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!
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 these 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 this Butterscotch Brownie Recipe Step-by-Step:
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 the butterscotch sauce from my butterscotch cake 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 in almost any recipe. When browning butter, it’s important to note that you will lose a bit of volume as some of the water in the butter will evaporate. I’ve noted this in the recipe notes in the recipe card below. You generally 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 after the browning process, add a bit of water to make up the difference.
FAQs:
Yes, let them cool completely at room temperature, then cover tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Or, slice and store in an airtight container. Serve them the next day.
You certainly can! See recipe variations directly below.
They’re blonde brownies! Essentially, they’re dessert bars. Whether you want to call them blondies or brownies is up to you – some people say a traditional brownie has to have melted chocolate in it, which these don’t. But blondies are essentially brownies without the cocoa powder, so let’s not fret – just enjoy these delicious bars!
It’s not the same as caramel, but it does have a caramely flavor. It’s almost a mix between caramel and white chocolate. It’s unique and delicious!
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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Brown Butter Butterscotch Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1 and 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled 195 grams
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- 1 and 1/2 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a ceramic or metal 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang so you can lift the bars out for easy cutting and serving later.Â
- Brown the Butter: Â Add butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter, stirring occasionally. Once it's melted, turn the heat to medium-low, and continue cooking the butter, stirring frequently. The butter will get foamy and bubbly, then turn a deep golden shade with a nutty, caramely aroma. (This will take about 4-6 minutes once the butter has melted.) Pour into a 1-cup glass measuring cup, and if it's short of 1 cup, add a splash or two of water to make up the difference.
- Make the batter: Add butter to a large mixing bowl, making sure to scrape all the brown bits in – that's where all the flavor is! Whisk in the sugar, then the egg, egg yolk, & vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir until just combined. Add butterscotch chips and oats, and stir to distribute.
- Bake: Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 21 to 25 minutes. The edges of the bars will be raised and appear set, and the center will have a bit of a jiggle when you move the pan. This is the perfect time to take them out! A toothpick inserted in the center will have some moist blondie crumbs (not really crumbs, but not quite batter either) on it. Do not be tempted to over bake these!
- Serve + Store: Let cool completely before cutting if you want the squares to hold their shapes. If that doesn't matter, dig in after about 45-60 minutes. I like to lift the bars out of the pan after about an hour, using the parchment overhang. Let cool further on a wire rack. (If the bars seem like they're not going to hold up when you begin to lift them, let them cool in the pan longer.)Store cooled bars in an airtight container at room temp for 3-4 days.
Nutrition
Emma says
These are amazing!!!! My family devoured all of them the night I made them! Definitely adding these to my staple fall recipes
Stephanie Simmons says
I’m so glad to hear that, Emma! Happy baking.
Rachel says
Life-changing indeed!! These blondies are AH-mazing. Slightly crisp crunch in the exterior with a gooey soft butterscotchy center… plus they’ll make your kitchen smell amazing while you bake them 🙂
Stephanie Simmons says
Glad you loved these, Rachel! They’re one of my favorites ?