but use what you have on hand.
Sourdough Starter – An active starter or sourdough discard can be used for this recipe. I suggest using sourdough discard for a deeper sourdough flavor. Ensure it is brought to room temperature before adding to the cookie dough.
Butterscotch Chips – Adds a creamy buttery flavor to this oatmeal cookie recipe. Or swap for your favorite mix-ins. I included some other ideas below!
Supplies:
Stand Mixer or a Hand Mixer
Parchment Paper
How to Make Sourdough Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies:
Pro-Tip: To ensure the most accurate end result in any baking recipe, I always recommend that you use a kitchen scale. It is such a cheap, but valuable investment. I’ve had this kitchen scale for years now and it does the trick!
Dry Ingredients:
In a large bowl, add flour, baking soda, salt, and old-fashioned rolled oats. Whisk until combined and set to the side.
Brown the Butter:
Melt two sticks of cold butter in a small pot on medium heat.
Once the butter has completely melted, it will begin to bubble. This is the water evaporating from the butter.
You will also notice a white layer on top of the butter. Continue to cook and stir the butter until this is completely gone.
Cook the melted butter until it is auburn in color, with brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
Pour the browned butter into a separate bowl and cool for at least 30 minutes before mixing into the cookie dough.
Wet Ingredients:
Pro-Tip: Bring your sourdough discard and eggs to room temperature before mixing them with the browned butter. Cold ingredients could cause the butter to crack and we don’t want that. Place eggs in a small bowl of warm water for 10-15 minutes.
Pour browned butter, white sugar, and brown sugar into a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on low until all of the clumps are gone.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix on low. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Add the vanilla extract and mix until just incorporated.
Fold in the sourdough discard.
Make the Cookie Dough:
Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, about 1/3 of the bowl at a time – mix on low. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl and be sure to get the bottom of the bowl, as well. Stop mixing once all the flour has been incorporated.
Lastly, stir in the butterscotch chips with a wooden spoon.
Shape the Cookies:
Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop out enough cookie dough to form 1″ balls. This recipe makes 24 cookies.
Cover the cookie sheet with a lid or plastic wrap. Chill the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours (24 hours is best). This is to ensure that the cookies won’t become flat while baking.
Bake:
Preheat the oven temperature to 375 degrees f.
Before baking, flatten the dough balls just a bit. This will ensure even baking.
Bake the sourdough oatmeal butterscotch cookies for 18-20 minutes, or until the edges are just turning golden brown.
Keep the cookies on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and continue to cool on a wire rack.
How to Serve Sourdough Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies:
The sweetness from these sourdough oatmeal butterscotch cookies is beautifully complimented with an iced cup of cold milk or with a hot cup of coffee.
To make this sweet treat even more indulgent, serve with a scoop of your favorite ice cream. Better yet, make it into a cookie sandwich. What a fantastic summer treat for the whole family!
How to Store:
Once the cookies have completely cooled, store them in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Display them proudly in your favorite cookie jar! But don’t be surprised if they don’t last very long.
How to Freeze:
You can freeze oatmeal scotchies two different ways – as cookie dough or baked. For this reason, I love making a double batch so my family can enjoy some fresh, while also having extras for later!,
To freeze the cookie dough, shape the raw dough into 1″ size balls, place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and flash freeze. Once solid, store the frozen scoops of cookie dough in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Bake the frozen cookies as instructed in the recipe, but add 2 extra minutes to the baking time.
To freeze baked cookies, store them in a freezer-safe bag. Remove any excess air and date and label before placing them in the freezer. Remove them from the freezer and bring them to room temperature before enjoying.
FAQs:
What kind of sourdough starter should I use for Sourdough Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies?
You can use either an active starter or sourdough discard for this recipe.
Using sourdough discard will give you a deeper flavor of sourdough. Plus, you will only need to chill the cookie dough for at least 2 hours (though I recommend 24 hours).
If you prefer to allow the cookie dough to have a long fermentation, then use an active sourdough starter and chill the cookie dough for 24 hours.
What kind of flour should I use for Sourdough Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies?
Bread flour is known for having a higher-gluten content than all-purpose flour. This creates a more chewy cookie, however, if you don’t have bread flour, all-purpose is an excellent substitute.
What kind of oats should I use for Sourdough Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies?
Skip the quick oats for this recipe. Old-fashioned rolled oats are a bit thicker, making a chewier cookie. They will also soak up extra liquid from the cookie dough while chilling.
