brown butter butterscotch brownies

Butterscotch Brownies are packed with flavor and come together in under 1 hour from start to finish! Brown butter and butterscotch chips compliment each other perfectly in these easy bars. These blondie bars are crisp on top, with a perfectly chewy texture inside, and taste like oatmeal scotchies in bar form!

this recipe

Published March 2019. Updated September 2023.

If you love Oatmeal Scotchies (Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies), you’ll adore these Butterscotch Blondies! They taste just like the cookie, but without any of the dough chilling or portioning out dough. Basically, they’re the best friend of anyone with a lazy sweet tooth, heh. Let’s dive into this chewy butterscotch brownies recipe!

Why you’ll love Butterscotch Brownies:

• Easy Dessert Bars – You can mix up these butterscotch bars in just 10 minutes, and they bake in under 30! Even the most beginner of bakers can impress with this easy recipe. They’ll quickly become one of your favorite desserts – they’re one of my favorite recipes to whip up for a gathering at the last minute!
• Brown Butter – Browning the butter takes just 5 minutes, but adds TONS of flavor to these bars. Since you have to melt the butter anyways, it’s a no brainer!
• Butterscotch Flavor – It may not seem like much, but butterscotch chips add a ton of flavor to these butterscotch blondies! These bars are perfect for butterscotch lovers.

Ingredient Overview:

As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found at the bottom of this post.

• Butter – I always use salted buter for the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer.
• All-purpose flour – Spoon your flour into the measuring cup, then level it with a flat utensil for best results, or use a scale. Scooping the measuring cup directly into your flour will lead to too much flour, and a potentially dry bake.
• Oats – Use old-fashioned, whole rolled oats.
• Butterscotch Chips – Use any brand of butterscotch chips (or butterscotch morsels) you like. I personally like the Hershey’s brand best, but they’re not as easy to find as the Nestle. Trader Joe’s also has caramel baking chips in the fall that have a caramely, butterscotch flavor that would be amazing here!
• Eggs – Use large eggs.
• Vanilla Extract – Use real vanilla for the best flavor.

Ingredient Substitutions:

• Dairy-free – Use your favorite dairy-free butter to make this recipe dairy-free.
• Gluten-free – I have not tested a gluten-free version of this recipe. Let me know if you do try it!
• Dark Brown Sugar – Try dark brown sugar if you like the deeper flavor it gives.

How to Make Butterscotch Brownies:

Step 1: Brown the Butter. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Then, continue cooking it, stirring occasionally, until it’s deeply golden brown with a rich, nutty aroma.

Step 2: Mix Wet Ingredients & Dry Ingredients. Whisk the melted butter and sugars together in a large bowl, then whisk in the egg and egg yolk, and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Step 3: Add Butterscotch Chips & Oats. Stir in the butterscotch chips and whole rolled oats (I like to switch to a wooden spoon here). The mixture will be fairly wet – that’s normal!

Step 4: Press into Pan. Press blondie batter into a lined 9×9 baking dish and sprinkle some extra butterscotch chips and oats on top, to make the bars look pretty.

Step 5: Bake Bars. Heat oven to 350, and bake this sweet treat as directed in the recipe card below, taking care not to over bake! The bars will have a slight jiggle in the center when done – this is the correct time to take them out.

Serving + Storing this Butterscotch Blondies Recipe:

Let bars cool in the pan for 30-60 minutes, then use the parchment overhang to lift the chewy bars onto a cooling rack (test this gently at first, if they seem like they’ll crack, let them rest in the pan longer). If you don’t care about neat slices, dig in! Otherwise, let cool completely or almost completely before slicing and enjoying.

If you want to take these to another level, serve with a drizzle of Salted Butterscotch Sauce or a scoop of vanilla ice cream – or both! However you serve them, these are guaranteed to be the best butterscotch blondies you’ll ever sink teeth into.

Expert Success Tips for Butterscotch Brownies:

• Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
• Kitchen Scale – A food scale is the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized.
• Brown Butter – Don’t forget to add 1 extra tablespoon of butter for each 1/2 cup when browning it. This accounts for the fact that some water will evaporate from the butter while you brown it, leaving you with less butter than you started with.
• Butterscotch Morsels – Reserve a handful from the cup of butterscotch chips to sprinkle on the top of the bars for a prettier look! Or use the full cup and add extra on top, my personal preference. 🙂

What is Brown Butter?

Browned butter is butter that has been heated, or cooked, in a skillet on the stovetop for a few minutes. This process toasts the milk solids in butter, giving the butter a nutty, caramel flavor that is absolutely delicious any recipe.

Note that you’ll lose a bit of volume during the process, as some of the water in the butter will evaporate. You’ll want to add 1 tbsp of butter for each 1/2 cup before browning, to make up for the bit that is lost.

You may also want to measure the butter after browning and see how much you have left, as various recipes may call for different amounts of brown butter. If you’re short, add a bit of water to the cooled butter (this is very important – if you add water to the hot brown butter, you’ll create a butter volcano!) to make up the difference.

FAQs:

Recipe Variations:

• Caramel Chips – If you can get your hands on some caramel chips, they’re delicious in these bars!
• Chocolate Chips – If you want a classic blondie, try semi-sweet chocolate chips. They also work in a pinch if you can’t find butterscotch.
• White Chocolate Chips – Try white chocolate chips if you’re a white chocolate lover!

Special Tools:

Affiliate links.

• 9×9 Pan – I use a ceramic 9×9 baking pan for all my brownie and bar recipes, including these butterscotch brownies. The exact one I have is from Crate & Barrel and is a bit old, but here’s a similar one!

More Easy Bar Cookies to Love:

• Biscoff Stuffed Blondies
• Chai Spiced Snickerdoodle Bars
• Gooey Caramel S’mores Bars
• Nutella Caramel Swirled Blondies
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Bars

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