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Old Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies are such a classic cookie recipe! Soft and chewy with crisp edges and a sweet icing that dries hard, these will become your new favorite cookie to make from scratch.
Growing up, my mom would always buy those packaged Iced Oatmeal Cookies from the grocery store. My dad loved them, but the problem was no one in my family liked crunchy cookies (#teamchewysoft all day). To combat this problem (with Chips Ahoy and Oreos too) my mom would leave the package open to “soften” them. As an adult I enjoy both crunchy and soft cookies, but when I want them soft I make my own so I can adjust the ingredients to make them the desired texture.
I have a favorite chewy oatmeal cookie recipe I make all the time, but these are different. How? While my other oatmeal cookies are all soft and chewy, these have a soft chewy center with crisp edges of the cookie. They’re also flatter, spread more and are topped with that telltale white crackly icing. These are just as easy to make with just a couple of extra steps (that are worth it!) Never buy that packaged cookie again once you know how to make these.
Iced Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Ingredients
- While most of my oatmeal cookie recipes use quick oats, this one needs Old Fashioned Oats for that chewy texture. However, we’re also going to pulse the oats in a food processor a few times, so there is a mix of oat textures. Why not just use quick oats? Because you want the larger and smaller sizes (as well as some of the oat flour created) to give is the desired texture of the cookies. It’s a little extra step but worth it!
- Because I want a thinner cookie with more spread, I used a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar. Adding white sugar helps with the spread that brown sugar alone cannot.
- You want your unsalted butter softened (not greasy) and if you only have salted, just reduce added salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
- Besides those, you need all the regular cookie ingredients: all-purpose flour, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
- Because we’re adding icing, you’ll need powdered sugar and vanilla. To make sure the glaze hardens you’ll need a bit of melted butter as well as heavy cream or whole milk (or a full-fat nondairy milk).
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Dorothy’s Testing Notes
- Only pulse the oats a few times (you don’t want them fully into flour). Aim for a combination of whole old-fashioned oats, instant oats, and powder.
- You do not need to chill this dough, but you can. You’ll just want to let it come to room temperature before baking.
- These do spread, especially because we start them off by pressing them lightly before baking. I like using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop so they don’t get too big.
- Remember that the fat content of the milk you add to the icing will affect the overall outcome. More fat = more needed. More fat (i.e. heavy cream) will yield a thicker, whiter icing that dries harder than whole milk or fat free. Always start by adding the least amount and add very slowly as you go.
Iced Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 ¾ cups (156g) old fashioned oats
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup (150g) packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the icing:
- 1 ½ cups (170g) powdered sugar
- ½ tablespoon (7g) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 2 ½ tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a food processor, pulse the oats until they are broken down into crumbs, but not so fine that they become flour.
- Add the pulsed oats to a medium mixing bowl along with the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until the dough is just combined. The dough will be thick.
- Use a 1- or 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough. Roll each portion into a ball, then place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using the bottom of a jar or glass dipped in water, gently flatten each dough ball slightly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 11-15 minutes (depending on size), or until the tops are no longer shiny and the edges are golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Once the cookies have completely cooled, whisk the powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of the milk or cream in a medium bowl until smooth. If needed, add the additional ½ tablespoon of milk to reach the desired consistency; you should be able to dip the tops of the cookies into the icing. (If using whole milk you’ll need less than if using heavy cream; if using heavy cream you may need up to 4 tablespoons).
- Briefly dip the top of each cookie into the icing. Let the icing set before serving.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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How to make Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- You can see that the oats aren’t fully processed; some are, some are smaller, some are dusty.
- Once creamed, the butter mixture will be thick and soft and light brown.
- Once the eggs and vanilla are added, the mixture will be wet.
- The flour and oats will tighten up the batter.
- You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer for this recipe.
- Once you scoop the cookies, flatten slightly to help them start spreading.
