Iced Oatmeal Cookies
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My Iced Oatmeal Cookies have a touch of the traditional old-fashioned cookie, but the buttery, brown butter flavor, along with notes of brown sugar and warm spice, will stir up delicious new memories as soon as you step foot in the kitchen.
This recipe starts with the brown butter, and as it bubbles on the stove top, your kitchen fills with a caramel aroma. Mix it into your cookie dough, and you get a slightly toffee-like taste that is sweet and savory. It is the perfect way to give the traditional old-fashioned cookie a more complex flavor. Aah…new memories.
If you’ve missed my other new cookie recipe this week, check out these drop sugar cookies, buckeye cookies and eggnog cookies!
The complexity of these cookies doesn’t stop there. By pulsing the old-fashioned oats you get a combination of whole and blended oats that adds to the delectable texture of the cookie. Slightly crisp on the edges, with a buttery, nutty, and chewy soft center. Get ready to make a lot of these this year because the Iced Oatmeal Cookie with brown butter IS your new holiday tradition.
- The old-fashioned flavor is amped up with the sweet and savory brown butter flavor.
- They are surprisingly full of warm spices, and the vanilla icing is the perfect topping.
- The Iced Oatmeal Cookie is a great alternative to chocolate cookies.
- This is the perfect any-time cookie since it goes with coffee, iced tea, milk, and even a glass of red wine!
- A cookie lover’s favorite since it satisfies the craving for a crisp yet chewy cookie.
- Old-fashioned oats will add a chewiness to the cookie. You can use quick oats, but they will affect the texture and will not have the “chewy oatmeal cookie” you are looking for.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: Browning the butter is an important step is adding depth of flavor to the cookie.
- Brown sugar: the richer, molasses flavor of brown sugar adds more flavor and mixture to the cookie
- White sugar: Even though we’re using more brown sugar than white, the white is still necessary.
- Eggs: Eggs add structure, color, flavor and leavening to the cookies. Don’t forget the extra egg yolk.
- Vanilla: A great flavor enhancer.
- All purpose flour: Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and be sure it’s leveled. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag with your measuring cup because you could end up with 50% more than you need. Spoon and level by using a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup and use the back of a knife to level off the top of it.
- Cake flour: Adding in cake flour helps with the softer, fluffier texture of the cookie.
- Oats: Oats add a hearty texture and nutty flavor to the cookie. I use the old fashioned oats.
- Cornstarch: Seems weird to add cornstarch to cookies, right? But cornstarch is key to giving cookies that delectably soft center that’s just to die for.
- Baking soda and baking powder: helps the cookie rise
- Salt: Is not only a flavor enhancer but it affects the tenderness of the cookies.
- Ground cinnamon: The sweet and woody flavor make cinnamon a wonderful warm spice.
- Ground nutmeg: This warm spice is sweet and nutty.
Icing:
- Powdered sugar: To avoid any clumps in your icing, simply sift the powdered sugar before mixing.
- Milk: the milk helps dissolve the powdered sugar.
- Vanilla: A wonderful flavor enhancer to the frosting
- Salt: Adding in salt helps balance the sugary sweetness of the icing.
Step by Step Directions
I love that this recipe doesn’t require a stand mixer or any kitchen gadgets besides some bowls, a whisk and measuring cups. And if you’re intimidated by making brown butter, I have it listed step by step for you in the directions below and in the video you can watch how it’s made as well! It’s so so easy, I promise!
- Brown the butter and let it cool slightly.
- Whisk in the sugar to the brown butter and then the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla extract.
- Stir in the dry ingredients.
- Scoop onto prepared cookie sheets, ~1 – 1 ½ tbsp scoops.
- You can chill the dough and bake later on or get to baking straight away!
- Bake for ~8-10 minutes.
- Let cool.
- Make the frosting by whisking the ingredients together in a bowl. Dip/lightly dunk the tops of the cookies in the frosting. Enjoy!
