Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Iced oatmeal cookies are nostalgic for me which is why I make them so often! These old school treats are classic oatmeal cookies that are chewy in the middle, crisp on the edges, and topped with a crackly white glaze. The maple sugar glaze hardens so you can stack them without worry of smudging.
Overview
- Skill Level: Beginner
- Technique Used: Creaming Method for Cookies
- Component Used: Basic Powdered Sugar Glaze
I used to really love store-bought iced oatmeal cookies. They were a staple after school snack at my house. What could be better? The answer is of course, homemade iced oatmeal cookies. They are 100 times more delicious and more nutritious than store-bought.
For this recipe, I made an oatmeal cookie that is flavored with molasses. They are chewy in the middle but crisp on the edges. For the icing, I flavored a classic powdered glaze with maple syrup. The maple adds a more interesting flavor while keeping the color a crisp white. It was important to me that the look of these cookies have the same crackly, snowy white top of the traditional cookie.
What I’ve come up with is the perfect sweet treat. What’s even better is that the crackly glaze hardens over a few short hours so you can easily stack and gift these cookies without worrying about smudging the tops.
What I love about iced oatmeal cookies
- The delicious flavor of homemade iced oatmeal cookies is so much better than store-bought.
- This recipe makes oatmeal cookies that are crisp on the edges and slightly chewy in the middle.
- While the store-bought ones may be nostalgic, this homemade version has more simple, wholesome ingredients.
- I love that the glaze on these cookies hardens so well they can be packaged and stacked without smudging!
- These cookies are equally perfect for a weekday treat and special enough for the holidays. Look how beautiful the snowy tops look in a cookie tin!
Iced Oatmeal Cookies are the latest addition to my annual 25 Days of Christmas Cookies collection!
How to make iced oatmeal cookies
These cookies utilize the classic creaming method for cookies. It is a very quick and easy process.
Make the Dough
First, start by creaming together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It’s incredibly important that the butter is at a soft, room temperature. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients to the bowl. This includes the eggs, vanilla extract, and molasses.
Separately, whisk all of the dry ingredients together including the pulsed rolled oats, flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add this dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Don’t over-mix or your cookies will become tough.
Chill the dough
After mixing, place the bowl of cookie dough into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. This will allow the dough to rest so that the flour and oats fully absorb the other ingredients. Chilling also makes it easier to scoop the dough into balls without being too sticky.
If you chill the dough longer than 1 hour, you may need to let the dough rest at room temperature for a few minutes to slightly soften until it’s manageable.
After chilling, scoop the dough into balls and place on a lined baking sheet. You can scoop any size you want although I prefer to use my 2 tablespoon scoop so that they are consistent in size. Place the dough balls about 3 inches (5 cm) apart. They will spread out in the oven.
Bake
Bake 2 baking sheets at a time on 350°F/175°C for 10-12 minutes. When they done baking, look for golden brown edges and a mostly set center. They will continue to finish baking out of the oven.
PRO TIP: Use a round cookie cutter or wide mouth glass to circle around the cookies while they are still warm to get a perfectly round shape.
Let cookies cool completely before glazing.
Glaze the Cookies
In a medium bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the glaze. In addition to the standard ingredients for powdered sugar glaze, we will add maple syrup and a splash of vanilla extract. This gives it a deeper, delicious flavor but will keep the color of it crisp and white.
Place the glaze in a shallow bowl. After the cookies have cooled, dip the tops of them one by one into the glaze. I like to gently tap the top down into the glaze a few times. Lift up and swipe off the excess glaze onto the side of the bowl. Place the cookie right side up on parchment paper to set.
It only takes about 30 minutes for the glaze to set enough to gently swipe the top of the cookie with your finger but don’t press down. To fully set the cookies enough to stack, they will need at least 4 hours. If you are going to stack cookies for packaging, I suggest letting the cookies sit out overnight to ensure they won’t smudge.
Storage
Store iced cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature. Alternatively, you can freeze the cookies for up to 3 months.
Make-Ahead Cookies
I love to have homemade cookie dough in my freezer! It makes it easy to bake off fresh cookies whenever I want them. After making the dough, pour out onto a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap tightly in a disc shape. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake, thaw overnight or set out at room temperature for about 1 hour. Scoop the cookie dough and bake as instructed.
MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!
If you loved this delicious recipe, you might like to try another cookie recipe!
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
These Iced Oatmeal Cookies are chewy in the middle, crisp on the edges, and topped with a crackly maple sugar glaze. The glaze hardens so you can easily stack and gift them worry-free!
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 175 grams (1 ¾ cups) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 226 grams (1 cup, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 300 grams (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 21 grams (1 tablespoon) unsulphured molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 240 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the icing
- 180 grams (1 ½ cups) powdered sugar
- 42 grams (2 tablespoons) maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
PREP
- At least 30 minutes before making the cookies, set out the butter (226 grams/ 1 cup) and eggs (2 large) to come to room temperature.
- Place the rolled oats (175 grams/ 1 ¾ cups) into a food processor and pulse a few times until you have coarse crumbs. Stop before you get to oat flour consistency.
- Measure out the rest of the ingredients. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Make the Cookies
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the soft butter with the granulated sugar (300 grams/ 1 ½ cups) on medium/high speed. Cream for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl periodically.
- Add the eggs, molasses (21 grams/ 1 tablespoon), and vanilla extract (2 teaspoons) and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Whisk together the pulsed oats, flour (240 grams/ 2 cups), baking soda (1 teaspoon), salt (1 teaspoon), and cinnamon (1 ½ teaspoons) in a separate mixing bowl.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on medium/low speed until just incorporated, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Position two oven racks on the top third and the bottom third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
- After chilling, scoop rounded mounds of dough about 2 tablespoons each onto the lined baking sheets. It is best to only scoop about 8 cookies per sheet to allow enough room for spreading.
- Bake two cookie sheets at a time for 10-12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven when the edges are lightly browned and the centers are set.
- Let cool for at least 5 minutes before moving them to cooling racks to cool completely.
Make the glaze
- Place the powdered sugar (180 grams/ 1 ½ cups) into a medium mixing bowl. Add the maple syrup (42 grams/ 2 tablespoons), vanilla extract (¼ teaspoon), and the smaller amount of milk listed (1 ½ tablespoons).
- Whisk together until all of the powdered sugar is dissolved. This will be a thick glaze consistency.
- After the cookies have cooled completely, one by one pick up a cookie and dip the top of it into the glaze. Tap off the excess. If the glaze is too thick, add a small splash of additional milk until it's the desired consistency. Repeat with all of the cookies.
- The glaze will set to the touch after about 30 minutes and will harden completely after 4 hours.
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