Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

What is Butterscotch?

I’ve never really pondered that question until now, but what exactly is Butterscotch? I’ve never made butterscotch, so I couldn’t tell you how to make it. I mean, does it actually have scotch in it? I decided to find out the answer to that question.

According to my research, butterscotch is actually made by heating brown sugar, and butter. However, some recipes also call for the addition of vanilla, heavy cream, or eggs. So, I understand where the word butter comes from in butterscotch, but what about the scotch part? While I would love to tell you that it contains scotch, to my dismay, butterscotch does not contain scotch, or any alcohol for that matter. Sigh. Actually, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer on the scotch part. The one that sounds the most plausible to me is the meaning “to cut or score” for the word “scotch”, as the confection (a fancy word for a sweet candy or food) must be cut into pieces, or “scotched”, before hardening. Sounds legit to me.

Now did I go through this process to make these cookies, ummm no, but I thought you might like some rather useless information to add to your Rolodex. 😀

A Nice Versatile Cookie Recipe

So I originally found a recipe for a chew chocolate chip cookie, and decided to tweak it a bit just by adding butterscotch chips. As it turns out, that little tweak proved to be a win in our book. Also proving this to be a nice versatile cookie recipe. I’m thinking there are lots of options besides chocolate chips and butterscotch for add ins, such as M & M’s, white chocolate chips, toffee chips, caramel, peanut butter chips, Reese’s Pieces, raisins, cranberries, nuts…the possibilities are endless folks. Use your glorious imaginations!

Yield: approx 36 cookies

Ingredients

    3 cups (420g) flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
    1 teaspoon salt
    ½ cup (113g) butter (room temperature)
    ½ cup (113ml) oil (canola or vegetable)
    1 cup (170g) brown sugar
    1 cup (170g) white granulated sugar
    2 eggs
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
    1 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease cookie sheet(s) or line with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, oil, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended by hand or mixer.
4. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until light and creamy.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients until just blended. Do not over mix!
6. Gently stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Again, do not over mix.
7. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place on prepared cookie sheet. Press dough balls down slightly. This will encourage the cookie to spread.
8. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

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