Have a love affair with these satisfyingly sweet Gluten Free Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies. They’re pretty much the best cookie around town.
So Ben and I don’t drink alcohol. Never have and I’m not planning on it anytime soon. Yes, there are religious reasons why I choose not to drink, but I also think it smells really weird. Although I’m up for trying new flavors in a variety of dishes, I’m really picky about smells and food. If it smells awful, it ain’t going in my mouth!
But that’s besides the point. There are days when I think, “A glass of wine might be nice…”
You know those days? Those days where everything goes wrong at work, or your kids are being particularly crazy, or you are running late to everything you have planned in the day, or for some reason you have a dull headache that just won’t go away??? The list could go on and on.
On those days I think, “WHY don’t I drink???!” Haha! Seriously.
Ben and I have a special routine on those kinds of days. It’s called the “sneak yourself some dessert after the kids go to bed and you’ve already told them it’s too late to eat sugar” routine. It works fabulously.
I have a rule about eating sugar too late at our house. It’s not that at a specific time I cut my children off, but if it’s approaching bedtime for that evening, there is no way I’m going to fill them with sugar and then send them off to bed. That seems ultimately contradicting in purpose. Hype them up to sleep???
BUT, it is never ever too late to enjoy some dessert with the hubsters.
I had made some delicious cookies about a week ago and saved the leftovers in the fridge and freezer for future…ummm…use??? Yeah, I guess their use is to be eaten, right?
Anyway, they were so good it became our nightly routine to put the kids in bed and grab a cookie. Well, not just a cookie, but we made ice cream cookie sandwiches out of them. Like EVERY night for about a week…well, until they were g-o-n-e. Wahhhh!
About the third night in a row of ice cream cookie sandwiches, Ben turns to me with a big sigh and states, “Most couples unwind to a glass of wine at night. But you and me babe, we eat ice cream and cookies.”
Yes, yes we do! It’s our little dirty secret love affair.
Now before you think I’m too mean, our kiddos did get their fair share of cookies and ice cream as well. About every other night we finished dinner with enough time that a treat was in order before they went to bed. Braelyn, just like every other dessert in her life, would inhale it in about 10 seconds flat and literally lick her fingers, plate, and counter top clean before displaying a satisfactory, thumbs up, “thank you sooooo much for making these, mom” little smirk on her face. Geez, that girl and her treats.
Emry loved her “cookie sam-itches” too. In fact, once the green light for a treat was given, she was the first to hunt the ice cream down in the freezer to get the assembly going.
But alas, the cookies are gone. And our addiction has ended. Until tomorrow.
Ben has already requested another batch of these heavenly Gluten Free Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies so we can get downright cookie drunk again.
You know what the funny thing is about Ben and these cookies? Well, first of all he has ranked these ice cream cookie sandwiches in his top 3 desserts of all time. But, before making these he has always claimed that he doesn’t like butterscotch and does not prefer oatmeal cookies.
Ummmm…
Okay, well that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because he cannot keep his hands off of these cookies.
These butterscotch oatmeal cookies are buttery, sugary, soft yet crispy, chewy, sweet, caramely, DELICIOUS!!! I really don’t know how else to describe them. They are basically your perfect oatmeal cookie with glorious little butterscotch chips folded in. I even folded in a few white chocolate chips to give another sweet element to the cookies; another flavor that Ben claims to not like. Well, trick’s on him. I have yet to tell him that white chocolate was included too.
A fun little fact about these cookies. I originally made them using packs of apple cinnamon instant oatmeal packets that were about to expire. Bahahaha! You guys, I don’t throw anything away. I find a use for EVERYTHING! They turned out yummy as well, but I do prefer using old fashioned rolled oats instead of instant or quick cooking oats. They hold up more texture during the baking process, and I’m definitely a texture girl.
Anyway, maybe I’ll post the recipe for instant oatmeal cookies another time, because think of all the different flavors you could try: strawberries n’ cream, maple brown sugar, peach, banana, etc.
I also prefer my oatmeal cookies not over baked, but baked through. When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, underdone is the way to go, but for some reason I like my oatmeal cookies to hold firm with a bit of chew throughout. Even baked through, these cookies are soft and chewy in the center, which I love. But if you want a gooey cookie, slightly under bake your batches.
So as the rest of you are enjoying all the fall pumpkin recipes, I’m gonna hang over here with my butterscotch a little longer (don’t worry, I do have some pumpkin coming your way). Butterscotch is a fall flavor too, right? If not, I’m still pretending it is.
And if you are ever in the market for giving up on drinking, these cookies may do you quite the favor. You may go up a couple of pant sizes as you unwind to some ice cream cookie sandwiches, but you’ll learn to exercise a little harder. Wink, wink.
How do you like to unwind after a tough day?
- 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup brown rice flour
- ⅓ cup white rice flour
- ⅓ cup gluten free oat flour
- ¼ cup potato starch
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
- 1½ cups gluten free old fashioned rolled oats
- 1½ cups butterscotch chips, divided
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together butter, cane sugar, brown sugar, and egg until pale and smooth. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together cinnamon, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, brown rice flour, white rice flour, oat flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until well incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add oats to cookie dough and mix until combined. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in 1 cup of butterscotch baking chips.*
- Scoop dough into walnut sized drops on cookie sheet 2" apart. Press 5-6 additional butterscotch chips on the tops of the balls of dough. Bake one pan at a time for 11-13 minutes until golden brown and cookies look set. Allow cookies to cool on pan for at least 5 minutes and then continue cooling on cooling rack.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for a week, or in freezer for up to 3 months.
More from my site
Gluten Free Simple Oatmeal Cookies
Gluten Free Cinnamon Spiced Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
Gluten Free Browned Butter Monster Cookies
Gluten Free White Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
Gluten Free Butterscotch Milk Chocolate Soft Batch Cookies
Gluten Free Cinnamon White Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin Cookies