About a month ago a friend of mine came over to keep me company on one of my lonely Friday nights. We gabbed, made dinner, watched a chick flick, and then, of course, we made cookies. I'd come across a recipe for oatmeal scotchies a couple weeks before while perusing the web for ideas. I'd never heard of the cookie before, but being a big fan of both oatmeal cookies (the batter is one of my all-time favorites) and butterscotch, I printed off the recipe at work and stuck it in my purse. That night, much to my surprise, when I asked what cookies we should make my friend immediately said, "oatmeal scotchies -- they're the BEST!" It was kismet -- I reached into my purse, pulled out the recipe, and made some pretty tasty cookies.
However.
As tasty as these cookies were, the butterscotch chips were (and I cannot believe I'm saying this) too sweet. Gah! Since when is anything too sweet for me?! And yet, one cookie (okay, fine, two cookies) was all I could take. Hmm...looks like this little sweet tooth might be growing up.
Still being a huge fan of both oatmeal cookies and butterscotch, I remembered a recipe I'd come across in my America's Test Kitchen Baking book that was for oatmeal butterscotch bars. Now, what I love about this baking book is how they explain their choices for each recipe -- what made it great, and what failed miserably. In developing this particular recipe, their goal was to find a way to mellow out the sweetness of the butterscotch chips, finding them (as I did) overpoweringly sweet. The trick? Melt the butter in a sauce pan until it turns a golden color, then add the butterscotch chips. This works wonders. I'm not a good enough baker to tell you why (that's what the Test Kitchen is for) but it seriously made such a difference. These bars are pretty darn awesome. Oatmeal butterscotch blondie heaven.
The oatmeal adds such a nice texture, the melted butter keeps them chewy, and the butterscotch flavor is perfect. Make these and be happy.
When I made these, my husband was away doing puppet stuff, so unfortunately there was no one here to witness my "I'm a baking goddess" dance when these came out of the oven. Unless the little old Greek ladies next door were spying on me, which honestly I wouldn't put past 'em (I swear, our street is The Burbs.) Oh, and that maturing sweet tooth I mentioned earlier? Destroyed. Knowing I was in eminent waist-expanding danger, I immediately divided the bars up into tupperware containers to be taken to work the next day (leaving a plate of them out for my husband, of course. I would never be forgiven otherwise). Judging by how quickly they disappeared from the kitchen (and the fact that I left my office door open so I could spy on anyone who ate one), I think my co-workers liked these too. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
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