Homemade Soft & Chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies

The very first time I made Homemade Iced Oatmeal Cookies was when I was recipe testing for The Cookie Book.

We always had Mother’s Iced Oatmeal Cookies in our house growing up. They are one of my dad’s favorites, so I knew I needed a copycat recipe in my cookbook!

I’ve created this adaption of that recipe for my website because I knew we needed one here as well!

I omitted the white whole wheat flour (that I love so much) for this recipe because I wanted it to be a fuss-free version and I know not many of you have white whole wheat flour in your cupboard (it’s different than regular whole wheat but that’s a discussion for another day).

For this iced oatmeal cookie recipe we’ll use baking staples that you probably already have in your baking cubbie: old-fashion rolled oats, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, eggs and that’s it!

The easy vanilla glaze is just confectioners’ sugar (also called 10X, icing sugar and/or powdered sugar), milk and vanilla bean (or vanilla paste or real vanilla extract).

The resulting cookie is A) beautiful and B) tastes delicious! These are soft cookies that stay super soft for days! And once you let the icing set, you can stack and gift these like the generous person you are. ;)

If you’re looking for more oatmeal treats, check out my Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and my favorite Fluffy Banana Oat Cake!

Let’s make some seriously delicious iced oatmeal cookies!

Why You Should Bake 
The Best Iced Oatmeal Cookies STAT!

• They’re soft and chewy cookies, my favorite kind!
• The cookie flavors are warm and toasty and spiced with molasses, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg
• It’s a pretty fuss-free recipe using pantry staples
• These oatmeal cookies need a short chill in the fridge for the perfect consistency (and to keep spreading at bay)
• The vanilla icing on top will set, so these are perfect for gifting around the holidays (or whenever!)

How to Grind Oatmeal for These Cookies

You will need a high-speed blender (such as a Vitamix) or a food processor fitted with the blade attachment (such as a Cuisinart) to get the oats to the perfect consistency.

Start With Whole Oats

And first things first, you’ll need to start with whole oats (old fashion oats) instead of quick oats. You could use quick oats in this recipe, but you might not get that uneven surface on the top of the cookie that is perfect for dipping.

Use the Pulse Feature on Your Blender/Food Processor

You’ll want to use the pulse feature on either, to get the correct consistency. I find when I use my Vitamix for this task, I need to stir the oatmeal between pulses to make sure the top portion of oats gets pulsed as well.

The Perfect Oat Texture

You want an equal combination of oat flour and coarse oats when you’re done. The oat flour will hold the cookies together and the coarse oats will provide the texture that creates an uneven top surface that’s perfect for dipping.

Troubleshooting Your Oats

If you accidentally over-mix your oats and they become too fine, that’s ok (don’t panic)…your cookies will still taste delicious, but they won’t have the perfect texture for getting the glaze to look like it does in the photos.

However, if you don’t have enough oat flour (and you have more coarse oats), your cookies may spread more in the oven. Which again, is fine. They’ll still taste delicious. Follow the instructions in the recipe card for nudging the cookies back into shape.

How to Dip Old-Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies

To get the same look as the Mother’s Iced Oatmeal Cookies (and as seen in the photos), you need several things:

• A bumpy surface on your cooled cookie (it will be bumpy from the coarse oats)
• A thick, but dip-able, vanilla glaze (you can read more about Vanilla Glaze here; just note that that particular glaze is thinner than the one in the recipe card below)
• The proper dipping technique…which I detail below! 👇🏼

Once the cookies have cooled and your vanilla glaze is mixed, you’ll dip the very surface of the cookie into the glaze. You don’t want to submerge the entire surface of the cookie, just the very top parts.

Lift the cookie up from the glaze and let any excess glaze fall back into the bowl.

If the cookie surface is completely covered in glaze you’ll need to dip a little less forcefully. It’s a gentle dip.

Let the cookies sit on a cooling rack until the glaze has fully set.

The Baker’s Guide to Measuring Flour

One of the biggest (and most common) mistakes in baking is how we measure flour. If you find yourself without a scale, see my top tips on how to properly measure flour for the perfect amount every time!

Step-by-Step Instructions (with photos!) to Make 
Perfect Iced Oatmeal Cookies

• Take Care When Grinding Your Oats. Using a high-speed blender or food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse the oats until they are half oat flour and half coarse oats. The oat flour part helps bind the cookies together, while the coarse oats are what give the cookies their bumpy surface and looks so pretty when dipped into the vanilla glaze.
• Make Sure Your Glaze is Thick. I have a full Vanilla Glaze Tutorial if you want more details on mixing up vanilla glaze. You want to create a thick icing (it will seem thicker than you want, but it’s perfect). You’ll barely dip the surface in the cookie into the glaze and then hold the cookie over the bowl letting any excess drip off of the cookie. If the icing is running off of the cookie, it’s too thin and you’ll need to add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken it up.
• Shape Your Cookies. If you have less oat flour (and more coarse oats), the cookies may come out a tiny bit misshapen (it shouldn’t be a lot). Use the edge of a rubber spatula to nudge them back into shape.

Let’s make some old fashioned iced oatmeal cookies!

How to Make Iced Oatmeal Cookies

To Assemble The Cookies

Best Baking Tools for
The Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies with Icing

Either an Electric Stand Mixer or this is my favorite Hand-Held Mixer (it’s in all of my videos!)

This isn’t necessary for these cookies, but I love a mixer moment. 

