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This old-fashioned iced oatmeal cookies recipe is full of buttery brown sugar and warm spice flavor, with crispy outside and soft and chewy inside texture and crackly glazed tops.
If you remember your mom or grandmother making these or if you pick up a box of iced oatmeal cookies at the grocery store every so often, give these a try!
These cookies are everything you love about the classic favorite. They’re crisp on the outside, and soft and chewy in the center. But they come with the added bonus of delicious homemade cookie flavor. Rich and buttery with brown sugar notes and a touch of warm spice – yum! And let’s not forget the icing on the top because those craggy crackled tops are iconic.
These cookies are easy to make and perfect for any time of year. Pair them with an iced tea in the summer, chai latte in the fall, or add them to a cookie platter for the holidays!
Why This Recipe is a Crowd-Pleaser
- Perfect texture (they’re crispy along the outside and chewy in the middle). You won’t find dry, crumbly oatmeal cookies here!
- Delicious buttery brown sugar flavor with a touch of spice. These cookies are just sweet enough without being overly sweet, and they have a well-balanced spice level with cinnamon and a hint of nutmeg.
- Easy to make! Iced oatmeal cookies are a type of drop cookie recipe, which means that you make the dough, and then drop it onto a cookie sheet to bake.
Ingredients
Breaking It Down
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
Cookie Ingredients
- Old-fashioned rolled oats – For the best (chewy, not cakey) texture, use old-fashioned rolled oats here. Steel cut oats or quick oats won’t work.
- Unsalted butter – Butter does a few things in this cookie recipe: 1) adds rich flavor, 2) helps the cookies crisp along the edges, and 3) helps these cookies develop their signature crackled tops.
- Light brown sugar – For sweet flavor with hints of rich caramel and molasses.
- Egg – Egg is a binder in this cookie recipe that helps prevent dry, crumbly cookies.
- Vanilla – For flavor and aroma.
- Flour – Use all-purpose flour here.
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg – These cozy warm spice add the perfect amount of flavor.
- Salt – Salt is a natural flavor enhancer; it seasons the cookie dough so it isn’t bland.
- Baking soda and baking powder – The leavening agents that ensure these cookies have the perfect crisp-outside and chewy-inside texture.
Glaze Ingredients
- Powdered sugar – The base of this glaze.
- Milk – We use milk to achieve the right texture.
- Vanilla – For flavor and aroma.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the Cookies
- Prep the oats. Pulse the oats 10 times in a food processor. (TIP: Don’t over-pulse, we don’t want them too powdery or the cookies won’t have the right texture.)
- Mix the wet ingredients. Add the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla to a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Mix in the dry ingredients. Add the pulsed oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg to the butter mixture. Stir to combine.
- Chill. (TIP: The dough will be wet at this point.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and chill for 15 minutes in the freezer. The dough will have stiffened up perfectly after chilling 15 minutes in the freezer. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking trays with silpat liners or parchment paper.
- Scoop. Use a 1-tablespoon scoop to measure out the dough and scoop it onto the prepared baking trays, leaving a couple inches between each dough ball.
- Bake and cool. Bake the cookies until they’re golden and set along the outside, but still look a touch doughy in the center, about 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the trays once halfway through.Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the trays, and then use a thin metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Bake the remaining cookie dough the same way.
Step 2: Make the Glaze and Glaze the Cookie Tops
- Make the glaze. Stir together all ingredients in a bowl, adding more milk if needed to reach the right consistency. (TIP: The icing should be on the thin side so we can dip the tops of the cookies in it.)
- Glaze the cookies. Lightly dip each cooled cookie into the icing. (TIP: Just barely dip the cookie tops, so that they get a crackled look.) Place the glazed cookies onto a wire rack and let the icing set before serving.
Storage Tips
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
To freeze, layer the cookies between pieces of parchment paper in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
My Best Tips For Homemade Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. There is no need to remember to pull out the butter an hour early to let it come to room temperature. Simply melt the butter, and let it cool a little before making this cookie dough.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough. This dough is very wet and sticky, which is normal. But we need to chill it so the cookies don’t spread too much while baking. Just a 15 minute stint in the freezer (or 2 hours in the fridge) is all this dough needs.
- Just slightly dip the cookie tops in icing. This is so you get the gorgeous craggy iced cookie tops!
Frequently Asked Questions
I recommend using old-fashioned rolled oats that are pulsed briefly in a food processor for this recipe. I also tested this recipe with instant oats, and they had more of a cakey rather than chewy texture.
There are a few tricks that we use in this recipe to make these cookies chewy:
1. Rolled oats that are briefly pulverized. Leave the oats mostly intact and be careful not to over-process.
2. Melted butter. Let it cool for about 2 minutes before making the dough.
3. Brown sugar. The molasses in brown sugar compared to white sugar lends a delicious caramel aroma and flavor, as well as a chewy texture.
Cookies have the tendency to dry out quicker if they’re not stored correctly. Make sure to store these in an airtight container (not in a cookie jar) at room temperature (not in the fridge) for best results.
More Baked Goods Recipes with Oats
- Oatmeal Cream Pies with Rum-Raisin Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting
- Cranberry Oatmeal Bars
- Oatmeal Muffins
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Iced Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
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Equipment
- Silpat baking mat or parchment paper
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk plus more if needed
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- Prep the oats. Pulse the oats 10 times in a food processor. (TIP: Don’t over-pulse, we don’t want them too powdery or the cookies won’t have the right texture.)
- Make and chill the dough. Add the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the pulsed oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg to the butter mixture. Stir to combine. (TIP: The dough will be wet at this point.)Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and chill for 15 minutes in the freezer. The dough will have stiffened up perfectly after chilling 15 minutes in the freezer.Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking trays with silpat liners or parchment paper.
- Scoop, bake, and cool. Use a 1-tablespoon scoop to measure out the dough and scoop it onto the prepared baking trays, leaving a couple inches between each dough ball.Bake the cookies until they’re golden and set along the outside, but still look a touch doughy in the center, about 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the trays once halfway through.Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the trays, and then use a thin metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Bake the remaining cookie dough the same way.
For the Glaze:
- Stir together all ingredients in a bowl, adding more milk if needed to reach the right consistency. (TIP: The icing should be on the thin side so we can dip the tops of the cookies in it.)
To Glaze the Cookies:
- Lightly dip each cooled cookie into the icing. (TIP: Just barely dip the cookie tops, so that they get a crackled look.) Place the glazed cookies onto a wire rack and let the icing set before serving.
Notes
- Storage: Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. To freeze, layer the cookies between pieces of parchment paper in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on March 6, 2022 and updated on January 21, 2026.
I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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these were truly perfection. thank you for sharing!
Really good recipe I added raisins! Lol soooo good! I guess there isn’t a tab where you can post a picture! Mine turned out beautiful! Thank you for the recipe!
Cookies are great! Recipes says it makes 30, I got 14.
Ms M, Thank you so much, I’m so happy you liked them! Did you use a 1-tablespoon scoop to measure out the dough?
These were awesome. Super simple and tastes amazing. I will make these many more times! Thank you for sharing!
These are damn good cookies!