While selecting cookie recipes this year, I have been trying to balance exploration with cupboard space. Plenty of interesting recipes use similarly interesting ingredients, and although I want to take this opportunity to explore, I also don’t want to have a bunch of barely used containers of baking supplies.
For this recipe, I looked in my cupboard and saw the bag of butterscotch chips and figured I should finish them off. When I made the last batch of Oatmeal Scotchies, I wondered why Maria had decided to detour from the recipe on the bag. A few weeks later, I went for the comparison.
The recipe starts by beating together all of the wet ingredients. Other than softening the butter, it actually isn’t very specific on the technique, so I followed Bravetart’s technique of a 5 minute cream followed with a cold egg.
![](https://kevinleung.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMG_8649-1024x768.jpeg)
Unlike last time, the eggs didn’t curdle, so I figured I was on a good track with my ingredient temperatures.
![](https://kevinleung.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMG_8652-1024x768.jpeg)
Next goes the dry ingredients, which also mixed together quite easily. Knowing I had a lot of oatmeal and butterscotch chips to go, I tried to undermix it slightly before adding the final mix-ins.
![](https://kevinleung.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMG_8653-1024x768.jpeg)
Finally, I gave the dough a few turns by hand. I’m still a little skeptical about the distribution of the mixins with he dough that sticks to the sides.
![](https://kevinleung.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMG_8654-1024x768.jpeg)
I scooped out dough balls, and based on my experience from last week, I lightly rolled all of them in my hands to get them as smooth as possible.
![](https://kevinleung.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMG_8655-1024x768.jpeg)
They ended up baking fine. They came out a little less consistent than I was hoping for: I suspect it might be hot spots in my oven. However, I also think the exact dough ball composition might matter for whether pure dough is just melting off the sides.
![](https://kevinleung.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMG_8656-1024x768.jpeg)
On the one hand, these cookies are kind of hard to mess up: oatmeal in cookies is great, and butterscotch chips are basically cheating. On the other hand, I was hoping for something a little chewier because the oats didn’t quite seem soft while the entire cookie spread a little crispy.
If I were to make the recipe again, I think I would do exactly what it says and dump all of the wet ingredients together and beat. It doesn’t seem like a fancy technique, but I think the recipe is designed for simple cooking. Maybe I introduced too much air by creaming it, which made it less dense to create a good chew.
![](https://kevinleung.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMG_8660-1024x768.jpeg)
In the interest of a fair comparison, I had saved a few dough balls of the Two Peas & Their Pod recipe in my freezer, so I baked those up for a direct comparison. Even discounting the sprinkle of sea salt, they just turned out better.
![](https://kevinleung.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IMG_8661-1024x768.jpeg)
If you want make these oatmeal scotchies, you can find the recipe straight from Nestle Toll House.
But really, you should make the ones from Two Peas & Their Pod.