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Home » Cookies » Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies

Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies

By Olivia, 28 Comments

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These chewy dark chocolate butterscotch cookies are loaded with sweet butterscotch chips and amped up with a sprinkling of sea salt.

A close up of a cookie on a wooden background.

It’s Halloween! I love Halloween. I should actually be throwing a Halloween recipe at you considering the day, but instead I’m giving you these delicious Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies. Poor planning on my part led to one lone Halloween recipe this year, but I have a pretty cool cake from last year still kicking around if you’re itching for some more Halloween baking and more than a few pumpkin recipes in my arsenal.

This is the first year, in I don’t even know how long, that we’ll have trick-or-treaters. For the past 10+ years we’ve been in apartments, some where you can only access your own floor, so we literally had no kids coming by. This is A-OK on Ryan’s part, as he prefers his Halloween to be quiet and low key (secretly I think it’s because he wants the Halloween candy all to himself). Personally, I’m really looking forward to seeing all the kids and their costumes!

Overhead shot of a cookie.

Cookies on a wooden table with fall decor.

Actually, I haven’t seen a lot of trick-or-treaters since we moved out to Vancouver, which is like 20+ years ago. Most of the neighborhoods we’ve lived in here were on steep hills or didn’t have a lot of families. Trick-or-treating in Edmonton was much easier (flatter), albeit much colder. Most years I remember going out in a snow suit — so much for costumes. But it was fun nonetheless.

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The neighborhood we’re living in now is like family-ville. It’s quiet, not a lot of traffic, and apparently has good schools, so I expect to see a whole bunch of kids coming by. We’re in a townhouse complex, so I imagine the kids would hit this place up for sure. More bang for your buck!

Speaking of which, I wonder if we have enough candy… Probably not, considering that we’ve been snacking on it for weeks. How much candy are you supposed to give out, anyway?? Is it like one candy per kid, or handfuls? I have no idea what the etiquette is these days. You can bet I’m going to be extra generous to any Harry Potters that come by!!

I fully intended on forcing Ryan to carve up some pumpkins with me, but life/laziness got in the way of that. Oh well, maybe next year when we’re fully settled into this place.

Cookie with salt sprinkled on it and a pine cone in the background.

A bunch of cookies on a table

It’s just barely Halloween, but I am seriously looking forward to holiday decorating.  I was at Homesense the other day, and they have 100% busted out their holiday gear and I was SO happy to see it. Needless to say, I took my time wandering through those aisles and looking at all the goodies.

I didn’t end up buying anything (this time), but I’m already itching to go back and check out what new stuff they have. You can bet that Christmas will start infiltrating this place as soon as the dust of Halloween is over. Pumpkins out, Christmas Trees in. Well, we’ll probably hold off on the tree(s) till the end of November/early December, but I have plenty of other holiday decorations that I can bust out.

Cookies on a wooden table

Ok, enough rambling about the holidays, I haven’t even told you about these Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies!! They are seriously delicious. I’ve used this cookie recipe twice already here and here, and I totally love it. I’ll be using it again in a holiday cookie that’s already on my radar.

The cookies themselves taste like Oreos because of the black cocoa powder. If you don’t have that on hand, you can use regular cocoa, but it will affect the flavour and color (they’ll still be yummy though!). If you’re not a huge fan of butterscotch, you can substitute in any chips you like. It’s a very versatile and delicious chocolate cookie!

Notes & tips for these Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies:

  • If you don’t have black cocoa powder, you can use regular cocoa powder. The recipe will work fine, but it will affect the flavour and color slightly.
  • If you’re not a fan of butterscotch, you can make these with any kind of chips you like!
  • Store in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze for up to a month.
Close up of a cookie.
Print Rate
4.86 from 7 votes

Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies

Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies! Loaded with butterscotch chips and sprinkled with sea salt.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Cookie
Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 18 cookies
Calories 148kcal
Author Olivia

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
  • 2 Tbsp black cocoa powder sifted*
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips **
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powders, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars on med-high until light and fluffy (approx. 2-3mins). Reduce speed and add egg and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add butterscotch chips and mix until just combined.
  • Chill dough for at least 1 hour or overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 350F. Using a medium cookie scoop, portion dough onto baking sheet lined with parchment (I did 9 cookies per sheet). Bake for approximately 10 mins, or until the middle is mostly set. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.
  • Cool on pans for 5 mins then transfer to to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Notes

* If you don't have black cocoa you can substitute Dutch-processed. The cookies won't be as dark though.
** You can substitute any kind of chips you like!
Calories: 148kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 110mgPotassium: 37mgSugar: 16gVitamin A: 180IUCalcium: 11mgIron: 0.6mg
The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

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October 30, 2016

Comments

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Kate says

    April 28, 2020 at 8:30 PM

    5 stars
    I only had regular cocoa but HOLY MOLY!! Best cookie recipe ever! This is my new go-to!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 29, 2020 at 2:18 PM

      Hi Kate! So happy to hear you loved these!

