Butterscotch Latte Cookies

I love fall. So much. The pretty colors, the crisp, fresh air, the spices in the air.. And caramel EVERYTHING. Butterscotch is just a variation of caramel, essentially, and coffee is a MUST during the fall. Why not throw both into a cookie? 

I've fallen in love with flax recently, so I had to throw some of that in here.. I first really started using it when I had run out of eggs.. I didn't want to go to the store, and I happened to have some ground flax seed in my pantry that someone had given me awhile back.. While researching egg substitutes, I found that 1tbsp of ground flax + 3tbsp liquid is equal to 1 egg in baking. I've also fallen in love with french vanilla recently, so I just use 1 tbsp of flax + 3 tbsp french vanilla coffee creamer. The creamer just adds an extra level of decadence to these cookies, not to mention versatility! I'll put some ideas up for variations at the end of the post (please note though that I haven't actually TRIED any of these variations yet, but they are ones that will work with the chemistry of the cookies). 

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp molasses
2-3 tbsp instant coffee (depending on your taste)
1 egg
1 tbsp ground flax seed
3 tbsp french vanilla coffee creamer
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375º. 

Cream shortening, butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add molasses, coffee, egg, flax and creamer. Mix until well combined. Add flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, corn starch, salt and cinnamon. Stir in butterscotch chips just before flour mixture is totally mixed in, and finish folding everything in. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-11 minutes until just golden brown.

Now comes the fun part! Variations! 
-Black and White Mocha (Zebra/Tuxedo mocha) - Remove molasses. Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder, use white chocolate coffee creamer and white chocolate chips.
-Irish cream - Double the flax/creamer, remove egg and molasses. Use irish cream creamer and chocolate chips (optional). Mix together irish cream creamer and powdered sugar until a nice drizzling consistency is achieved, and drizzle over the top and let dry.  
-Pumpkin spice - Double the flax/creamer, remove egg. Use pumpkin spice creamer and pumpkin spice chips. 
-Peppermint Mocha - Remove molasses. Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder, use peppermint mocha or York patty creamer and either chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or peppermint bits (Andes mints makes a peppermint bit for baking!).. or a combination thereof!

There are so many more variations you could do, but these are at least a few to get you started.. If you try one of these or a different variation, leave a comment and let me know what it was and how it turned out!