Hey Everyone! I hope that you are all surviving this craptastic winter weather. In my neck of the woods, it has been sooooo sucky. You would know that as soon as I started a new job where I have to travel even farther every day, the weather would be ridiculous. Well, that is what I get for living in central Illinois. I have to say that my nephew, Joe, has been my hero. We are carpooling into Springfield and he is doing the driving in his SUV. There have already been a few days that I could not have made it in my small car, but Joe got me there and home safe and sound.
I have decided that I really don’t like winter very much anymore. After Christmas and New Year’s are over I am pretty much done with the cold and snow. But, Mother Nature gives not one dilly darn what I think. So, to console myself, I have been making cookies whenever I get the chance. Baking cookies, to me, is the ultimate cozy activity. The kitchen gets all warmed up from the oven and you get to munch on cookie dough and then nice warm cookies. Aaaahhh. I wish that I were doing that right now.
A couple of weeks ago I tried out a new combination of recipes. I wanted to try a new butterscotch chip cookie recipe, but I also wanted chocolate. And, awhile back I saw a recipe where someone had dipped chocolate chip cookies in melted chocolate. I thought that the chocolate and butterscotch combination would be heavenly. I was right! Oh boy, these are good cookies. These butterscotch chip cookies are buttery and flavorful. They are moist but still hold up when adding the chocolate and butterscotch base. The combination is a chewy yet soft cookie on the top with a crisp and rich surprise burst of chocolate flavor underneath. These cookies have become a new favorite of mine and I hope that you will love them too.
So, this cookie starts out with a pretty basic recipe that can be used with any flavor of chips. I have been on a quest for a while to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe and I have come to the conclusion that it does not exist. I can find the pros and cons of all of the different recipe variations and methods. And, all of us seem to have different ideas about how a chocolate chip cookie should taste and what the consistency should be. It is the same with any cookie that has flavored chips. I have a couple of different recipes for butterscotch chip cookies. This one works very well with the chocolate base. A cookie that is very soft would not hold up to that process. And, I think that you really need a thicker cookie so that you have the proper cookie-to-base ratio. This one turned out perfectly. It is a nice standard recipe with one notable exception. It has a special ingredient. Drumroll please…instant coffee! I know, amazing! Now, I am not a coffee lover, but I do occasionally use it in baking. Usually, it is paired with chocolate, but I think it works well with the butterscotch too. This recipe does require a slight amount of chilling but if you plan ahead you will have a great cookie that your friends and family will adore.
For the cookies you will need 1 ½ cups softened butter, 2 cups packed brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons powdered instant espresso, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 4 teaspoons cornstarch, 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3 – 4 cups butterscotch chips (depending on how chunky you like your cookies). If you are not a coffee lover, don’t worry. You won’t really taste the espresso. It just adds a little oomph to the butterscotch flavor. For the base, you will need 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 cup butterscotch baking chips and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil.
Add the butter and both sugars to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Cream together until well combined and slightly fluffy.
Add the eggs and egg yolks and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Gradually add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, and espresso powder. Mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated with no streaks of flour but don’t overmix. Stir in the butterscotch chips.
Cover the dough and chill for 2 – 3 hours. You can also make the dough a day ahead if you are pressed for baking time. Just be prepared for dough-tasting, sneaky fingers to abscond with a bit of it. At least that is what happens at my house. Now, if you are in a huge hurry you can put the dough in the freezer for about an hour. I have done this, and it works pretty well too.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Drop the dough by tall mounds. Use about 2 tablespoons per cookie. The tall mounds enable the cookie to stay thick and not spread too much. This will help them hold together when you add the chocolate base.
Bake for 9 – 11 minutes. You want the bottom edges to be very slightly brown and the middles to be soft and puffy. Don’t over bake or the cookies will be dry. Cool the cookies for a few minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely. Once they have cooled sufficiently you can place them on parchment to await the chocolate bottom process.
Once all are cooled, place 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power until melted. Stir at least every minute. Mine took about 5 minutes but watch closely so that you don’t burn it. Allow the chocolate to cool for a couple of minutes.
Place clean parchment paper on baking sheets or on the counter. Drop 1 – 2 teaspoons of the chocolate mixture on the parchment. If your cookies are rather large you will need more chocolate but if the cookies stayed in more upright little mounds you may only need 1 teaspoon. Use your chocolate intuition here. I did a test with 2 cookies on a small baking sheet and placed them in the freezer for a couple of minutes to make sure that my measurement and method was right before proceeding with the whole batch. Place a cookie on a mound of melted chocolate and gently press down turning the cookie counterclockwise (or clockwise) until the chocolate has been squished and spread to the cookie’s edge. Once the cookies are all chocolate-bottomed, you will need to let them set up for an hour or so depending on how warm your kitchen is. Just plan ahead. If your chocolate-bottomed cookies are on a baking sheet you can place them in the freezer for just a few minutes to speed up the setting process.
Once the chocolate has set, carefully peel the cookies from the parchment paper.
Get yourself a big old glass of cold milk and enjoy. These cookies are so buttery and delicious with a satisfying chocolatey snap. I had rave reviews when I took them to work. Love to you all!
Butterscotch Surprise Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 1/2 cups butter softened
- 2 cups brown sugar packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs large
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp powdered instant espresso
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 4 tsp cornstarch
- 4 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 – 4 cups butterscotch baking chips
For the Base
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup butterscotch baking chips
- 2 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Add the butter and both sugars to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Cream together until well combined and slightly fluffy.
- Add the eggs and egg yolks and vanilla. Beat until well mixed.
- Gradually add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt and espresso powder. Mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated with no streaks of flour but don’t over mix.
- Stir in the butterscotch chips.
- Cover the dough and chill for 2 – 3 hours.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Drop the dough by tall mounds. Use about 2 tablespoons per cookie.
- Bake for 9 – 11 minutes. You want the bottom edges to be very slightly brown and the middles to be soft and puffy. Don’t over bake or the cookies will be dry. Cool the cookies for a few minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely. Once they have cooled sufficiently you can place them on parchment to await the chocolate bottom process.
- Once all are cooled, place 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power until melted. Stir at least every minute. Allow the chocolate to cool for a couple of minutes.
- Place clean parchment paper on baking sheets or on the counter. Drop 1 – 2 teaspoons of the chocolate mixture on the parchment.
- Place a cookie on a mound of melted chocolate and gently press down turning the cookie counterclockwise (or clockwise) until the chocolate has been squished and spread to the cookie’s edge.
- Allow the chocolate to set up on the counter or place the cookies in the freezer for a few minutes to speed things up.
- Once the chocolate has set, carefully peel the cookies from the parchment paper.