Tips and Variations
- Make sure you brown the butter in a heavy bottom pan over medium heat to ensure the butter cooks evenly.
- When pulsing the old-fashioned oats, pulse ~8 to 10 times. You want a variety of oat flake sizes which adds to the texture of the cookie.
- Make sure you use old fashioned oats, and not quick oats as they will change the texture of the cookies.
- Use a cookie scoop to ensure your cookies are the same size.
- Bake cookies just until edges are golden brown. To keep these cookies soft and delicious, you’ll want to be sure not to over bake them. I always say slightly under-baked is best. (Baking time can also vary depending on size of cookies).
- Add in one cup of raisins for an Iced Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
How to make brown butter
It may sound intimidating, but it’s really easy, only takes a few minutes and is the backbone of these cookies. The nutty flavor compliments the warming spices beautifully and I love it’s culinary use in baking so much! Let’s do it:
- I like to use a stainless steel skillet. This is best to easily monitor the butter’s color and gauge when the butter has browned.
- Place the unsalted butter in the cold, stainless steel skillet. Unsalted is truly best because salted butter foams more.
- Melt the butter over medium heat, or medium-low if you have a strong stove top. Swirl the pan occasionally to help the butter melt evenly. As the butter melts, it separates into butter fat and milk solids. The milk solids will naturally sink to the bottom of the pan and begin to brown as they heat up.
- You’ll notice the butter begin to foam. This is good! The foam will begin to subside.
- Use a heat resistant spatula to continually gently stir the butter. You’ll begin to see tiny specks at the bottom of the pan, constantly stir and scrape so these don’t stick. (These are the milk solids that give brown butter its yummy flavor.)
- As soon as the butter turns chestnut brown and omits a nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat and scrape the brown butter and all of the yummy brown bits into a heat proof bowl. It’s important to remove to a bowl immediately so the residual heat from the pan doesn’t burn the butter.
- Depending on your heat setting, this process should only take less than 10 minutes.
How to Measure Flour Properly
Flour, if not measured correctly will definitely affect the look and texture of your cookies. Too much flour will make them tender and even crumbly. Not enough flour will result in very thin, crisp and even brittle cookies.
- Start by fluffing the flour in the bag or canister.
- Grab your measuring cup and spoon the flour into it. (Instead of sticking the cup into the bag).
- Level the flour across the top of the measuring cup by scrubbing a knife across the top.
- Don’t skip these steps and scoop the flour directly from the canister.
- Correctly measured 1 cup of flour should with between 120 ad 125 grams.
Looking for more cookie recipes for your holiday parties and cookie exchanges? Look no further than my Holiday Cookie Series!
FAQ
Why isn’t my butter browning?
You have your temperature too low. Turn up your burner to medium, and continually swirl around the butter. This helps the water in the butter cook off fast to allow the browning to occur.
Yes you can. Shape the unbaked cookie dough into balls and freeze up to 3 months. Once you are ready to bake, place the frozen cookie dough balls directly on the cookie sheet, just bake for approximately 1 minute longer.
Yes you can. Freeze frosted or unfrosted cookies for up to 3 months.
Yes you can. Store them in an air tight container for up to 5 days at room temperature, and in the refrigerator for up to 10.
