These easy keto butterscotch bars have the texture of a chewy oatmeal bar with no sugars or grains. Delicious low carb treats packed with keto friendly butterscotch chips and chocolate chips.
This easy butterscotch bar recipe was my first crack at using the new Lily’s butterscotch flavored chips. Do I even need to tell you how delectable the results were? I think the photos speak for themselves.
The development of new keto products seems to be happening at warp speed right now. If you feel like you can’t keep up, the struggle is real. Rest assured that your friendly neighbourhood keto dessert queen feels much the same way.
But I do feel it’s my bloggerly duty to try out as many of these new developments as I possibly can. As long as I can get my hands on them, which isn’t always easy.
Don’t worry if you can’t find these chips… I’ve got tricks up my sleeve so you can still enjoy these delicious Keto Butterscotch Oatmeal Bars. Be sure to read the tips section!
What is butterscotch?
These new developments beg the question: what is butterscotch? Isn’t it just another name for caramel?
Yes and no. They are quite similar in both appearance and flavor, but they are made differently. Traditional caramel is based on white sugar, whereas butterscotch uses brown sugar.
And traditional caramel is made by melting the white sugar on its own until it darkens and caramelizes (imagine that!). Whereas butterscotch is by melting the brown sugar with butter.
Turns out that my famous keto caramel sauce is perhaps more akin to butterscotch, since it uses brown sugar substitute and butter to achieve that rich color and flavor. Whatever you want to call it, it’s delicious and I could eat it by the spoonful.
Keto Friendly Butterscotch Chips
Lily’s butterscotch chips debuted at Walmart a few months ago, and suddenly started appearing all over social media. And within a few weeks I had about a bajillion requests for recipes to use them in.
Turns out that these are a Walmart exclusive, so I hit up a few Walmarts near me and… no luck. Either they weren’t carrying them yet or they were completely out of stock.
In the end, I had to sweet talk Lily’s into sending me a few bags directly, which they generously did. And I promised I’d whip up something delicious to share… which I clearly did!
Keto butterscotch “oatmeal” bars
I had so many ideas for trying out these new baking chips and top of my list was something with an oatmeal-like texture.
A good friend of mine makes these high-carb butterscotch oatmeal cookies that are absolutely delicious. I can’t eat them, of course, but I had a tiny taste at a party one time, and I’ve wanted to make a keto version ever since.
So I took some inspiration from my own Keto Oatmeal Cookies, using the flaked coconut and sliced almonds as the base. But I made them even gooier, with plenty of brown butter and brown sugar substitute to really bring out that butterscotch flavor.
Tip for making butterscotch bars
These keto bars are super easy to make and full of such deliciousness. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Brown the butter, as this helps deepen that unique butterscotch flavor. Then make sure to let it cool properly before adding it to the bars so it doesn’t cook the egg or melt the chips.
- Grind the coconut and almonds together in a food processor until they resemble oat flakes. This gives the bars their oatmeal like consistency.
- Use a brown sugar substitute for a more authentic butterscotch flavor. I love Brown Swerve but there are other options out there as well. If you can’t find brown sweetener, you can add a teaspoon or two of molasses to the bars and it will add less than 1g of carbs to each serving.
- Press the bars into a parchment paper lined baking pan. These are soft, tender bars, and this will allow you to lift them out more easily after they cool.
- Let them cool completely before attempting to lift them out and cut them up. They will be fragile and quite crumbly if you attempt it too early.
- May I recommend sprinkling a touch of sea salt on the tops of your bars after baking? They’re tasty on their own but for me, this took them over the top. Sweet salty deliciousness!
What to do if you don’t have keto butterscotch chips:
If you don’t live anywhere near a Walmart, these chips are going to be tough to find. But never fear, you can still pull off some keto butterscotch deliciousness.
I recommend getting hold of some butterscotch flavoring. I know that Olive Nation makes one, as does One on One Flavors. Barring that, you can always use caramel extract instead (also available from both of these companies).
Don’t skip the browned butter and brown sweetener, because both of these help amplify the butterscotch flavor. As for the chips, you can simply use chocolate, or even white chocolate, if you prefer.
