Think of these iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies as the holiday version of regular iced oatmeal cookies. They’re every bit as chewy, soft, nostalgic, and wholesome, but brimming with gingerbread spices and topped with spiced vanilla icing. Pair with peanut butter blossoms and Christmas sugar cookies for a trio of classic Christmas cookie flavors.
One reader, LS, commented: “Absolutely incredible! Nothing else to add, just that if you are on the fence about making them, do it. Just do it. And don’t you dare think about skipping the icing! 🙂 ★★★★★“
It’s time to shift gears from pie crust to all things cookies! This recipe is part of my annual holiday cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. Every year since 2013, I work on a handful of new cookie recipes and publish the 10 best ones for readers to enjoy. It’s the biggest, tastiest event of the year on my website!
Iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies are definitely part of my cookie trays this year and I’m thrilled to share the new recipe with you. After 1 bite I immediately said “this is the best cookie I’ve ever made.” And I’ve made A LOT! Maybe it was my exhaustion talking… I had just spent the day testing 3 new recipes and vacuuming spilled sprinkles… TWICE… but oats + spices + molasses + icing is certainly a recipe for something delicious.
I think you’re going to love them too.
Tell Me About These Iced Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies
- Flavor: These are gingerbread cookies and plain iced oatmeal cookies in 1. Generous amounts of ground ginger and cinnamon plus nutmeg, cloves, molasses, and brown sugar supply each cookie with cozy, comforting flavors. Truly—and I don’t say this often—you could skip the icing and be plenty satisfied.
- Texture: Like the regular version, these are mega chewy oatmeal cookies with buttery soft centers and slightly crisp edges. The key to their texture is pulsing the oats in a food processor or blender to gently break them down. The result is an uneven mixture of broken oats and coarse crumbs, a texture medley giving us a compact and chewy oatmeal cookie.
- Ease: The prep is simple and pulsing the oats takes a few brief seconds. Make sure you set aside about 30-45 minutes to chill the cookie dough before baking. Molasses makes the dough quite sticky and without time in the refrigerator, the cookies will over-spread. Luckily, it’s a quick chill time and these flavorful Christmas cookies will be ready soon!
Key Ingredients in Iced Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is a key ingredient in many cookie recipes because not only does it sweeten the cookies, it adds flavor, softness, and a little moisture too.
- Spices: I found the best ratio of spices is 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves. These are the same spices you use when making gingerbread whoopie pies and chocolate ginger cookies. I like a little extra ground cloves in my gingerbread recipes, so I usually add another pinch. It’s a strong flavor, so be careful if you decide to add a little more.
- Molasses: Molasses adds deep, rich flavor. Use dark molasses that’s labeled unsulphured. Avoid blackstrap molasses in this cookie recipe because it will overpower everything else.
- Oats: As mentioned above, taking an extra few seconds to pulse the oats will completely transform the texture of your finished cookies. No matter if you use whole oats or quick oats, pulse them a few times in your food processor to obtain the correct consistency.
Here’s what the oats will look like:
Success Tip: Use a Cookie Scoop
Use a cookie scoop because this is a textured and sticky dough. A cookie scoop not only prevents a mess, it helps ensure all cookies are the same size and shape. I recommend a medium cookie scoop which holds 1.5 Tablespoons of cookie dough. The cookies spread nicely, so keep each baking sheet/batch at around 8-9 cookies.
- If you’re shopping for new baking sheets, I love Nordic Ware and line them with silicone baking mats or these parchment paper sheets.
Spiced Vanilla Icing
Thick vanilla icing is the iconic finishing touch on regular iced oatmeal cookies. But since we’re crafting a generously spiced version, let’s not miss the opportunity for extra flavor on top. I love adding a pinch each of ground cinnamon and ginger to this icing. It doesn’t alter the texture at all—the icing will still set/dry nicely on the cookies—but it does elevate the flavor.
If dipped lightly, the thick icing will set on the cookies so you can easily stack, transport, or gift these flavorful beauties. Instead of dipping, feel free to drizzle the icing on top. Enjoy!
If you are looking for even more festive holiday flavors, try these gingerbread latte cookies or spiced eggnog oatmeal cream pies next!
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
- Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
And here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
Iced Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies are chewy, soft, and brimming with gingerbread flavor from molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. If dipped lightly, the icing will set so you can stack, transport, and/or gift the cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (170g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1 and 2/3 cups (210g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
Icing
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) sifted confectioners’ sugar*
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1.5 – 2 Tablespoons milk
- small pinch each: ground cinnamon and ground ginger, plus extra cinnamon for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Make the cookies: Pulse the oats in a food processor 10-12 times until you have a variety of texture– chopped oats with some oat flour. See photo above for a visual.
