Best Butterscotch Cookies
Submitted by tac
Chewy butterscotch cookies with dark brown sugar, chopped walnuts, and a melted caramel-cream drizzle. Each cookie crowned with a walnut half and baked low and slow.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
30 minREADY
40 minDark brown sugar is the engine behind these butterscotch cookies. A full cup and a half of it beaten with salted butter creates that deep, toffee-like flavor that no amount of butterscotch chips or extract could replicate. The molasses in dark brown sugar caramelizes during the low, slow bake, giving each cookie a rich amber color and a chewy, almost candy-like center.
Baking at a lower temperature for 25 minutes instead of a hot, quick bake is the move that makes these special. The gentle heat lets the cookies spread slowly and develop a crisp edge while the center stays soft and slightly underdone. A whole walnut half pressed into each cookie before baking adds a bakery-worthy look and a satisfying crunch in the first bite.
The caramel cream drizzle is the finishing touch. Melted candy caramels loosened with heavy cream create a glossy, sticky glaze that sets just firm enough to handle but stays soft to the bite.
Pro Tips
- Don’t overmix after adding the flour. Mix on low just until combined. Overworking the dough develops gluten and turns chewy cookies into tough ones.
- The dough will be soft and sticky. That’s correct. Resist the urge to add more flour.
- Pull the cookies when the edges just barely start to brown. The centers will look underdone, but they firm up as they cool on the flat surface.
- Let the cookies cool completely before drizzling with the caramel glaze. Warm cookies melt the glaze into a puddle instead of a clean drizzle.
Variations
- Pecan version: Swap walnuts for pecans, both chopped in the dough and halves on top, for a sweeter, butterier nut flavor.
- Sea salt finish: Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the caramel drizzle before it sets for a salted caramel twist.
- Chocolate drizzle: Add a second drizzle of melted dark chocolate alongside the caramel for a more dramatic presentation.
Ingredients
Directions
Cookies: preheat oven to 300.
In medium bowl, using a whisk, mix together flour, soda and salt.
Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter.
Mix to form grainy paste. Scrape down sides of bowl when necessary.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat on medium until soft and lumpy.
Add flour mixture and chopped walnuts and mix on low just until combined.
Do not overmix.
Drip cookie dough by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Place 1 whole walnut half in center of each cookie.
Bake 25 minutes or until cookies begin to turn brown at the edges.
Transfer to a cool, flat surface.
Glaze: melt caramels with cream in small saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth then remove from heat.
Drizzle cooled cookies with glaze in interesting patterns.
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