These old-fashioned iced oatmeal cookies are soft, chewy, and filled with warm spice, with crisp buttery edges. Topped with creamy vanilla icing, they’re totally irresistible!
Why You’ll Love These Classic Iced Oatmeal Cookies
The next time you’re tempted to pick up a box of iced oatmeal cookies from the store, make this homemade version! These iced oatmeal cookies couldn’t be easier to make. They’re filled with tender oats and cozy spices, sweetened with molasses and brown sugar. Here’s why you’ll love them just as much as we do:
Old-fashioned. These iced oatmeal cookies taste just like the kind grandma used to make.
Perfect texture. They have rich, crispy, buttery edges wrapped around soft, chewy centers, topped with simple vanilla icing that melts in your mouth.
One bowl. Your oatmeal cookie dough comes together in one bowl for quick and easy clean-up.
These oatmeal cookies can be either! The bake time in the recipe will give you soft chewy cookies, but add a few minutes onto the time and you will get crispy edges with a slightly chewy center! My homemade oatmeal cookies are chewy and soft, made with a touch of molasses and dark brown sugar for just the right amount of sweetness.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You only need a few common pantry items to make the best oatmeal cookies dipped in creamy icing. Below are some ingredient notes, and don’t forget to scroll to the recipe card for the full measurements and instructions.
Butter and Eggs – Make sure they’re at room temperature before you start.
Dark Brown Sugar – Secret #1 for perfect sweet and tender oatmeal cookies. See below for details.
Vanilla – Use real vanilla extract and not artificial vanilla.
Molasses – Secret #2 for cookies that are soft, chewy, and full of flavor. Make sure to use unsulfured or dark molasses, and not bootstrap molasses.
Salt
Cinnamon – You can also use nutmeg or mixed spice (pumpkin or apple pie spice).
Baking Soda
Oats – The best oats for oatmeal cookies are quick oats, or old-fashioned rolled oats for a more textured cookie.
Flour
Powdered Sugar – Combined with water and additional vanilla extract for the icing.
Dark Brown Sugar vs. Light Brown Sugar
Fun fact of the day: brown sugar is just granulated sugar with molasses added. So, what’s the difference between dark brown sugar and light brown sugar, then? It comes down to the amount of molasses. Dark brown sugar is simply granulated sugar with more molasses added to it. In these iced oatmeal cookies, the extra moisture in dark brown sugar yields a more tender, soft cookie.
How to Make Iced Oatmeal Cookies
You’re only a few quick steps away from delicious oatmeal cookies fresh from the oven!
Make the dough. Start by creaming together the butter and sugar until it’s nice and mixed. After, add the eggs, vanilla, molasses, cinnamon, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Next, slowly incorporate the oats and flour.
Chill. Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Scoop the dough. Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake. Bake the oatmeal cookies at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to cool. OR add 2 – 3 minutes to the bake time to get a more crisp cookie!
How to Ice Oatmeal Cookies
When your cookies have cooled completely, you’ll ice them the old-fashioned way, with a sweet and simple vanilla glaze.
Make the icing. Combine powdered sugar with a few spoonfuls of water and a dash of vanilla extract, and whisk until smooth.
Dip the cookies. One at a time, *lightly* dip the tops of the oatmeal cookies into the icing. Not a full dunk! Place the iced cookies back onto the wire rack. Wait until the icing has set before storing your cookies (see the section later on for storage instructions).
Tips and Variations for the Best Oatmeal Cookies
What’s a perfect cookie recipe without a few helpful tips and pointers? Keep the following in mind when making iced oatmeal cookies from scratch:
If you don’t have molasses, use maple syrup instead.
Chill the dough. Chilling the oatmeal cookie dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking helps to prevent the cookies from over-spreading in the oven.
Use a cookie scoop. It’s a game-changer for soft, sticky cookie dough recipes like this one. Using a cookie scoop ensures that all of your oatmeal cookies come out the same size and shape (I recommend a medium-sized scoop for this recipe).
Leave enough space for spreading. Make sure to leave about 2” between each dough ball on the baking sheet to account for the cookies spreading in the oven.
Adjust the consistency of the icing. If your vanilla icing is too thick for dipping, add more water one spoonful at a time. If it’s looking a bit runny, add additional powdered sugar. You don’t want the icing too wet, though, otherwise, it won’t set.
If your oatmeal cookies turn out hard and crumbly, it could be due to over-measuring. Make sure that you’re correctly measuring dry ingredients like oats and flour, using a kitchen scale or the spoon-and-level method. Instead of “scooping” the ingredients from the bag using the measuring cup, spoon them into the cup and then level off the top.
How to Store Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Homemade oatmeal cookies will last about 1 week at room temperature. Make sure that the icing has set completely and then store the cookies in an airtight container.
Do Oatmeal Cookies Freeze Well?
Yes! These cookies can be frozen with or without the icing. Store the cookies airtight and freeze them for up to 2 months. You can also freeze the unbaked cookie dough balls, and bake them straight from frozen (add an extra minute to the baking time). Here is my full post on How To Freeze Cookie Dough.
These old-fashioned iced oatmeal cookies have the perfect chewy texture! They’re soft in the middle with crisp buttery edges, filled with spice, and topped with creamy vanilla icing.
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 cups quick oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4–5 tablespoons water
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and dark brown sugar together for 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, vanilla, molasses, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda and mix for an additional minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Turn the mixer to low speed, add in the oats and flour, and mix until combined.
Cover the dough and place it into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
Using a medium (2 tablespoon) cookie scoop, portion out the dough onto the prepared baking sheet leaving 2 inches in between for spreading. Bake for 10-12 minutes (see note).
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing: Whisk the powdered sugar, water, and vanilla extract together in a medium bowl until smooth.
Dip the tops of each cooled cookie into the icing and place back on the wire rack to set.
Notes
Add 2 – 3 minutes to the bake time if you prefer a crisper, crunchy cookie.
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days. Freeze airtight for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Keywords: iced oatmeal cookies, oatmeal cookies recipe