- Whisk the pulsed oats, flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and molasses and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be very thick and a little sticky. Cover and chill the dough for 30-45 minutes in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before scooping and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Scoop cookie dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
- Make the icing: Combine confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and 1 Tablespoon of milk in a medium bowl. Use a fork to whisk until combined. It will be impossible to fully combine because this isn’t enough liquid. Add only enough extra milk to make a very very thick icing. I only add about 1 more Tablespoon of milk. Whisk in a very small pinch each of ground cinnamon and ginger. (Taste and add more if desired.) Lightly dip the tops of the cookies into the icing or lightly drizzle icing on top. Feel free to dust/sprinkle more ground cinnamon on top of the icing for garnish. Icing will set after a few hours, so you can stack, transport, and/or gift the cookies.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked cookies with or without icing freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Oats: Pulsing the oats in step 1 is the trick to this recipe. If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender. If you don’t have either, give the oats a rough chop on a cutting board. Even if you’re using quick oats, pulsing the oats is necessary—you just won’t have to pulse them as much as whole oats. Do not use oat flour in place of the pulsed oats.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sift confectioners’ sugar before measuring.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Delicious! Reminds me of my grandmothers recipe. The frosting makes the cookies that much better! Yummy
My cookie dough felt a bit drier than what I thought it should be from description of recipe
They were wonderful when out of oven although I thought they spread a little more
Today they are rock hard.
I make lots of cookies etc. wondering if pats maybe ground a bit too much or baked a minute or two more than should be
Hi Margaret! Likely just slightly over-baked, but if your dough seemed dry, there could have been too much flour/oats in the dough. How did you measure the flour and oats? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
An excellent, flavorful oatmeal cookie. I added a little extra ginger as some suggested. Even without the frosting, they are delicious. And they come together easily.
Love these cookies. I have made them 4 times in the past two months and they never disappoint. I bake these cookies using a conventional setting but wonder if anyone has baked them using the convection setting. Thoughts?
We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
I love this recipe. We made it for the first time this Christmas. Could I add 1 C raisins to this recipe just as it is?
Hi Lisa, can’t see why not!
Wow! These are the best discovery ever! What a perfectly delicious cookie! This one is going in my rotation. Thanks for sharing!
Made these as one of my holiday cookie plate selections and they were a favorite for a lot of folks (including me)! Really enjoyed the texture of the oatmeal. I did use a slightly different spice ratio (from another of Sally’s gingerbread cookie recipes) because I like extra spice: 1 tablespoon ground ginger, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves. I also recommend adding the pinch of ground cinnamon and ground ginger to the icing!
I forgot to leave my rating so I am writing again! I also want to add a few notes. I am impatient and did not let my butter or egg get to room temp. I cut the butter into small cubes and creamed it into the sugar by hand with a Danish whisk. Perhaps it is for this reason that the dough was not too sticky to handle, so I also did not chill the dough, and I’m happy to report that they were still incredibly delicious and structurally just like your photos. The second time I made them I tried omitting the 50g white sugar entirely as we tend to prefer less sweet in our house, and they were just as good and still did not need any icing. In this recipe you recommend using a cookie scoop – I’ve done that both times, but the first I just dropped the scooped dough on the baking sheet, and the second time I rolled the scooped dough into a ball per your photos. When baked as a ball, the cookies have a rounder, more consistent shape and height just like your photos. When baked right from the scoop, the edges are thinner and the middle is thicker. So I prefer the former!
Oatmeal cookies are my favorite cookie followed by gingerbread and these cookies right here are probably the best I’ve ever put into my mouth
We’re so glad that these cookie recipes were a hit, Annab!
Easy and AMAZING! Even better the next day. Super ginger flavor (spicy!) and wonderful texture!!!
Thank you so much for all the delicious recipes. So wonderful and my grandson and I are continuing our baking this weekend. I have fifteen grandchildren and sixteen great grandchildren. I sure we will enjoy the recipes for years to come. Thank you and God Bless.
Delicious holiday (or anytime) cookie.
These are so good. I don’t think they needed the frosting unless you need more sweetness. I liked them with and without frosting.
I made three of your cookie recipes for christmas this year (peppermint mocha, peanut butter blossoms, and iced gingerbread oatmeal). These were definitely my favorite, they are perfectly balanced between firm and soft, and the spice blend with the molasses is delicious. My family loved them and I will likely revisit this recipe when I need amazing cookies!
These did not spread for me. What went wrong?
Hi Ashley, When cookies aren’t spreading, it usually means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour and oats) soaking up all the liquid. When measuring, use the spoon & level method. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag. Doing so leaves you with excess flour in the cookie dough.
This is my favorite cookie recipe that I’ve ever made in my life. Thank you for a new classic.
These were fantastic! Thank you so much
These are my favorite holiday cookies! Sally’s trick about pulsing the oats makes the texture just perfect. I make these every Christmas. I prefer to add an extra 1/2tsp of ginger and cinnamon in the cookies, because I like a spiced cookie that punches me with the flavor, but all the normal people in my life love the recipe as written!
These cookies are delicious! I made them with my grandchildren and they dipped one end in white chocolate and added sprinkles.