Iced Oatmeal Cookies
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Filled with delicious fall flavors like cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla, with a complimentary sweet glaze on top, these chewy iced oatmeal cookies are easy to make and tasty to boot!
These old-fashioned iced oatmeal cookies will have you reaching for this recipe instead of reaching for the store-bought ones! Confession: iced oatmeal cookies are my weakness. I just love ’em. And although there are infinite types of cookies in the world, I think you can generally break cookie lovers down into two categories and you can determine which one people fit in by placing a plate of chocolate chip cookies and another of oatmeal cookies in front of them. My kids will reach for chocolate chips every time and I’m headed straight for the oatmeal.
Whichever direction you lean in, we are all likely situated right smack dab in the middle of fall baking season. I don’t do a ton of cookie baking in the summertime because we tend to fixate on fresh fruits of the season. But this time of year, when cooler temperatures draw us outside, we long for the smell of cinnamon and warm cookies when we return home. I also find great joy in giving cookies and other baked goods as gifts to friends, family, and neighbors, and these iced oatmeal cookies never disappoint.
They fit the brief as well, as they’re filled with those quintessential fall and holiday flavors, like old-fashioned and quick oats, cinnamon, vanilla, and brown sugar. With a sweet icing on top, these soft and chewy iced oatmeal cookies are sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Thankfully, they’re tasty and quick and easy to make, so let’s get baking!
Recipe Ingredients
- Old-fashioned and quick oats
- Self-rising flour
- Cinnamon
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- White
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugars until well mixed.
Add eggs and beat again.
Add in oats, flour, vanilla extract, and cinnamon and beat again until fully incorporated.
Using a cookie dough scoop (they hold about two tablespoons), scoop out dough and place the cookies on the about two inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Allow cookies to cool for about five minutes on the baking sheet after you remove them from the oven and then remove them from the cookie sheet.
In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and milk until it forms a glue-like consistency.
Dip the top of each cooled oatmeal cookie into the icing and allow to dry before storing in an airtight container. The icing will harden once it dries.
Enjoy your delicious homemade cookies!
Storage
- Store cookies in an airtight container either at room temperature or in the fridge for up to one week. To ensure the cookies don’t stick together, layer them between parchment paper.
- To freeze, place unbaked dough in a gallon zipper seal bag. Flatten and remove as much air as you can and seal well. Freeze for up to six months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and scoop out with cookie scoop onto a greased cookie sheet before baking according to instructions.
Recipe Notes
- If you prefer, you can double the old-fashioned oats and pulse them a few times in the food processor to break some up a bit instead of using two kinds. I always have old-fashioned and quick on hand so that’s just easier for me to do.
- Salted or unsalted butter works in this cookie recipe. Use what you’ve got.
- For extra spice, add 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg or 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves.
- If you can’t resist and want to indulge in some oatmeal raisin cookies instead, add 1/2 cup of raisins when you mix the rest of the ingredients together.
- Another great idea for your baking is to make a double batch of this iced oatmeal cookie dough. Or come to think of it, any and all cookie dough and freeze half. Once the holidays are in full swing and your life picks up to a faster pace than it already is, being able to thaw the dough a bit and do your holiday baking without all of the mess will be a huge sanity saver!
Recipe FAQs
Can you use oat flour instead?
No, oat flour won’t work in the recipe for oatmeal cookies, as it doesn’t have the same consistency and texture as old-fashioned and quick oats.
You might also enjoy these delicious cookie recipes:
World’s Best Chewy Sugar Cookies
White Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies
Thumbprint Cookies with Jam or Preserves
Chocolate Cookies with Marshmallow
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 cup quick oats
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar light or dark
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-5 tbsp milk start with 2 and add more if needed
Instructions
- Spray one or two baking sheets with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until well mixed. Add eggs and beat again. Add in oats, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon and beat again until fully incorporated.1 cup old fashioned oats, 1 cup quick oats, 2 cups self-rising flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 sticks unsalted butter, 1 cup brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Using a cookie dough scoop (they hold about two tablespoons), scoop out dough and place on baking sheets about two inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool for about five minutes on the baking sheets after you remove them from the oven and then remove them from the baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and milk until it forms a glue-like consistency. Dip the top of each cooled cookie into the icing and allow to dry before storing in an airtight container (the icing will harden once it dries).2 cups powdered sugar, 2-5 tbsp milk
Notes
Nutrition
Give advice to your kids while they’re young enough to think you know what you’re talking about.
