December means baking time, doesn’t it? But before you break out the cookie cutters and rolling pins, you might want to try this comfort food recipe that also makes for a great breakfast (hey, there is oatmeal in there!).
This recipe comes right off the back of the Nestle butterscotch chip bag. But of course, I had to make some tweaks. The original recipe keeps things pretty basic – just oatmeal and butterscotch chips as the main flavors in these cookies. There are so many more possibilities!
First, I add nuts wherever possible in desserts, and these cookies just begged for walnuts. Or almonds. I wanted to make the flavor even nuttier, so I also added ground flax seed, which is another easy way to up the nutritional boost of these cookies. I didn’t include the ground flax in the recipe, but what I do is when I measure my flour, I take out about a tablespoon of the flour and add in a couple tablespoons of ground flax. (I also decreased the amount of all-purpose flour in favor of some whole wheat.)
Another ingredient lacking in the original recipe? Raisins. But regular raisins seem to clash with the flavor of butterscotch, so I used Craisins. You can now find flavor-infused Craisins like pomegranate and cherry (I’m thinking next time I make these I might try the latter).
Finally, I’m just not a fan of vanilla flavoring – it just seems to get lost when it comes to baked goods. So I tossed the vanilla and added a bit of almond extract. If you haven’t baked with almond extract, it’s time. Just be careful not to overdo it, a little goes a long way.
