These butterscotch sugar cookies recipe make the most perfectly soft, buttery and crumbly cookies filled with delicious butterscotch chips and toasted pecan nuts.
The cookies are easy to make, and I baked them into thick round discs. They have the most perfect, buttery crumbs and make perfect cookies for holidays, as gifts or even as everyday treats.
I used all purpose flour for the recipe and added baking powder as the leavening agent. It was not too much so the baked cookies were only slightly puffed from their original size. That was good for these butterscotch sugar cookies because the way I shaped them, I really wanted the shape to hold after baking (more on how I shaped the cookies below).
The texture of this cookie dough is soft but not sticky. It is a little too soft to be rolled and cut with cookie cutters but was definitely perfect to be shaped by hand.
For the sugar, I used soft brown sugar, and it was only half the measurement of the flour. I did not want to add anything more to the cookies as the butterscotch chips were also sweet and did not want the cookies to be overly sweet.
Butter was also slightly lesser compared to the flour. This is pretty normal for most cookies as we do not want the cookie dough to be too soft to be shaped. I used salted butter, but if you prefer to use unsalted butter, increase the amount of salt in the recipe slightly more.
The pecan nuts I had were whole unroasted ones, so I chopped them into large chunks (into halves and thirds) and dry roasted them for a few minutes. I let them cool down before adding them to the butterscotch sugar cookie dough.
Table of contents
How to Make
Ingredients
- All purpose flour + baking powder + salt
- Butter
- Soft brown sugar
- Egg yolk
- Vanilla essence
- Chopped pecan nuts
- Butterscotch chips
Mixing the dough
If you are using whole unroasted pecan nuts, you will need to chop them into small pieces and dry roast them in a pan over low heat. Keep the heat low and keep stirring the nuts to avoid them from browning too much. Remove the nuts from the heat when they are have browned lightly and set them aside to cool down completely.
- To mix the cookie dough, start by creaming the butter and brown sugar. Do not overbeat, suffice if the mixture appears creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the egg yolk and vanilla essence and continue beating until all traces of the egg and vanilla are no longer visible.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt into the creamed mixture.
- Mix until the dough comes together.
- Add in the butterscotch chips and chopped pecans and mix until they are well incorporated.
Shaping the cookies
- Scoop the dough into 1 tablespoons sizes. I used my measuring spoon to scoop the dough so that my cookies are of consistent size, but you can also do it free form by pinching the dough via estimation. Shape the cookie dough into round balls.
- Drop the balls into a round cookie cutter.
- And flatten them with your fingers.
- Carefully remove the cookies from the round cutters by pushing them out gently with your thumb or the ends of a small rolling pin.
- Place the cookies onto a lined baking tray, and position them slightly apart from one another. The cookies do not spread during baking and they only puff up very slightly.
- Bake the cookies at 160°Celsius for 15 minutes. The cookies will turn golden brown on the sides and edges when done.
- Remove the butterscotch brown sugar cookies from the oven and let them rest on the tray for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store the butterscotch chips cookies in an airtight container. This recipe makes about 35 butterscotch sugar cookies.
Notes
Can you adjust the amount of butterscotch chips and pecan nuts in this recipe?
- Yes, you can.
- While reducing the butterscotch chips and pecan nuts in the recipe is perfectly fine, do note that increasing too much might render it hard to shape the cookies. You will need sufficient dough to hold these chips and nuts together, so if you add too much, the cookie dough might not be sufficient to hold them together to form into the round cookies.
Can you make the cookies without brown sugar?
- Yes, you can.
- Replace the brown sugar with the same amount of granulated sugar.
How long do the cookies last?
- These butterscotch sugar cookies can last for a good 2 to 3 weeks, provided they are kept in an airtight container. This will ensure they remain crumbly and the nuts remain crunchy.
Can you omit the pecan nuts in the recipe?
- Yes, you can. You can totally omit them or you can replace them with any other nuts you like.
Like this recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out
- Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Cookies
- Lemon Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Daisy Cookies - Pretty Flower Cookies with Royal Icing
- Almond Oatmeal Cookies - Soft and Chewy Cookies
- 75th Birthday Cake Idea for Dad
- Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies - Mini & Bite-Sized
- All Butter Shortbread Bars
Recipe (Printable)
Here is the full printable version of my easy homemade butterscotch sugar cookies recipe:
Butterscotch Sugar Cookies with Pecans
Ingredients
- 200 g plain flour
- 150 g butter
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 100 g soft brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 100 g chopped pecan nuts toasted
- 100 g butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°Celsius. Line baking trays with baking paper.
- Sift flour and baking powder and leave aside.
- In a clean bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until creamy.
- Add the egg yolk and vanilla essence and continue beating until the mixture is well incorporated.
- Next, add the sifted flour, a little at a time. Mix until the dough comes together.
- Add in the butterscotch chips and toasted pecan nuts and mix until they are well distributed in the cookie dough.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into round balls.
- Flatten the balls with fingers and place them on the lined baking trays. For perfectly round cookies, drop each cookie dough ball into a round cookie cutter and flatten the dough with your fingers or the end of a small rolling pin. Carefully and gently push the dough out of the cutter onto the lined baking trays.
- Place the cookies slightly apart from one another.
- Bake the butterscotch sugar cookies for about 15 minutes at 150°Celsius, until they have turned golden brown.
- Remove cookies from oven and let them cool on the baking tray for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container.
Nutrition
And that's my easy and yummy butterscotch sugar cookies recipe for you.
Enjoy!
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