These Iced Oatmeal Cookies are soft and chewy, and perfectly spiced with cinnamon and the caramel-y flavor of brown sugar. They are a million times better than the ones you get in the store.. and much healthier, too!
The Perfect, Healthy Soft and Chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies
I love cookies. My kids love cookies. We all love cookies. They’re quick and easy to make, freeze well, and are the perfect bite-sized treat when you need something sweet. But oatmeal cookies? Those are my favorite. You just need to take a quick peek at my cookie recipes to see what I mean!
These Iced Oatmeal Cookies were inspired by the popular store-bought variety.. but they are soft, flavorful, and so much better for you! I cut way back on the sugar and butter… but believe me. Nobody will notice.. or care. They are that delicious. They come together fast and freeze great for quick snacks or lunchbox treats. You’ll feel good about feeding them to your family and they will think you are pretty amazing for making them.
Ingredients for Iced Oatmeal Cookies:
- Oats– You will use rolled oats and oat flour in these cookies
- Flour– We used regular all-purpose flour
- Butter– We used salted butter in these cookies. Although we haven’t tried it in this recipe, coconut oil would probably work too
- Brown Sugar– Adds richness, and helps make these cookies super soft and chewy
- Applesauce– The applesauce replaces the extra butter and also helps adds moisture.
- Eggs– We used large eggs
- Molasses– Adds a caramel-y flavor to the cookies
- Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon– Adds a warm spice to the cookies
- Baking Soda– Creates a soft and fluffy cookie
- Salt– You can adjust if necessary- if using unsalted butter you might want to add a bit more.
How To Make Iced Oatmeal Cookies:
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
- Beat the wet ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Stir in the applesauce, molasses and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour and oats. Stir in the flour and oats, just until combined.
- Bake. Scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, roughly 2 tablespoons per cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until starting to turn golden brown on the edges but still soft.
- Allow to cool. Cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing. Meanwhile, whisk together the milk and powdered sugar to make the icing. You want it to be thick, but still drizzle-able.
- Drizzle the icing on the cookies. Once your cookies have cooled completely, drizzle them with the icing using a fork, or by adding the icing to a small baggie or piping bag and piping onto the cookies.
- Allow to set. Allow the icing to set before storing the cookies in an airtight container.
Tips & Suggestions
Why did my cookies spread?
There can be a number of different reasons why cookies spread, from altitude, temperature, or not measuring your ingredients properly. Chilling the dough before baking can help. If you pull your cookies out of the oven and they have spread out, you can quickly use the back of a spatula to press the edges in to reshape your cookies. You can also place a glass over the cookie and make a swirling motion. This will reshape them into thick, lovely cookies.
How to make oat flour:
To make the oat flour for this recipe, simply pulse rolled oats in a blender or food processor until finely ground. You will need about 2/3 cup rolled oats to equal the 1/2 cup oat flour needed for this recipe.
How long will Iced Oatmeal Cookies stay fresh?
In an airtight container at room temperature, your cookies should stay fresh for about 4 days. Or, freeze, separating layers with a sheet of parchment paper for 2-3 months.
Variations:
This recipe makes a great, healthy oatmeal cookie base! Here are some tasty variations.. with or without the drizzle.
- chocolate chips
- chopped nuts
- crushed freeze dried apples
- raisins
- Make a sandwich cookie! Spread the bottom of a cookie with marshmallow creme, Nutella, or nut butter and top with another cookie.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes To Try:
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
- Sugar Free Cookies
- Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Frosting
Soft and Chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoon molasses
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3 cups rolled oats
Icing
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons milk more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liner.
- In a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat softened butter, and brown sugar for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Add applesauce, molasses and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, oat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Add the oats and mix on low again until combined. The dough will be really sticky. Chill the dough for 30-60 minutes so that the cookies won't spread too much.
- Use a 2 tablespoon size cookie scoop to drop the cookies onto your prepared pan. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to look golden brown. Be careful not to overbake- it's ok if they still look a little soft. They will continue to bake on the sheet after you remove them from the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
- While the cookies are baking, you can make the icing. Whisk together powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Spoon into a plastic ziploc bag and cut off a small hole in the corner. Once the cookies have cooled, drizzle a small amount of icing on top of cookies. Enjoy!
