High Altitude Soft Butterscotch Cookies with Ganache Filling

An easy, high altitude recipe for soft butterscotch cookies, sandwiched together with creamy chocolate ganache filling. The cookie dough comes together quickly, and the butterscotch cookies bake up so incredibly soft and chewy. They’re great on their own, or you can even mix in some butterscotch chips to add more butterscotch flavor. I love filling them with dark chocolate ganache, though, to make the most delectable butterscotch chocolate cookie sandwiches you’ll ever taste.

You might also love these soft date pecan cookies, raspberry thumbprint sugar cookies, and three-ingredient peanut butter cookies.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Soft for Days. The butterscotch syrup is a key ingredient to give these soft butterscotch cookies their signature texture. Days after baking, they still taste as soft as they were fresh from the oven.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on this site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet, so mountain bakers can bake with confidence.

Perfect for the Holidays. These would make a wonderful addition to a Christmas cookie box. They also freeze beautifully, so you can get your baking done in advance.

Easy to Make. You’ll love the simplicity of today’s recipe, with standard pantry ingredients and an easy method of making the cookie dough.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cookies

• Butter. I bake with unsalted butter, but if you use salted, you should reduce the salt in the recipe.
• Sugar. A combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar adds sweetness, moisture, and a hint of molasses. The moisture in the brown sugar also makes a softer, chewier cookie.
• Egg. Gives the cookie dough structure and helps to bind the dough together.
• Butterscotch Syrup. The butterscotch syrup adds a wonderful butterscotch flavor to the cookies, as well as keeps them so soft. If you can’t find butterscotch syrup, Lyle’s golden syrup or treacle syrup is a good substitute.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Corn Starch. Tenderizes the cookie dough for a softer texture.
• Baking Soda. Leavens the cookies so they puff up as they bake.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Nutmeg. Adds a nice depth of flavor to complement the butterscotch, but it can be left out.
• Flour. All-purpose flour adds structure and strength.

Ganache

• Chocolate. For the chocolate, I prefer a darker or semi sweet chocolate, around 55% cacao. The richer flavor is a nice balance to the sweet cookies.
• Cream. You need the high fat content of heavy whipping cream to make the ganache.

Instructions

Cookies

• In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, egg, butterscotch syrup, vanilla, corn starch, baking soda, salt and nutmeg for 2 minutes, until fluffy.

• Add the flour, and use a spatula to fold everything together to form a dough.

• Use a small cookie scoop with a release lever to portion the dough into 24 portions.
• Roll the dough into balls, then coat in the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar.
• Flatten the dough balls slightly with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass.

• Cover the flattened dough balls and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
• Place the chilled cookies 3 inches apart on the baking sheet, and bake for exactly 8 minutes. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: When the cookies are hot from the oven, they’ll be slightly puffed, but the centers will settle down and flatten a bit as they cool.

Ganache

• Chop the chocolate and set aside.
• In a small saucepan, warm the cream over medium low heat just until hot and beginning to simmer around the edges. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until smooth.
• Let the ganache cool for 15-20 minutes. It should still be pourable, but thickened enough that it won’t run off the cookies.

• Match up the cookies by size, and turn half of them over.
• Spoon the ganache onto the bottoms of half the cookies, gently spreading it close to the edges, but not so close that it will run off.

• Wait 2 minutes, then gently place the other half of the cookies on top of the ganache.
• Chill the cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to quickly set the ganache.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store the cookies?

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.

Where do you find butterscotch syrup?

I used this Lyle’s Butterscotch Syrup, which I found one day shopping at my local World Market. It’s not likely to be stocked at most US grocery stores. It’s thick with a consistency similar to corn syrup.

Can I add butterscotch chips to the cookie dough?

Sure, just add the butterscotch chips when you add the flour.

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