Butterscotch Bar Cookies

Name: Butterscotch Bar Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 vanilla, or white cake mix (dry mix only); 2 large eggs; 3/4 cup brown sugar; 1 cup butter (melted); 1 cup chocolate chips (semi sweet or milk chocolate); 1 cup butterscotch chips (optional)

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Butterscotch bar cookies is an easy recipe you can mix up in about 5 minutes and then bake! They’re buttery and chewy bar cookies filled with butterscotch morsels and chocolate chips that are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth!

The rich buttery flavor in these bars will leave you begging for more!

A stack of bar cookies with butterscotch and chocolate chips.

This post was originally published in 2019. It was updated in 2023 to include new text. The recipe was perfect so it stayed the same!

This recipe is a million times easier than making a dropped chocolate chip cookie recipe! And they taste amazing!

I used to be skeptical of bar cookies because I feel like they’re typically dry and too dense for me.

This butterscotch bar cookies recipe is the recipe that made me fall in love with bar cookies! The first time I made them I changed my mind and have been looking for excuses to make them ever since!

I’ve been hooked on easy cookie bar recipes ever since. You can beat Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars (which are so much easier than rolling sugar cookies) and taste even better! Plus you can easily switch the decorations up and make the desert bars for any holiday! We also love Peanut Butter Fudge Filled Cookies! Talk about decadent!

Why These Butterscotch Bar Cookies are my Favorite Bar Cookies

Quick and easy! Butterscotch cookie bars is one of those recipes I rely on when I need an easy dessert and don’t really have time to make something! They literally take about 5 minutes to mix together and then about 20 minutes to bake! There is no need to mess with measuring dry ingredients like baking soda since the cake mix already has everything you need!

Simple ingredients! Since these bar cookies are made from a cake mix you don’t need many ingredients. You could make them with 4 ingredients, but I think adding chocolate and butterscotch chips is important. So that makes it 5 ingredients!

One bowl, no fancy equipment! No extra dirty dishes with this recipe! Throw everything in the bowl and you’re good to go! I do use an electric mixer when I make butterscotch bars, but you can just use a wooden spoon if you’d like!

Out of this world yummy! My kids call these row cookies because they eat a row at a time. Not a cookie at a time, but a whole row at a time! Adding brown sugar to the cake mix gives perfectly chewy butterscotch cookie bars and gives them the best almost butterscotch blondie flavor. Using melted butter makes them extra chewy!

Makes a sheet pan! I love that this recipe makes a enough for a crowd because they are always a big hit! Trust me, it’s a good thing, more is better!

A butterscotch bar cookies with a bite being held over a stack of cookie bars.

Ingredients

Let’s go over substitutions and options just in case you don’t have all the ingredients in the pantry.

White Cake Mix: I’ve tried different flavors of cake mixes and white is my favorite. A yellow cake mix is my second choice. Cake mix with or without pudding may be used. Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, and Duncan Hines are my favorite brands. A store brand would also work.
Butter: Use real butter for the best texture and flavor. Substitutes will drastically change the taste in this butterscotch bars recipe.
Brown Sugar: I usually use light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar will work too, but the cookie bars will be a little bit darker.

Eggs: I haven’t ever tried making this recipe with a substitute. Use whole eggs.
Morsels: I love adding a combination of butterscotch chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can use any combination you like. Just be sure they add up to 2 cups of chips in total. I usually use Nestle Toll House Butterscotch chips.
Optional: Add a teaspoon vanilla extract.

How to Make Butterscotch Bar Cookies

This recipe is such a simple one!

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking pan (half sheet) with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray. I love using parchment paper because it makes it easy to take them out of the pan and cut in bars.

Step 2: Melt a cup butter in a microwave-safe large bowl. Add the dry cake mix, eggs, and a cup of brown sugar. Mix with an electric mixer or by hand until smooth.

Step 3: Add a cup butterscotch chips and a cup chocolate chips and stir to combine.

A dry white cake mix, melted butter, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl for an electric mixer.

Cookie dough with semi-sweet chocolate chips and butterscotch morsels poured on top in a mixing bowl.

Step 4: Spread butter mixture in the prepared pan. The dough will be thin. That’s okay!

Step 4: Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Watch carefully during the last 2 minutes of baking. The cookies should golden brown, wiggly, and a little gooey. Overbaking will make the cookies hard and dry.

Step 5: Set the pan on a wire rack to cool. Cut chocolate chip butterscotch cookies into bars.

A sheet pan with chocolate chip cookie dough spread in it.

Baked golden brown bar cookies in a sheet pan.

Tips

Lining the baking pan with parchment paper makes cutting the butterscotch chip.
You can reserve a few chocolate chips and butterscotch chips to sprinkle on top of the bars and slightly press in before baking to make them extra pretty.
Don’t overbake the cookies! They’ll keep baking in the pan for a couple of minutes after you remove them from the oven. So be sure to take them out before they’re all the way done.
For a prettier presentation trim the edges of the cookies before cutting them into bars.

Variations

It’s fun to get creative with butterscotch bars! You can add any combination you like, just be sure they add up to two cups in total. Here are a few of our favorite add-ins.

White chocolate chips
Peanut butter chips
M&Ms to make them into monster cookie bars
Dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc.)
Chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, etc.)

I also love sprinkle of sea salt before baking to give them that salty sweet flavor and cut a bit of the rich flavor.

A stack of bar cookies with a bite taken out of the top cookie.

Serving Suggestions

These cookies are perfect by themselves! But, I just like butterscotch blondies, they are pretty amazing served warm with a scoop of ice cream and caramel sauce! It’s an easy dessert, yet an impressive dessert!

Storage

Completely cool cookies before storing them.

Room Temperature: The cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.

Freezer: Wrap the bar cookies in plastic wrap and then store them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw the cookies on the countertop before serving.

FAQs

What is butterscotch?

It’s made with butter and brown sugar melted together. Sometimes it has other flavors added like vanilla.

What makes cookies chewy?

These bar cookies are chewy because they have brown sugar and melted butter. Brown sugar has molasses which makes chewier cookies than using granulated sugar.

A jar of milk with two bar cookies sitting on top of it.

Other Cake Mix Recipes

I love recipes that are made using a cake mix because it’s a quick and easy head start on homemade desserts, without having to make them completely from scratch! Here are a few of our favorite easy dessert recipes!