My favorite extra-large Cookie Sheets

These will let you bake more cookies at a time (make sure they’ll fit in your oven). These are restaurant grade and I love them for everything from cookies to roasting veggies and sheet-pan dinners!

The Spatula that I use for literally EVERYTHING

The set of heat-safe Glass Bowls that I use for mixing

My favorite Baking Scale 

This 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop is perfect for this recipe

For more fun shopping, check out my Shop (aka my favorite things!).

More Delicious Oatmeal Desserts

I love baking with oats, they make everything so cozy! This Fluffy Banana Oat Snacking Cake is so freaking delicious, you must try. 

I also have Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Classic Oatmeal Cookie and you should definitely take a look at my GF DF Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. These are a knock-off of an Erewhon cookie and are *not* a traditional oatmeal cookie in the slightest.

Enjoy The Best Chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies!

Homemade Soft & Chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies

These Homemade Soft & Chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies are the ultimate nostalgic cookie! A brown sugar-rich cookie dough is loaded with oats, a touch of molasses and spices for mega flavor. The dough needs a short 20 minutes fridge rest prior to baking. The cooled cookies are dipped in a thick, vanilla glaze for the perfect old-fashioned iced oatmeal cookie!

5 from 4 reviews

Print SaveSaved! Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes minutes

Chill Time: 20 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cookies

Keyword: Old Fashion, Iced Oatmeal Cookies, Vanilla Glaze, Baking, Dessert, Recipe

Servings: 36 Cookies

Author: Rebecca Firth

Ingredients

To Start

• 2 ¼ cups (180 g) old-fashioned rolled oats

For the Cookie Dough

• 16 tablespoons (226 g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1¼ cups (275 g) light brown sugar (packed)
• ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (21 g) unsulphured molasses (I like Grandma’s brand for those in the US; do not use blackstrap molasses)
• 1 tablespoon (13 g) real vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons (5 g) cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1½ teaspoons (7 g) sea salt
• 2 1/3 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour

For the Vanilla Glaze

• 1½ cups (180 g) confectioners’ sugar (sifted)
• 2 tablespoons (38 g) whole milk
• ½ vanilla bean (split lengthwise and scraped (or use ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract))

Instructions

To Start

• In a high-speed blender or food processor fitted with the blade, pulse the old-fashioned oats until they are coarsely chopped. Some bits will be fine and dusty, others more substantial; this is fine.
  

For the Cookie Dough

• To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, brown sugar, sugar, molasses, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes.
  
• Add in the eggs, one at a time. Making sure the first is well blended before adding the second. Add in the baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix for 1 minute more. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is well combined.
  
• Add in the flour and mix on low for about 30 seconds or until barely combined and you still see streaks of flour. Add in the pulsed oats and mix on low for 1 minutes or until the oats are evenly distributed throughout. Set the dough in the fridge while you preheat the oven; about 15 to 20 minutes.
  
• Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Cover several baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Scoop 1½ tablespoons of dough place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches (5 cm) apart from each other. Bake cookies one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 10 to 11 minutes. When the cookies are fresh-from-the-oven, use the edge of a spatula to nudge any misshapen cookies back into circles. They will be golden brown and puffy at first and then collapse a bit while they cool. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack.
  

For the Vanilla Glaze

• To make the glaze, in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla bean seeds. Add more milk in small 1 teaspoon increments, if necessary, to get the desired consistency. You want the glaze pretty thick so that it shows up as opaque and sits on the top of the cookie rather than drizzles in all of the nooks and crannies.
• Lightly dip the very tops of the cookies into the glaze, taking care not to submerge the cookies—you want to see the crevasses. Hold the cookie upside down for a minute to let the excess fall back into the bowl. Place back on the cooling rack to let the glaze set before serving; this will take several hours.
  

Notes

Mixer vs Your Arms

I mention an electric mixer in the instruction.

However, this perfect sugar cookie recipe is definitely a recipe that can easily be made with a large mixing bowl and spatula. Make sure you really cream your butter and sugar so that you get that awesome light cookie texture.

Additionally, you can use a hand mixer if you have one handy!

Grinding Your Oats

Getting the old fashioned oats the perfect consistency is really important to this recipe’s success. You can use either a high speed blender or a food processor fitted with the blade attachment to pulse your oats. You want half of the oats to be fine (like oat flour) and the other half to be coarse oats.

The oat flour will bind the cookies together. The coarser oat pieces will add texture to the cookies, giving the oatmeal cookies the perfect uneven surface for dipping.

Brown Sugar

This recipe is great with light brown sugar, dark brown sugar and is an excellent recipe for muscoavdo sugar. Replace the light brown sugar with either 1:1.

Cookie Dough

This is a GREAT make-ahead cookie dough! You can store the cookie dough in the freezer (wrapped tightly and stored in an air tight container) for up to three months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and bring closer to room temperature before portioning out the dough and baking.

You can also store the unbaked dough in the fridge (wrapped tightly and stored in an air tight container) for 2 to 3 days.

Vanilla Glaze

Using whole milk or cream will result in a thicker glaze. If you use low-fat milk, use less milk overall for the perfect glaze consistency.

You may have excess icing. You can either serve (for cookie dipping) or store in the fridge (for up to one week) for your next batch of cookies (unless there are cookie crumbs in it, then throw the remaining glaze out).

You can get more tips from my Vanilla Glaze Tutorial.

Cookie Storage

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Want More Cookie Tips?

Head over to My 10 Favorite Tips for Better Cookies!

Thanks for baking with me! Please rate + comment this recipe and tag me on social @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife so I can see your beautiful treats! xo