These thick, chewy, gooey butterscotch bars taste as if they came straight from a bakery! With a sweet & salty, rich buttery flavor they are the perfect, easy treat when you want to impress!
Why I'm Obsessed With These Butterscotch Bars
- Buttery, Sweet & Salty Flavor: With the melted butter base & butterscotch chips mixed in, this dough is perfectly sweet, salty, and buttery (they taste like the have brown butter...without the work!). Serve with ice cream or a glass of milk for the perfect dessert.
- Chewy & Thick: We doubled the base dough from my sweet & salty butterscotch cookie cake so that you get a thick, bakery-style butterscotch bar when baked in a 9x13 pan. Gooey butterscotch bars are SO good homemade...move on over Betty Crocker premade mix!
- No mixer required: Since we're starting with a melted butter, you can mix this entirely by hand. No beating the sugar and butter required!
Ingredients for Toll House Butterscotch Bars
- Unsalted butter (you will be melting this)
- Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar
- Large Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Cornstarch
- Butterscotch Chips (for best flavor, use a higher quality chip vs. generic; I used Nestle Toll House)
- 9x13 Metal Pan
How to Make Butterscotch Bars:
Step 1: Melt Butter & Mix Dough
Warm the butter in a microwave-safe bowl or saucepan until it's just melted. Combine the butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl and use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir them together.
Next, stir in the egg, followed by the baking powder and salt. Mix in cornstarch and flour, followed by the butterscotch chips. Mix the dough until well-combined.
Tip: I recommend mixing this by hand (rather than with a mixer) to ensure a chewy texture. The gooey, thickness of these make are what I think make these the best butterscotch blondies recipe.
Step 2: Put Dough in Pan
Grease & line a 9x13 metal pan with parchment paper. Spread dough into an even layer in pan. For added presentation, press additional butterscotch chips into the top.
Step 3: Bake
Place the pan butterscotch bars in an oven preheated to 350ºF and bake it for 26 to 28 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden brown and the inside no longer looks super wet. It might look a little under-baked, but the residual heat from the pan will continue to bake the cookie even after you take it out of the oven. Slightly underbaking is the trick to a soft, gooey bar!
Tip: The bars will set up as they cool, so even if they seem too doughy after 26-28 minutes they should firm up after a few hours.
Step 4: Cut & Enjoy!
Use a sharp chef's knife to slice it the butterscotch blondies into squares (I like to cut large bakery-style squares but you can also do them smaller!). Let cool (or don't!) and enjoy them with a glass of milk or ice cream.
Storing & Freezing
Storing: These butterscotch bars are best stored on the counter at room temperature and best eaten within 3 days for the best texture.
Freezing: If making ahead of time, wrap the baked bars in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight container. Freeze up to 1 month. When ready to serve, let thaw completely.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I used Nestle Toll House chips but you can use any brand. I just recommend avoiding the super cheap, generic brands as the chips are often waxy and don't taste as good.
You sure can! While these bars are rich & buttery on their own, you could also mix in pretzels, chocolate or white chocolate chips, marshmallows or turn them into butterscotch caramel bars by drizzling on caramel.
More Cookie Cake Recipes:
If you make these gooey butterscotch bars, be sure to leave a comment below and tag me on Instagram @designeatrepeat. I LOVE seeing what you made!
Bakery Style Butterscotch Bars
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. While preheating, be sure to read tips & tricks in post above for recipe success.
- Warm the 1 cup unsalted butter, i.e. 2 sticks)[/adjustable] in a microwave-safe bowl or saucepan until it's just melted.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the unsalted butter with the 1 cup light brown sugar and 1 cup granulated sugar. Stir until combined. (I recommend mixing this by hand rather than a mixer.)
- Stir in the 2 large eggs and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, followed by the 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 ½ teaspoon salt.
- Mix in 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, followed by the 1 cup butterscotch baking chips. Mix the dough until well-combined.
- Generously grease a metal 9x13 pan. If you plan to remove the bars from the pan, I also recommend lining the bottom with parchment paper.
- Spread dough into an even layer in pan. Sprinkle on some extra butterscotch chips for added presentation. Bake for 26-28 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden brown and then center no longer looks wet (they will look a tad underbaked, as this is the key to a soft, gooey bar).
- Cut into 12-24 bars (I like to cut them big) and enjoy! Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Did you make this?
I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts! Leave a review & photo of your creation and be sure to mention @DesignEatRepeat or tag #DesignEatRepeat on Instagram!Save this recipe!
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What is the best kind of brown sugar to make a butter scotch pie
Hi Bobby! I would lean towards dark brown sugar to give it a deeper flavor but light brown sugar will work just fine too. I would just use whatever the recipe you're using suggests!
I just made these and stole a bite; they are delicious even though I replaced 1/4 of the butter with applesauce and 1/2 the sugar with Splenda.
I'll give it a 2 star for mentioning the vanilla extract in the ingredients but never mentioning it again in the 3 steps to make it.
The vanilla extract is written in Step 4; are you sure you were viewing the full recipe? The recipe has 8 total steps, not 3.
Easy to follow recipe. My family loved them!! I made a batch up for Christmas this and got everyone to try. They don’t want me to save for Christmas they want to eat them all now!!
LOL, saving these for later never seems to work for me either! :) Thank you so much for leaving a review, CJ!
Xcellent will definitely add to my recipe repertoire only thing I did was to adjust the timing according to my oven’s temperature it’s old so did only 24 min instead of 26/28
Xcellent will definitely add to my recipe repertoire only thing u can add to your notes is to tell people to adjust or tweak the oven temperature according to their own ovens otherwise I wouldn’t change a thing definitely a keeper
It was easy t9 do abd very delicious
Divinely chewy! Very sweet so I kept my squares small and shared with others.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Sheridan! Thanks for leaving a review, I appreciate it so much!
We loved these bars! Next time I am going to substitute toffee chips and see how they taste.
That sounds like a great idea Shannon! You will have to come back and let me know how they turn out!
Thank your for taking the time to leave a review!
Great bars! I followed the recipe, only baked for 25 minutes. As usual with cookie type bars, the outer edges got a little over done for my liking but the middle bars are perfect.
Thank you for leaving a review Julie, I am glad that you enjoyed them.
These have become my husband's favorite cookie. An added plus- they are so quick and easy to make.
So glad that you and your husband enjoy these bars!
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review Linda!
Everything is better with butter!!
I think so too Kandice! I hope you enjoyed the Butterscotch Bars!
Been looking for a chewy recipe and this was it!!!
So glad that you enjoyed this recipe Cristy! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, I appreciate it!
These were delicious!! I used the entire 12 oz. bag of nestles butterscotch chips, otherwise followed her directions exactly. These will become my go-to cookie! thanks
The more, the merrier, especially when it comes to toppings right Linda? So glad that you enjoyed these, and thank you for leaving your review!
These are wonderful, so flavorful and chewy. Will be a favorite!
Chewy yummy....oh my really taste sooooo good! Love it.