Happy Mother’s Day moms! To mark the occasion, I am posting something I used to bake with my mom when I was a kid. (I’m pretty sure cookies were the first thing she taught me to make. Priorities, right?) This was my favorite childhood cookie, and if you haven’t had one before, I implore you to go make these immediately. I’ve grown them up a bit, increasing the cinnamon, adding oat flour, and decreasing the sugar just a teensy bit. Now this might be contentious, but I actually prefer these on day two. (Not that I won’t eat one warm out of the oven of course, I’m not a psycho). But when I lift the lid of my cookie container and get a sniff of concentrated butterscotchy nostalgia, it’s even better than freshly baked. Plus, the overnight rest makes them a little chewier, and the flavor comes out just a tad more. So do try one straight off the cookie sheet, but if you plan to share with a crowd, please hide a few for yourself for tomorrow.

Testing this recipe brought up the question: To chill or not to chill? I generally shy away from cookie recipes that require you to chill the dough before baking, as I prefer the fastest route from raw dough to edible confection. The original recipe, found on the back of the Tollhouse chips bag, does not mention chilling, but some versions I found online suggested up to 1 hour in the fridge before rolling and baking. I tried these a few different ways. The first batch I didn’t chill at all, and the cookies spread quite a bit and cooked unevenly-dark edges and mushy centers. They were pretty tasty, but unattractive. For the second batch I tried chilling the dough for 10 minutes, and while the cookies didn’t spread as much, they still weren’t pretty: lumpy and uneven. Now that won’t stop me from enjoying a perfectly delicious cookie, but I figured I should keep trying. The third method did the trick, and is the one I describe in this recipe. I rolled the not-chilled dough into balls, pressed down very lightly with my fingertips to try to encourage more even spreading, and chilled the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before baking. Ahah! Success. Even cooking, chewy throughout, and no wonky shapes.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Recipe by Too Many Spoons

Servings

Cost

Total time

minutes

As with most of the baked goods you’ll find here, feel free to use all white flour if that’s what you have. I prefer baking with some whole grains, but it’s not required.

Ingredients

1/3 cup white flour
1/3 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375, and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper (one is fine too, but you’ll need it 3 times).
In a small bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
In a stand mixer (or in a medium bowl with a handheld mixer) beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture, and beat until the streaks of egg disappear. The dough will look quite wet.
With the mixer running on medium-low, gradually add the sifted ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
Add the oats, butterscotch chips, and any optional nuts, and mix into the dough with a spoon.
Scoop the dough into tablespoon size portions, roll into balls with your hands, and place them on a baking sheet 2-3 inches apart. You’ll get about 8 per sheet. Press the tops down very lightly with your fingertips, just to flatten a little.
Place the baking sheet in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes, then remove and bake for 10-12 minutes. You want the cookies to be light golden brown and still a little soft, but not shiny. (If you’re a crispy cookie kind of person, then keep baking. I am team chewy).
Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat until you run out of dough.