Can I add different mix-ins besides butterscotch chips?
Absolutely! This recipe is a great base for your perfect cookie, like chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, oatmeal walnut cookies, or oatmeal raisin cookies!
Here are a few different flavors you can try:
- dark chocolate chips
- white chocolate chips
- cinnamon chips
- raisins
- walnuts
- or nothing at all for classic oatmeal cookies!
Happy baking!
More Recipes Like This:
Sourdough Banana Bars with Vanilla Glaze
Sourdough Blueberry Buckle
Sourdough Crepes Made With Sourdough Discard
Sourdough Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies Recipe
Yield: 24
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Additional Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
Chewy and packed with butterscotch chips, this sourdough oatmeal butterscotch cookies recipe is the perfect cure for any sweet tooth. Adding sourdough discard and old-fashioned oats creates chewy cookies with lightly crisp edges. The browned butter butterscotch chips give these cookies an indulgent creamy flavor and nuttiness. Eating just one won't ever be enough!
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour, bread flour or all-purpose (280g)
- 1 stp cinnamon (3g)
- 1 tsp salt (8g)
- 1 tsp baking soda (6g)
- 3 cups old-fashion rolled oats, uncooked
- 1 cup butter, browned (180g)
- 3/4 cup white sugar (170g)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (180g)
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter (125g)
- 1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
Instructions
Pro-Tip: To ensure the most accurate end result in any baking recipe, I always recommend that you use a kitchen scale. It is such a cheap, but valuable investment. I've had this kitchen scale for years now and it does the trick!
Dry Ingredients:
- In a large bowl, add flour, baking soda, salt, and old-fashioned rolled oats. Whisk until combined and set to the side.
Brown the Butter:
- Melt two sticks of cold butter in a small pot on medium heat.
- Once the butter has completely melted, it will begin to bubble. This is the water evaporating from the butter.
- You will also notice a white layer on top of the butter. Continue to cook and stir the butter until this is completely gone.
- Cook the melted butter until it is auburn in color, with brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Pour the browned butter into a separate bowl and cool for at least 30 minutes before mixing into the cookie dough.
Wet Ingredients:
Pro-Tip: Bring your sourdough discard and eggs to room temperature before mixing them with the browned butter. Cold ingredients could cause the butter to crack and we don't want that. Place eggs in a small bowl of warm water for 10-15 minutes.
- Pour browned butter, white sugar, and brown sugar into a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on low until all of the clumps are gone.
- Add egg one at a time and mix on low. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix until just incorporated.
- Fold in the sourdough discard.
Make the Cookie Dough:
- Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, about 1/3 of the bowl at a time - mix on low. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl and be sure to get the bottom of the bowl, as well. Stop mixing once all the flour has been incorporated.
- Lastly, stir in the butterscotch chips with a wooden spoon.
Shape the Cookies:
- Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop out enough cookie dough to form 1" balls. This recipe makes 24 cookies.
- Cover the cookie sheet with a lid or plastic wrap. Chill the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours (24 hours is best). This is to ensure that the cookies won't become flat while baking.
Bake:
- Preheat the oven temperature to 375 degrees f.
- Before baking, flatten the dough balls just a bit. This will ensure even baking.
- Bake the sourdough oatmeal butterscotch cookies for 13-15 minutes, or until the edges are just turning golden brown.
- Keep the cookies on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and continue to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
How to Store:
Once the cookies have completely cooled, store them in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Display them proudly in your favorite cookie jar! But don't be surprised if they don't last very long.
How to Freeze:
You can freeze oatmeal scotchies two different ways - as cookie dough or baked. For this reason, I love making a double batch so my family can enjoy some fresh, while also having extras for later!
To freeze the cookie dough, shape the raw dough into 1" size balls, place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and flash freeze. Once solid, store the frozen scoops of cookie dough in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Bake the frozen cookies as instructed in the recipe, but add 2 extra minutes to the baking time.
To freeze baked cookies, store them in a freezer-safe bag. Remove any excess air and date and label before placing them in the freezer. Remove them from the freezer and bring them to room temperature before enjoying.
Here are a few different flavors you can try:
- dark chocolate chips
- white chocolate chips
- cinnamon chips
- raisins
- walnuts
- or nothing at all for classic oatmeal cookies!
Did you make this recipe?
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