~Anonymous
These cookies bring back wonderful childhood memories for me. I just love them and can’t wait to bake up a batch.
I hope you get the chance to make up a batch soon Julia!!
Would you educate me about the milk in the icing? Why doesn’t the cookie need to be refrigerated? I’ve always wondered/been paranoid about this.
Thanks.
Hey Denise!
It’s the liquid in milk that encourages bacteria, mold, etc. In this recipe we are drying the milk entirely so think of it as you would powdered milk.
Interesting. Thank you for the answer. These cookies sound delicious!
I’ve always wondered about this, too! Your answer kind of makes sense, but now I’m wondering about things, for example, cake frosting with milk, which stays sort of liquid sitting out at room temperature for days… I’ve heard that adding a little extra salt helps it to not spoil… any scientists reading this?
The recipe sounds sooooo goood.
Okay so by definition, I’m a food scientist. Kinda scary to admit that though. I have a Bachelor of Science in Human Environmental Sciences (Home Ec) with concentration in Food and Nutrition. Weird that it sounds so adultish. Anyway, the milk is stabilized by the large amount of sugar. Similar how a jam is prevented from spoiling for an almost indefinite period of time due to the concentration of sugar in it. Liquid bonds to the sugar and this slows down the ability of bad stuff to be able to grow – it doesn’t have the liquid readily available that it needs to do so because that liquid is hanging out with the sugar :). Now, over time this will change but for short term it is very effective. Butter isn’t an issue, either as it is fine at room temp. Same with cream cheese. Now the thing is you really want to eat this cake within 2-3 days at room temp but the quality of the cake itself really goes downhill after that unless it is refrigerated anyway.
The big exception is if you have an icing that is a meringue or some other eggy type icing, those need to be refrigerated.
This sounds like a great recipe for a oatmeal cookie w/o raisins. I don’t care for cooked raisins but will eat them straight from the box. I would have a hard time choosing between chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies. Maybe have one of each would be best. I usually add chopped pecans to almost all of the cookies that I bake. Thanks for all of the great recipes and stories you share with us. Sharing on pinterest.
What about Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies? Then you would have the best of both!!
Sometimes I do make them combined and they are so good!!!
I’m in the chocolate chip cookie camp. I haven’t commented lately, but I still make your basic chocolate cake for the international students dinner we go to. We go every week and I make your chocolate cake recipe about once or twice a month (I try to switch it up since different groups prefer different tastes. The Iranians all go for the chocolate though). So that’s the page that is all messy and torn in my Come Home to Supper cookbook.
I’d like to know if these are a soft cookie….even without the icing. I’ve been looking for a soft oatmeal cookie for years! These look yummy!
Why does no one answer if cookie is soft ? I would like to know before I choose this recipe
Hey Tanne,
I have a lot of irons in the fire on my end and I appreciate your grace and patience in getting to the comments. This cookie is chewy, in the middle of soft and crunchy. You can cook it for a minute or two less if you want it more on the chewier side. 🙂
Snickerdoodles.
I always make a double batch when I make cookies. I freeze them too, but I do it a little different. I use the cookie scoop, make little mounds, freeze them spaced apart on a sheet tray. When completely frozen, I drop them in a freezer baggie (or a food saver bag). This way I can bake a few or bake a lot, depending on if the grandkids are visiting, Otherwise it is just me and hubby and a full batch of cookies is too much.
You do this because you are brilliant 😀
I love my grandmother’s recipe for oatmeal cookies with coconut. I always make a double batch and hide most of them in the freezer.