More delicious keto cookie bars
- Keto Magic Cookie Bars
- Keto Samoa Cookie Bars
- Keto Tagalong Cookie Bars
- Keto Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Keto Peanut Butter Cookie Fudge Bars
- Keto Funfetti Cookie Bars
Keto Butterscotch Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ¾ cup flaked coconut
- ¾ cup sliced almonds
- ¾ cup almond flour
- ½ cup Swerve Brown
- ¼ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (can sub caramel or butterscotch flavor)
- ⅓ cup Lily's butterscotch chips
- 2 tablespoon sugar free chocolate chips
- Flaked sea salt for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line an 8×8 metal baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat until it becomes a deep amber color. Watch carefully, do not let it over-brown (if it froths and you can't see the color, stir it a little bit). Set aside to cool.
- In a food processor, combine the flaked coconut and sliced almonds. Pulse a few times until the mixutre resembles oat flakes. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Whisk in the almond flour, sweeteners, baking powder, and salt, then add the browned butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined. Stir in most of the butterscotch chips, reserving about 1 tablespoon for the top.
- Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the prepared baking pan. Press the remaining butterscotch chips and the chocolate chips into the top of the bars.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and just barely firm to the touch. Remove and let cool in the pan, then lift out by the edges of the parchment and cut into bars. Sprinkle lightly with flaked sea salt, if desired.
Betty Harris says
these turned out excellent. top of our go-to list.
Karinc5 says
YUM, these are tast-EEE!! I used the butterscotch extract. These stay together after cutting WHEN THEY ARE COMPLETELY COOLED, trust the recipe. Thanks for another great one Carolyn!
Linda McGuire says
OM GOOOD! These are super delicious just like every other one of your recipes that I’ve made. Thank you!!!
Raechel says
So perfect! Followed recipe exactly and these are wonderful! I never knew the power of browning butter before. That makes all the difference!
Brigitte Dimock says
I just made the butterscotch bars recipe from your cookbook and it is quite different from this one. The bars are very tasty but fell completely apart when we tried to take them out of the pan. Any suggestions?
Carolyn says
They shouldn’t fall apart at all, they are basically blondies and I have many blondie recipes. Did you let them cool completely? Did they stick to the bottom of the pan? Did you use good almond flour? Did you use a different sweetener?
Shannon says
This recipe looks so amazing and I can’t wait to make it! Quick question, in the metric measurements the sliced almonds reads 177.44 grams, should it be 77.44? Just want to be sure before I make them. I have your book The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking, I love it! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes.
Carolyn says
Thanks for the catch. The metric conversion is automatic and it’s got some big errors in it. I usually go in and fix the ones for almond flour but now I know I need to fix the ones for sliced almonds too! It’s more like 90g.
Guy F Brackett says
A real keeper. I love butterscotch and love this recipe.
Carrie Logan says
Carolyn, is there anything you CAN’T do? The idea to use coconut flakes and sliced almonds to mimic oatmeal is positively brilliant. These were so delicious and a welcome improvement over the original.
Michele S says
Delicious! I will definitely make these again! will definitely use less sweetener next time. Questio for you, half would crumble as I took them out of the glass pan. I did use olden monk fruit and erithytal for the other sweetener. Any ideas on what could have caused this? Thank you.
Carolyn says
Did you let them cool completely?
Rebekah says
Kind of disappointed with these… I have had to cook them wayyyyyyy longer than recipe says. They are super wet in the middle every time I go to take them out. Is this normal and do they set as they cool?
Carolyn says
Something DEFINITELY went wrong. 2 questions: 1. Did you bake them in ceramic or a non-metal pan? and 2. Did you use a different sweetener? Those will both be huge issues.
Katherine L says
I had the same issue as Rebekah (7/21), they needed about 30 minutes to cook thoroughly and even when completely cool they sort of crumbled. And there was a LOT of melted butter in the bottom of the (metal) pan after I removed the bars. I double checked that I had measured everything correctly, also. Tasty, but….
Carolyn says
1. Did you use a different sweetener? 2. Did you bake them in glass or ceramic?
Colleen says
I sadly have to rule out almonds…any suggestions as a replacement to go with the coconut flakes for the “oats”? This was a childhood FAVE of mine at Christmas so I’m over the moon to get them right…just hoping to find another nut to sub!
Lynn Graham says
I just made these and they are delish!!! Thank you!!!
Kitty says
If I want to make these for a loved ones lunch box do I want them to be less gooy and maybe firmer? How would I accomplish that. I’m using BochaSweet.