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Butterscotch Reese’s Pudding Cookies are FULL of butterscotch flavor without a ton of guilt – they’re made with a combination of butter and applesauce to cut down on the fat. That way you can add more Reese’s peanut butter cups!
Skinnier Butterscotch Reese's Pudding Cookies on blue plate

I’ve never been one for fad diets. I’ve never been good at them either.

Atkins? NO WAY. Carbs are my life.

Paleo? Ha. No refined sugar? I might die.

Weight Watchers…tried it. Some success. But, calculating and counting is so boring. And way overrated. And it’s not fair my husband got extra points just for being a man. I mean, what the heck? They get paid more AND they get more WW points? So. Not. Fair.

But, it has recently come to my attention that my weight is getting out of control.

First, the weather cooled off. And I tried to wear pants.

Second, I weighed myself. Big mistake. Big. HUGE.

{And, if you just read that last sentence and wanted to follow it with “I have to go shopping now” I love you a little bit more.}

Since regular “dieting” is out (I’ll never stick to anything), I decided on a 48-hour cleanse to kick start me and get me…well…cleansed. (The Dr. Oz one, to be specific.)

I can do anything for 48-hours. I think.

Today is day 1.

I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve already had to pee waaaaay too many times. But that’s probably TMI.

Let’s talk cookies instead. Since I can’t eat them, I’ll share them with you.

Skinnier butterscotch reese's pudding cookies on a paper towel with reese's cups and more cookies on a plate behind it

Now, I’m calling these Skinn{ier} Butterscotch Reese’s Cookies. Not skinny. Skinnier.

I took out some of the butter, and replaced it with applesauce. (Never fear, the butterscotch takes over and you can’t taste the apple!)

But then I filled the cookies with two cups of chopped mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

So…skinnier.

Oh, and insanely good. Did I mention that?

Because these have less fat you can eat lots of them.

Skinnier butterscotch reese's pudding cookies on a blue decorative plate with mini reese's cups

That’s proooobabbbly what got me into trouble in the first place, methinks.

Excuse me. I have a Pineapple/Pom/lemon drink that is just calling my name. I’d rather have that than cookies any day!

{HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA}

Check out all my other pudding cookie recipes!

Skinnier Butterscotch Reese's Pudding Cookies on blue plate

Butterscotch Reese’s Pudding Cookies

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Butterscotch Reese’s Pudding Cookies are FULL of butterscotch flavor without a ton of guilt - they're made with a combination of butter and applesauce to cut down on the fat. That way you can add more Reese's peanut butter cups!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Yield 24 cookies
Serving Size 1 cookie
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Ingredients
 

  • 1/4 cup butter softened
  • 1/2 cup applesauce or 1-4 ounce single serve package
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 3.4 ounce package butterscotch instant pudding
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 cups mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups chopped
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Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Whisk together baking soda and flour and set aside.
  • Cream together butter, applesauce and sugars. Add the pudding package and beat until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in chopped Reese’s.
  • Scoop into 2 tablespoon size balls and place on your cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 112kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 82mg | Potassium: 40mg | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 80IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.7mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

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Skinnier butterscotch reese's pudding cookies on a blue decorative plate with recipe title in text below plate

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Last Updated on September 12, 2022



Dorothy Kern

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67 Comments

  1. Good luck with the cleanse. . .I could eat these cookies for you so you don’t have them around tempting you! 😉

    Reply

  2. Dorothy,
    You always have the funniest posts! Love it. I would go buy new clothes, hehe. I’ve never tried a cleanse before but I just printed out the 3-day military diet and I’m trying to talk myself into it; if I could just figure out which three days I want to give up.

    These cookies look amazing! I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday. Can’t wait to see what you share this week! Have a wonderful week.
    Michelle

    Reply

  3. Ugh… just thinking about going on a cleanse makes me want to eat (all) of these cookies. Now what I do HIGHLY recommend is getting a body wrap (…not the “water” loss kind, but one from a reputable spa that does it with the vitamins/minerals). I always get one before I’m about to “kick start” working out or eating better. Which starts tomorrow actually- blah!

    Thx for sharing at Pin It Thursday!

    Reply

  4. Good luck with your cleanse! Well done you for deciding to do something about the scary number on the scale, instead of pretending it wasn’t there. And thank you for the “skinny-ish” cookie recipe. It looks delish!

    Reply

    1. Thanks Jessi! I’ll go back to pretending in a few weeks…right about Halloween when all the mini Almond Joys come home, lol!

      Reply

  6. I am right there with you on the diets!!!! I hate depriving my tastebuds of the yummy goodness that is FOOD!!!!! Goodluck on the clense and I am off to make these skinner cookies!

    Reply

  7. I know right… the secret to Atkins seems to be that you can’t eat anything good so you lose tons of weight because you just. don’t. eat.

    That’s how it would be for me anyways. 😉

    Butterscotch sounds yummmmy.

    Reply

  8. #foodbloggerproblems

    But good for you for taking action and doing a cleanse. I did a 3-day cleanse where I could eat raw fruits and vegetables and drink the smoothies they provided. It actually wasn’t as hard as I was expecting, but I imagine being able to eat fruits helped!

    Reply

    1. For sure! I’d have to try that one. Was it an online one? I really liked the smoothie part. 🙂

      Reply

  9. You crack me up! You sound like me lately. I lost a ton of weight last year after having my twins. Well needless to say some of the weight just magically came back on. So back to dieting I go so I’m right there with ya! Loving this recipe!

    Reply

    1. Thanks Jennifer! Dieting sucks. I wish they’d create a magic word, like, “weight-begone-sesame!” and it would go away. 😉

      Reply

  10. Silly Dorothy. No need for a fad diet, your answer is right here: you just gave us skinnier cookies. Just eat those and you will get skinnier. Obviously… Right?
    Also, I’m pretty sure I just saw a picture of you looking totally fantastic. Diet shmiet.

    Oh, and these cookies rock. Great flavors here!

    Reply