      Reply
  2. Lindsey Hanka says

    January 19, 2020 at 12:24 PM

    5 stars
    I LOVE this recipe. I have made these countless times and they are a huge hit every single time! I still have yet to use butterscotch chips-I have subbed butterscotch chips for chocolate chips, chocolate candies, chopped cashews, and chocolate chunks. I also must say-the cookie dough is easily the best dough I have had. I have found that in a time crunch, separating into 4 sections and freezing for 30 min works well. This recipe seems fail proof!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      January 20, 2020 at 9:17 AM

      Hi Lindsey! I am so happy to hear that you like this cookie dough! I often swap other components out too. It’s my fave chocolate cookie!

      Reply
  3. Revati says

    August 7, 2019 at 11:38 PM

    5 stars
    I made them for my boyfriend’s birthday and they were and absolute hit! They were soft and great to taste! I’ll definitely make more.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      August 9, 2019 at 10:00 AM

      Hi Revati! So happy you guys liked these 😀

      Reply
  4. Rabbit says

    April 17, 2018 at 6:29 PM

    5 stars
    I stumbled across your recipe when looking for something to do with dark chocolate cocoa powder and butterscotch chips in the cupboard.
    These are so, so good. Will be adding these to my recipe book! Thank you 😊

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 18, 2018 at 2:26 PM

      Yay! So happy to hear that you liked these 🙂

      Reply
  5. Lindsey Hanka says

    March 29, 2018 at 4:30 AM

    5 stars
    Hi! I just made these yesterday but used a cup of chopped cashews instead of the butterscotch chips. They were so good! Thanks

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      March 29, 2018 at 10:13 AM

      Hi Lindsey! I love the use of cashews instead! I will have to try that 🙂

      Reply
  6. trish says

    November 13, 2017 at 9:06 AM

    5 stars
    Made this last night and my daughter loved them!!!! Black cocoa is amazing!

    P.S. So happy with the metric equivalent feature as I measure ingredients by weight. 🙂

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      November 13, 2017 at 9:36 AM

      Hi Trish! So glad you guys liked this recipe and that you found the conversion helpful! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Ava Pavkov says

    June 27, 2017 at 2:08 PM

    4 stars
    I just made these with almond flour since my mom’s gluten free and it was amazing!!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      June 28, 2017 at 2:50 PM

      Hi Ava! So glad you liked these 🙂

      Reply
  8. Pangolin says

    November 6, 2016 at 1:09 PM

    I just want to make sure I’m following the ingredients correctly – is it use either 2 T of black cocoa or dutch-process, or use 2 T of each for a total of 4T of cocoa? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      November 6, 2016 at 2:12 PM

      Hi! You want to use a total of 4T of cocoa, no matter what the combination 🙂

      Reply
  9. Maura says

    November 5, 2016 at 12:12 PM

    Oven at 350 F ?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      November 5, 2016 at 4:12 PM

      Ack! Yes, thanks for catching that. I’ve updated the recipe 🙂

      Reply
  10. Xana says

    November 5, 2016 at 11:08 AM

    Thanks for the recipe Olivia. I am definitely will try to bake it. Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      November 5, 2016 at 11:12 AM

      Hi Xana!! Please let me know how you like it! 🙂

      Reply
  11. Meg | Meg is Well says

    October 31, 2016 at 6:20 PM

    Chocolate and butterscotch go so well together and that coarse sea salt-YUM-it’s like icing on a cake for me.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      October 31, 2016 at 7:40 PM

      Me too!! Sea salt is the best thing to happen to cookies since chocolate chips!

      Reply
  12. Heather Kinnaird says

    October 31, 2016 at 7:58 AM

    after seeing your chocolate cookies I need to get the dark cocoa. I am drooling over these babies. Hope you get LOTS of trick or treaters 🙂 Happy Halloween

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      October 31, 2016 at 8:47 AM

      Black cocoa is a must! I hope you try it :). Happy Halloween!!

      Reply
  13. Kristen Chidsey says

    October 31, 2016 at 7:12 AM

    The flavors in this cookie are just perfection. What a great combination!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      October 31, 2016 at 8:46 AM

      Thanks so much!!

      Reply
  14. allie says

    October 31, 2016 at 6:57 AM

    Gorgeous cookies Olivia! Love the black cocoa and darker color! I could eat way too many of these in one sitting.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      October 31, 2016 at 8:46 AM

      Thanks so much Allie! You definitely can’t have just one :).

      Reply
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