Oatmeal Butterscotch Chews

These oatmeal cookies lean hard into the chewy side of the cookie spectrum. Quick-cooking oats, brown sugar, and maple syrup all work together to keep the centers soft and bendable, while milk chocolate chips and chopped toffee bars add pockets of melted sweetness and buttery crunch.

The short bake time is what keeps these chewy. Pulling them at 7 to 8 minutes means they’ll look slightly underdone on the sheet, but they firm up as they cool. If you wait until they look “done” in the oven, you’ll end up with crispy cookies instead.

Creaming the shortening with both sugars and the maple syrup until light and airy is a must. That trapped air creates a tender crumb. Add the flour mixture on low speed and stop as soon as it’s just combined. Overworking the dough develops gluten, which makes cookies tough rather than chewy.

Chef Tips

• Use quick-cooking oats, not old-fashioned rolled oats. The smaller flake absorbs moisture faster and creates a more uniform, chewy texture.
• Chill the dough for 20 minutes if it feels too soft to roll into balls. Warm dough spreads too thin in the oven.
• Line your baking sheet with parchment paper instead of greasing with shortening for easier cleanup and more even browning on the bottom.
• Let cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring. They’re fragile when hot.

Variations

• Swap milk chocolate chips for butterscotch chips to double down on the butterscotch theme.
• Add a pinch of flaky sea salt on top of each ball before baking to balance the sweetness.
• Use chopped pecans in place of the toffee bars for a more classic oatmeal cookie feel.