These delicious and classic iced oatmeal cookies are just the best! An old fashioned cookie recipe with crispy edges, soft, chewy centers, and a sweet and simple glaze is loved by all.
Pop a few of these in your kids’ lunchboxes this week, or enjoy these cinnamon and nutmeg-scented treats with your afternoon coffee. Iced Oatmeal Cookies are amazing no matter when you eat them!
I can remember eating store-bought iced oatmeal cookies as a kid. They kind of looked like this recipe, but they certainly were not this good!
This recipe for oatmeal cookies with icing is soft and chewy, and perfectly flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg to be sweetly spiced and a perfect match for the thin layer of simple and sweet icing that goes on top of them.
Iced Oatmeal Cookies are super nostalgic, and if you like recipes like this one that will take you back to your childhood, be sure to check out my recipes for classic gingersnaps, scotcheroos, and lunch lady peanut butter cookies too!
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- The perfect oatmeal cookie texture. I wanted these cookies to be dense and chewy, with a hard layer of icing on top that cracks when you bite into it. I have succeeded! The soft texture of these cookies is exactly what you’re looking for.
- Simple Ingredients. I love that for most classic cookie recipes, the ingredients are common household staples! There’s nothing new or fancy in this recipe, so you can make iced oatmeal cookies whenever the mood strikes – no need to stop at the store!
- An Easy Icing Method – I like to dip each cookie right into a bowl of smooth frosting to make a light and uniform layer. It takes just a minute and is well worth it.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Oats: To make the best oatmeal cookies with the right chewy texture, use old-fashioned rolled oats, rather than instant or quick oats.
- Brown Sugar: A combination of two types of sugar gives these cookies a deep caramelly flavor, plus brown sugar works to keep cookies softer than in recipes with all granulated sugar.
- Butter and Eggs: Be sure to let both the butter and the eggs come to room temperature before you start mixing your dough. This step is key to easily creating a smooth and well-mixed cookie dough.
- Cinnamon and Nutmeg: These warm spices make these oatmeal cookies irresistibly tasty!
How To Make Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Cream Together the Wet Ingredients: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Then add the eggs and vanilla extract, and continue mixing until well combined.
- Combine: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2-3 smaller additions, mixing well after each.
- Add the Oats: Stir in the rolled oats, then cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Scoop: While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C or 160°F fan oven, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat silicone mats. Then use a medium cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Press down slightly to flatten.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden and no longer glossy on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and cooling completely
- Make the Icing: Stir together the powdered sugar and milk until it becomes a thick, smooth icing.
- Ice the Oatmeal Cookies! Quickly tap the tops of the cooled cookies onto the surface of the icing and allow the excess to drip off. Allow the icing to dry until hard, for about 20 minutes before stacking or storing the cookies.
Cookie Recipe Tips
- Let the Cookies Cool! If you add icing to oatmeal cookies that are still warm, the icing will melt and soak in and you won’t be able to see it.
- Drizzle or Dip: I love the way these cookies look with the icing covering the tops and settling into the little nooks and crannies, but you can also drizzle the icing over the cookies with a spoon if you prefer.
- To make the cookies look like the ones you remember, dip them very gently into the icing so that it only sticks to the very highest points, creating a crackled appearance.
Storing Tips
Be sure to let the icing dry completely before trying to stack or put away these cookies!
Store oatmeal cookies in an airtight container. They’ll stay fresh at room temperature for about a week, or in the fridge for up to two weeks!
If you’d like to freeze these cookies, flash freeze them first in a single layer for about an hour. Then you can transfer them to a freezer bag or container and store for up to 3 months.
Or, freeze unbaked cookie dough, scooped into balls. Flash-freeze the dough balls, then transfer them to a ziptop bag for storage. Bake the frozen dough directly from the freezer, just add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
Other Delicious Cookie Recipes to Try
- Coffee Cookies
- Fruit Pizza Cookies
- Cornflake Peanut Butter Cookies
- Nutella Stuffed Cookies
- Pecan Sandies
Recipe FAQs
Dry cookies are often the result of incorrect measuring. Be sure to measure your flour by spooning the flour into the measuring cup, then leveling it. You can also measure by weight to be more exact.
Another reason your cookies might be dry is that you overmixed the cookie dough. Be sure to stop mixing as soon as all of the flour and oats are incorporated.
The icing for oatmeal cookies should be pretty thick. You want it to stick to the cookies and set up in a hard layer. You only need to add a small amount of milk to the sugar to get this consistency.
Yes! Chilling is important in this recipe. You want the cookie dough to be cold when you put it in the oven so that these cookies don’t spread too much.
Iced Oatmeal Cookies are one of those recipes that will make everyone smile because they remember these cookies from when they were young! Be sure to save this recipe for the next time you want to put those smiles on the faces of the ones you love. Pin it for later!
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract; scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2-3 smaller additions, mixing well after each addition.
- Stir in the rolled oats, then cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C or 160°F fan oven, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat silicone mats.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (# 40 or 1 ½ inch), drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets 2” apart, press down slightly to flatten.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden and no longer glossy on top.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and cooling completely.
- Stir together the powdered sugar and milk until it becomes a thick, smooth icing.
- Quickly tap the tops of the cookies on the surface of the icing and allow the excess to drip off.
- Allow the icing 20 minutes to set before stacking.
Notes
- Let the Cookies Cool! If you add icing to oatmeal cookies that are still warm, the icing will melt and soak in and you won’t be able to see it.
- Drizzle or Dip: I love the way these cookies look with the icing covering the tops and settling into the little nooks and crannies, but you can also drizzle the icing over the cookies with a spoon if you prefer.
- To Store: Be sure to let the icing dry completely before stacking or storing. Store oatmeal cookies in an airtight container. They’ll stay fresh at room temperature for about a week, or in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- To Freeze: If you’d like to freeze these cookies, flash freeze them first in a single layer for about an hour. Then you can transfer them to a freezer bag or container and store for up to 3 months.
- To Freeze the Dough: Freeze unbaked cookie dough, scooped into balls. Flash-freeze the dough balls, then transfer them to a ziptop bag for storage. Bake the frozen dough directly from the freezer, just add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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