Here’s a delicious, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth Butterscotch Shortbread Cookies recipe — rich, simple, and perfect with coffee or tea!
🍪 Butterscotch Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients (Makes ~20–24 cookies)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾–1 cup butterscotch chips, chopped into small pieces (for better distribution)
Instructions
1. Cream the Butter & Sugar
- In a mixing bowl, beat softened butter and brown sugar until light and creamy (about 2–3 minutes).
- Add vanilla and mix.
2. Add Dry Ingredients
- Mix in flour and salt until a dough forms.
Shortbread dough will look crumbly at first — keep mixing until it comes together.
3. Add Butterscotch
- Fold in the chopped butterscotch chips.
(Chopping them helps prevent big hard chunks.)
4. Shape the Dough
Option 1 — Slice-and-Bake:
- Form dough into a log (about 2 inches thick).
- Wrap in plastic and chill 30–45 minutes.
- Slice into ½-inch rounds.
Option 2 — Cut-Outs:
- Roll dough ½-inch thick.
- Cut into rounds or squares.
Option 3 — Drop Cookies:
- Scoop dough into small balls and press lightly.
5. Bake
- Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C).
- Place cookies on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake 12–15 minutes, until edges are lightly golden.
(Shortbread should stay pale.)
6. Cool
Let cookies cool completely — they firm up as they cool.
⭐ Tips
- For extra flavor, brown the butter first and let it solidify before creaming.
- Add ¼ tsp butterscotch or caramel extract for deeper flavor.
- A drizzle of melted butterscotch on top makes them bakery-perfect.
- Add a pinch of flaky salt on top right after baking for sweet-salty goodness.
If you want, I can turn this into:
✨ A no-chill version
✨ A brown butter version
✨ A soft (non-shortbread) cookie version
✨ A recipe card you can save or print!
