These old-fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies are soft, chewy, and coated in a sweet vanilla icing. This recipe is flourless, gluten free, and packed with cozy spices.
If you’ve been around for a while, then you’ve probably tried my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They are SO good, but sometimes, I want an oatmeal cookie without chocolate — GASP! I know. I know. But trust me, these iced oatmeal cookies are just as good and perfect for those times when you’re just not feeling chocolate.
Ingredients
My secret to the BEST iced oatmeal cookies? Omit the flour and use ground oats instead. Using both whole AND ground oats allows the oatmeal flavor to really shine!
Cookies
- Butter – adds flavor and tenderness. In this cookie recipe, butter is kept chilled which results in a very thick cookie. Using unsalted butter allows you to control how much salt goes into the recipe. If salted butter is the only butter available, simply reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon per 1/2 cup of butter called for.
- Brown Sugar – contains molasses which yields a rich flavor and moist, chewy cookie. Dark brown sugar is approximately 20% molasses and light brown sugar is 10%. Dark brown sugar is called for in the recipe, but either can be used. Typically cookies are made with a combination of brown and granulated sugar, but using just brown sugar prevents the cookies from spreading too much and also enhances the warm, cozy flavor.
- Vanilla – adds a sweet flavor and depth. Without it, the cookies will taste bland. Pure vanilla extract is always preferred, but imitation will be fine in a pinch. Pure vanilla is made with vanilla bean, water, and alcohol whereas imitation vanilla is made without vanilla beans. Imitation is cheaper and often does not taste any different than pure vanilla extract in baked goods, so the choice is yours! I prefer pure vanilla extract, because it’s actually made with vanilla beans.
- Molasses – keeps the cookies soft while also providing a warm, rich, sweet flavor. Look for a light or dark unsulphured molasses, but do not use blackstrap — its flavor is much too strong and bitter.
- Egg – helps bind the cookie together while also adding a chewy texture. Because we’re using cold butter, you’ll need to use cold eggs. Same temperature ingredients combine better. Not all eggs are the same size; today’s recipe calls for large eggs, so be sure to check the carton!
- Old Fashioned Oats – aka rolled oats are used two ways in this recipe: whole and ground. Whole old fashioned oats provide a chewy texture and ground old fashioned oats replace the flour you’d typically find a cookie recipe that adds structure and gives the cookies shape.
- Spices: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, and Salt – our homemade spice mixture! This combination of spices gives a warm, cozy flavor and also helps to balance out the sweetness from the brown sugar. Feel free to use a store-bought seasoning blend like “pumpkin pie spice” to replace the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Baking Soda – our leavening agent. Baking soda gives these cookies a “lift” and prevents them from becoming too dense. It also promotes a nice, chewy texture.
Icing
- Powdered Sugar – the base of our glaze. Powdered sugar aka confectioners’ sugar is the best sweetener for glazes, frosting, and icings, because it’s ultra smooth. Granulated or brown sugar would give a gritty texture.
- Salt – balances out the sweetness of the powdered sugar to give this icing the perfect sweet, but not too sweet flavor.
- Milk – thins the icing ever so slightly. We’re looking for a relatively thick icing that will eventually harden on the cookies. Adding too much milk won’t allow the icing to set. Use milk, heavy cream, or half-and-half.
- Vanilla – optional, but highly recommended. It will make the icing slightly brown in color (vs white), but it does provide the icing with additional flavor.
How to make
Using cold butter keeps these cookies from spreading too much. While one set of cookies bakes, place the other in the fridge to keep the butter cold.
Cookies
- Preheat oven and line baking sheets with silicone mats.
- In your stand mixer, beat butter and brown sugar together until fluffy, then beat in vanilla, molasses, and egg.
- Add ground oats, whole oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda, then mix until well combined.
- Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out 16 dough balls — place 8 onto each prepared baking sheet, then bake until golden brown.
- Cool completely before icing.
