These Salted Peanut Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies are studded with roasted peanuts, and butterscotch chips and sprinkled with flaky sea salt! They are a decadent twist on your traditional oatmeal cookie. Ready in 30 minutes!
This cookie has brought together many of my favorite flavors and textures. It’s seriously so good. Let’s go over why: 1) Salted because I’m a firm believer that a sprinkle of high-quality flaky sea salt makes any dessert exponentially better. 2) Peanuts…because I love some good crunch in my cookie. 3) Butterscotch, oh my sweet yumminess, because they’re delicious and add the perfect touch of sweetness.
These things add up to one delicious cookie (or a few dozen). The inspiration for the recipe came from my kitchen organization. I keep my flour, sugars, oats, and some baking chips in little clear containers stacked on one of our countertops. I was doing some rearranging…I put my butterscotch chips on top of peanuts and thought, “Hmm…those would taste delicious together.” Next to them was the oatmeal container, and voila: Salted Peanut Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies were born.
These oatmeal cookies are not thin and wimpy. The dough bakes up thick, holding together all the mix-ins that make this cookie taste so darn good. I like to use rolled oats in my oatmeal cookies because I prefer the hearty texture. Quick oats, on the other hand, tend to act more like flour and will absorb more liquid.
I used dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts in this recipe, and I adore the crunch and flavor of the peanuts. They work so well with the sweet, caramel flavor of the butterscotch chips. Butterscotch chips are one of my favorite things, but I’m not going to lie. I sometimes forget about them in favor of gooey dark chocolate. Today, though, the butterscotch chips are shining in the sun.
Yes, they’re sweet, but the bits of flaky sea salt offset that sweetness perfectly. Let’s be honest: it’s a cookie, so the sweetness of delicious butterscotch chips is always welcome. These cookies would be a fun addition to any cookie platter this holiday season, but they work anytime. They’re just good – so if you’re a peanut and/or butterscotch fan, give ’em a go. They’ll be devoured before you know it.

Salted Peanut Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 4.25 oz cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- 1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on top, like Maldon or fleur de sel
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Beat butter and sugars until fully combined and fluffy. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a separate medium bowl. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until barely incorporated. Add oats, butterscotch chips, and peanuts and mix until just incorporated (don’t over-mix!).
- Using an cookie scoop (or your hands!) form 1.5-tablespoon sized balls and place on a lined baking sheet. Gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness.
- Sprinkle a pinch of salt on top of each cookie.
- Bake until cookies are light golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on a wire cooling rack.



I seriously need these cookies! Wowza!!
These look delish, and I totally agree…a little bit of sea salt on cookies is always the way to go!
I’m not a fan of oatmeal cookies, but I believe I would love these with the addition of butterscotch.
These cookies look incredible! Thick and chewy cookies are my favorite! Love the butterscotch and salted peanut combo, sweet and salty is the best! I seriously could at a dozen right now! Pinned!
*DROOL* I love the photo of the cookies’ innards haha. I’ve just got to try these cookies out. I love oatmeal cookies of all varieties. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
i love everything in these! they look great.
I liiiike the way you think!!
I love the texture of these cookies and allll the tasty elements!
I just wanted to stop by to say that I made these cookies for Thanksgiving and to say they were a hit was an understatement. They literally flew off the plate and everyone said how great they were. The salt & sweet of the butterscotch went so well together. I have now added these to my cookie rotation :) The only thing I will do differently is make them slightly smaller because they spread a bit and some of them were huge cookies, though I don’t think anyone was complaining in between bites lol
So glad that everyone loved the cookies Adriana! Thanks for letting me know how they turned out for you :) happy holidays!
Can anyone comment on how many cookies this recipe makes? Thanks!
Hi Natalie! This recipe yields about 24 cookies, though the exact number will depend on the size you make your cookies. Hope this helps!
These cookies turned out amazing!! Thank you for a great recipe :)
Awesome, I’m so glad you liked them Gayatri! :)