These iced oatmeal cookies are soft and chewy, made with brown butter, warm spices, and lightly dipped in vanilla icing. They are even better than the classic store-bought cookies!
These homemade iced oatmeal cookies are my newest obsession! Inspired by Mother’s oatmeal cookies, this version is soft-baked instead of crispy!
They have brown butter, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon with lots of old-fashioned oats (pulverized for the best texture!).
Table of Contents
Why We Love Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- These glazed oatmeal cookies taste just like Grandma’s iced cookies, but even better because they are homemade!
- They are full of cozy spiced flavor thanks to brown butter, molasses, and brown sugar; very similar to our brown butter snickerdoodles.
- Every oatmeal cookie is lightly dipped in icing, which also keeps them soft and chewy for days.
- Perfect for Christmas cookie boxes!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Old-fashioned rolled oats: Also known as rolled oats, they are key to a chewy texture! You can use quick-cook oats in substitution.
Light brown sugar: We added lots of brown sugar for a chewy texture and extra molasses flavor. Substitute dark brown sugar if needed.
Molasses: The molasses gives these iced oatmeal cookies their classic warm caramel flavor. They don’t have as much as our molasses crackle cookies or gingerbread cake, but just enough to give them an extra depth of flavor and soft texture.
Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Brown the butter. Cook the unsalted butter in a stainless steel pan over medium heat until there are solid brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Scrape it into a bowl and cool to room temperature (Image 1 below).
Step 2: Pulverize the oats. Add the rolled oats to a food processor or dry blender. Grind until there is a mixture of whole oats and oat flour. Set aside (Image 2 below).
Step 3: Whisk the sugar and butter together. Whisk together the cooled butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined (Image 3 below).
Step 4: Whisk in the wet ingredients. Whisk in the egg, vanilla extract, and molasses until just combined (Image 4 above).
Step 5: Fold in the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to fold the ground oats, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg (Image 5 below).
Step 6: Scoop and chill the dough. Scoop the oatmeal cookie dough onto one of the prepared baking sheets (Image 6 below). Chill the tray in the freezer for at least 3-4 hours, overnight is best!
Step 7: Bake the oatmeal cookies. Bake them spaced two inches apart on a lined baking tray until just the edges are golden brown (Image 7 above).
Step 8: Make the vanilla glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth (Image 8 above). It will be thick but should still run off the whisk smoothly.
Step 9: Dip the cookies in the icing. Dip just the tops of the cookies quickly and lightly into the white icing. Alternatively, dip your finger in the glaze and dab it over the top! Allow them to set for a few hours before packaging.
Tips for The Best Iced Cookies
- Use a kitchen scale. Baking with a scale is much more accurate than cup measurements. To convert this recipe, click the “metric” button next to the ingredients title on the recipe card. If you do not have a scale, use a spoon to fluff the flour first, then spoon it into your measuring cup.
- Let the cookies cool before glazing, or the icing will rip the top of the cookies off!
- Use a thick glaze– a thin glaze will not settle into the top. Adjust the icing as needed with extra powdered sugar or milk.
- Quick and light dip! To cover just the top, dip them quickly and lightly. Do not press them too far into the glaze!
- Let the butter cool before use, otherwise, the cookies will overly spread in the oven.
- Use a food processor to pulverize the oats, this is the best way to get the perfect mixture of texture in the cookies.
How to Store and Freeze
These iced oatmeal cookies will stay soft and chewy for days if stored properly! Store any baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. They are even softer the next day thanks to the icing on top!
You can store the frozen cookie dough balls in a freezer bag or airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. The baked oatmeal cookies can be frozen for up to 1 month.
FAQs
You can, although the iced oatmeal cookies will have a different texture.
Yes! Grinding the oats a bit will help give them their extra chewy texture.
Ensure the cookies are completely cool, dip one cookie into the glaze, and watch how it settles on top. Adjust the icing with more powdered sugar or more milk for the perfect consistency!
This depends on the humidity in your kitchen. In testing, we found it can take about 1-2 hours to fully set.
Yes! The dough must be chilled otherwise the cookies will spread a lot when baking. If you’re short on time, consider making our biscoff cookies instead!
No, the cookies should be stored at room temperature!
More Festive Recipes
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Soft Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 14 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp + 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp unsulphered molasses
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp + 2 tsp all-purpose flour, *See notes below for measuring*
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Brown the butter. In a stainless steel pan, cook the butter over medium heat, stirring frequently. When the bottom of the pan has brown bits of butter solid and it starts to smell nutty, scrape all of it into your mixing bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Hot butter will make the cookies spread too much when baking!14 tbsp (196 g) unsalted butter
- Pulse the oats. Pulse the rolled oats in a food processor or dry blender until half of the oats are oat flour with some whole oat pieces remaining. (See a visual photo in the post above!)1 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp (180 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- Whisk the butter and sugars. When the butter is cooled, vigorously whisk in the light brown sugar and granulated sugar for 1 minute until well combined.1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp + 2 tsp (62 g) granulated sugar
- Whisk in the wet ingredients. Whisk in the egg, vanilla, and molasses.1 (55 g) large egg, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp + 1 tsp (24 g) unsulphered molasses
- Mix in the dry ingredients. Fold in the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.1 cup + 1 tbsp + 2 tsp (140 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp fine sea salt, 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- Scoop and chill the cookie dough. Scoop the dough into two tablespoon-sized balls and place them onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Chill the tray in the freezer for 3-4 hours minimum, overnight is best!
- Preheat the oven. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Bake the oatmeal cookies. Bake the cookies spaced at least two inches apart for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. For crispy cookies, bake 2-3 minutes longer. Let the cookies cool completely before glazing!
- Make the vanilla icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk until smooth. The glaze should be thick but should flow off the end of the whisk easily. Adjust with more powdered sugar or milk as needed.1 1/2 cups (150 g) powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp whole milk
- Glaze the cookies. Quickly and lightly dip the tops of the cookies into the icing. Let the glaze set for 1-2 hours before packaging, then enjoy!
- Store iced cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. You can freeze the cookie dough balls in a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 3 months.
Notes
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below & tag @cambreabakes on social!The calorie information provided for the recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
I haven’t tried these yet but I gave it a 5 star rating because I just know they will be awsome! I love the finer milled oats and am intriqued by the freezing prior to baking.I’m assuming I would first bring the frozen dough balls to room temperature before baking. Is that correct? 30 minutes?
Thank you!
Hi Libby! This recipe needs to be baked straight from the oven, otherwise the cookies will spread too much!
Can quick oats be used if you don’t have old-fashioned?
Hi Tiffanie! I think it should be fine, although the texture may be slightly different!
YAY! So happy to hear that Gina, thanks for the review! 🙂