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Ingredients
- 12 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, tightly packed (light or dark)
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 3/4 cup cake flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar, or more as needed
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Brown the butter: For a detailed tutorial, see this post on how to brown butter. Set aside & cool slightly for 10-15 minutes.12 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Pulse the oats in a food processor about 10 times. They should have some texture to them, not finely ground. Set aside.1 cup old fashioned oats
- Add the sugars to the slightly cooled brown butter and whisk. Then add in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Then add in the vanilla.1/2 cup brown sugar, tightly packed (light or dark), 1/3 cup white sugar, 1 large egg, room temperature, 1 large egg yolk, room temperature, 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Add in the dry ingredients (including the pulsed oats) and fold them in just until incorporated. The dough may feel or look wet, but as it sits the flour will hydrate and it will feel more like a cookie dough.3/4 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 3/4 cup cake flour, spooned and leveled, 1 tsp. cornstarch, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- Roll into about 1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp. sized balls and place on the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake for ~8-10 minutes or just until the edges are golden brown. Be careful not to over bake, under bake is key. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Make the frosting: whisk all frosting ingredients together in a bowl. The frosting will be thick, this is perfect (add more powdered sugar as needed to get right consistency). Dip/dunk the tops of each cooled cookie lightly into the frosting. Repeat with remaining cookies and enjoy!1 cup powdered sugar, or more as needed, 2 Tbsp. milk, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, pinch of salt
Video
Notes
- You can make the cookie dough and refrigerate for up to 3 days before baking.
- Cookies will freeze for up to 3 months in an air-tight sealed container.
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is automatically calculated. It should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Kroll’s Korner can’t make any guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
The cookies are delicious and easy to make. However, they did not flatten out like the picture which was disappointing. I would make again and try to flatten before baking.
Excellent recipe once again! These came out so flavorful and chewy. The family loves them!
gorgeous! thank you so much!
So delicious! I accidentally mixed the icing mixture in something I had melted butter in so the icing is a little buttery… Oops. But these are the best oatmeal cookies I’ve had!
Nothing wrong with a little extra butter 😉 hehe thank you!!
These were so easy and delicious!
thank you so much! 🙂
Oh my goodness!! These are amazing!! Mine didn’t flatten out as much but they are so delicious!! I was out of powdered sugar for the icing but remembered there’s a way to make it…wasn’t letting that stop me from making one of your fabulous recipes!! 🤎 Thank you also for posting the ingredients needed after each step. That’s brilliant!!
they look fabulous! thank you so much:) and I am glad you like that feature, isn’t it cool?!
You know I’ve been following recipes and re-baking some really delicious looking cookies but this one by far has got to be one of my favorites. The step-by-step directions are key to a good Cookie and this recipe is the first recipe I’ve ever seen such clear, precise easy to read instructions. Can’t wait to see the final results.
Just an FYI, I’m in process of making these so I can’t comment on how good they are. Though I can say I expect them to be excellent because I do believe your cookie recipes are the best on the internet. But wanted to say you don’t have in the instructions when to put the ground up oats. Will let you know what I think of finished product in a few! 🙂
Thank you so much Lorna, I cant wait to hear what you think! So the oats go in with the dry ingredients:)
These turned out perfectly. I made with quick oats bc that’s all I had an they were still delicious. I doubled the salt and I’m glad I did. I like cookies salty and added more nutmeg. I used a cookie scoop to make the cookie balls and it makes them look uniform.
Amazing! Thank you you so much for the review Sarah! Additional salt and nutmeg sounds perfect!
Can you use quick oats vs old fashioned and skip the pulsing step?
Hi Tracy! Great question. So the Old Fashioned Oats will add a chewiness to the cookie, you CAN use quick oats, but they will affect the texture a little and might not have the ‘chewy oatmeal cookie” you are looking for. The old fashioned oats add a hearty texture and nutty flavor to the cookie, and when you pulse them, it’s just a few times so there is still some of that texture in there. I hope this helps. If you use the quick oats, please let me know how it goes for you – i hope you love them!
This recipe was incredible! My husband said they are his favorite cookie of all time! I wish I would have watched the video first because I ground up the oats a little too finely and it came out more like oat flower. I don’t know if it was because of this mistake or just how I rolled out the dough when placing on the cookie sheet but my cookies came out thicker and fluffier. Still amazing but next time I will know not to blend the oats so much and squish down the dough balls to get that thin classic oatmeal cookie. I also needed to add more powdered sugar to the frosting and place them in the fridge to cool and harden a little but still came out so yummy! Thank you for this great recipe!!
Thank you so much Nikki! I am glad you and the hubby enjoyed them! 🙂