Icing
- Place powered sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla into a medium sized bowl, whisk until smooth, then dunk the tops of the completely cooled cookies into the icing.
How to grind old fashioned oats
Cookies are typically made with flour, but for this recipe, we’re using ground old fashioned oats instead. Simply place old fashioned oats into a food processor and pulse until it resembles a fine flour.
I wanted to use ground old fashioned oats instead of flour to keep these gluten free, extra chewy, and I really wanted the oat flavor to shine.
How to ice oatmeal cookies
Icing oatmeal cookies couldn’t be simpler:
- Cool baked cookies completely.
- Whisk together icing ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
- Dunk the tops of each cooled cookie into the icing.
- Allow icing to set, then enjoy or store cookies in an airtight container for later!
Can you use quick oats instead of old-fashioned?
You can easily replace the ground old fashioned oats with quick oats, because you’ll be grinding them into a “flour” anyway. You can try to replace the whole old fashioned oats with whole quick oats, but you’ll likely end up with thinner, crispier cookies, because quick oats don’t have the same hearty texture that old fashioned oats have.
To help prevent spreading, try chilling the cookie dough balls in the fridge for 30-60 minutes before baking.
Why are my oatmeal cookies hard?
If made as directed, the oatmeal cookies shouldn’t be hard. If they are, here are some thoughts:
- You over-measured the dry ingredients. Too many oats will result in a dry, hard cookie. Be sure to scoop and level your dry ingredients vs packing them in.
- You over-baked. Cookies should bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. They’ll be golden brown and soft. The outsides will be set, but the centers may look ever so slightly underdone.
- They dried out after baking. Add a slice of sandwich bread to your air tight container; the cookies will suck the moisture from the bread and become soft.
Tips
- Use cold ingredients: butter and eggs. Cold ingredients are used in this recipe to prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
- Use a stand mixer. This dough is THICK and needs the strength of a stand mixer. A hand mixer likely won’t be able to handle cold butter. If all you have is a hand mixer, use room temperature butter, then chill the dough balls for 30-60 minutes before baking.
- Chill the dough. While the first set of cookies bakes, place the other baking sheet in the fridge to prevent the butter from becoming too soft.
- Cool the cookies completely before dunking in the icing. If they’re too warm, they’ll break and/or the icing won’t stick.
How to store
Leftover iced or un-iced cookies will last at room temperature for 3-5 days, in the fridge for up to 10 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To enjoy again, thaw in the fridge, if frozen, then enjoy chilled or at room temperature.
Can you freeze iced oatmeal cookies?
Yes! You can freeze the raw cookie dough balls or freeze the baked iced or un-iced cookies for up to 3 months — lots of options.
To freeze the cookie dough: scoop cookie dough onto a silicone mat lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer until frozen, about 1 hour. Place the frozen cookie dough balls into a freezer safe ziplock baggie, then freeze until ready to use. Bake from frozen, adding an additional 1-2 minutes to the bake time, if necessary.
To freeze the baked cookies: bake and cool cookies as directed. If adding the icing, ice as directed, then allow the icing to harden completely. Place the iced or un-iced cookies into an airtight container, placing parchment paper between the layers if stacking is necessary. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge, then enjoy chilled or at room temperature.
– Jennifer
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold and cubed
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 large egg cold
- 2 cups old fashioned oats ground in food processor until it resembles flour (certified GF if necessary)
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats left whole (certified GF if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats.
- In your stand mixer, beat butter and brown sugar together until fluffy — this may take a few minutes because the butter is cold.
- Beat in vanilla, molasses, and egg.
- Add ground oats, whole oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda, then mix until well combined.
- Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out 16 dough balls — place 8 onto each prepared baking sheet.*
- Bake in preheated oven to 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven, then allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before icing.
Icing
- Place powered sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla into a medium sized bowl then whisk until smooth.
- Dunk the tops of the completely cooled cookies into the icing.
- Place back onto the wire cooling rack to allow the icing to set.
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Notes
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Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.
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Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy