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.
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 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.
Keywords: gingerbread oatmeal cookies
First of all, this is my go to site for baking anything! The recipes are always perfect. These cookies are delicious and packed well for me to mail my son. This recipe will be a go-to at Chrimstas from now on.
★★★★★
Yum!!! So delicious. Perfect cookie.
★★★★★
These are so good. I took a bite and was like “meh”, then the spices hit me and it was like “wow!”. I can’t wait to pass these out for Christmas.
★★★★★
I haven’t made the cookies, but I used the glaze recipe when another blog’s cookie glaze recipe failed me utterly. Thank you for being a resource I can trust in a pinch!!!
Would this recipe work well to double or triple at once? I need to make 60 for a cookie exchange this week and this seems like a great recipe to try! But I can’t make just 60 and have to give them all away… would 90 cookies worth be too much to mix at one time? I have an app I can input the recipe into which can automatically adjust ingredient amounts based on desired quantity.
Hi Jon, doubling would work just fine, but tripling may be a bit too much added volume for a mixer. We hope the cookies are a hit!
These cookies are all you promised them to be. Incredibly delicious. Thank you!
★★★★★
I made these for the first time for my son’s Christmas Cookie themed first birthday. Everyone loved them. Days later, I have had many people text me for the recipe.
★★★★★
Could I add white chocolate chips to this similar to the Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal?
Hi Amanda, we can’t see why not! We’d add anywhere from 3/4 cup to 1 cup.
Absolutely love this recipe, what a hit! Would like to try a “carrot cake” version. Can you advise how much carrot I should add and if it would impact bake times? Thanks!!
Hi Francesca, we haven’t tested a carrot cake version, so we’re unsure of the best amount without doing some experimenting first. Let us know if you try anything!
I just made these for the first time and got several compliments from friends /family that they taste like “Heaven”! I accidentally added a tsp of baking powder so not sure how much it changed the texture
★★★★★
Made the ginger oatmeal cookies. They are absolutely delicious
Made these last night- amazing!!!! Seriously soo good, thank you!! Glad I doubled the recipe
★★★★★
Such a yummy recipe! I added some sourdough discard using Baker’s math and they turned out perfect:)
★★★★★
Liked the cookies, but mine didn’t taste as sweet as expected on the first bite, but a nice spice in the back. More…Brown sugar? Molasses? all brown no white sugar? Also, mine did not spread as much as expected – still soft on the inside and crunchy outside – maybe I didn’t measure the butter correctly? Thoughts?
Hi Joannie, these are pretty sweet cookies with some deep spice flavor. Did you mis-measure the sugar by accident? I don’t recommend switching around the sugars, though you could try replacing some of the brown sugar with more white granulated sugar, and that will help the cookies spread a bit more. For the butter, you can weigh it if you have a scale or use 12 Tablespoons.
Hi! Can I roll this dough out to cut out gingerbread man shapes?
Hi Nicole! No, this dough is not suitable for a rolling pin and cookie cutters. It is much too sticky. I recommend my gingerbread cookies instead.
These cookies! I love the texture and the spiciness of the cookie. I have never iced a cookie using this method and I am wondering how I can use this method on other cookies. Thank you for sharing this tip. This recipe is a keeper on my Christmas cookie list!
★★★★★
I’m going to make these, look soo yummy!! You mentioned not using blackstrap molasses, but that’s all I have can I use a smaller amount than stated? Or will it ruin the cookie? (not much molasses experience here) Thanks!!
Hi KK, blackstrqp molasses is pretty bitter, but you could try using half blackstrap and half golden syrup to help balance the flavor and sweetness. If you try it, please let us know how it turns out!
These cookies! I love the texture and the spiciness of the cookie. I have never iced a cookie using this method and I am wondering how I can use this method on other cookies. Thank you for sharing this tip. This recipe is a keeper on my Christmas cookie list!
These were delicious when I made them.
Is there a way to make them dairy free? Coconut oil, or canola oil? We have some no dairy folks. Thanks
★★★★★
Hi Christina, the best non-dairy sub for the butter would be either coconut oil or a non-dairy butter baking substitute. We haven’t tested these with either, but you will definitely want to use a fat that is solid at room temperature (like both butter and coconut oil are) rather than a liquid oil like canola. Hope they turn out well!
Definitely use the icing. I made the dough and froze it for later, but baked off a couple. They were good. But later I baked a few more and did the icing – soooo good!
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
I have the dough balled and ready to go. Should I press them down slightly to make cookie shapes or do they bake as balls? Thanks
★★★★★
Hi Will, these cookies spread nicely, so no need to press on them.
Sally’s recipes literally never fail. As usual this recipe is phenomenal. Perfectly spiced. I usually like a soft cookie but to me an iced oatmeal cookie needs to be crunchy and this is the perfect level of crunch. The icing is phenomenal. Excellent addition to my Christmas cookie platters. Thank you again sally!
★★★★★
Any recommendations for an egg substitute due to allergy? Thanks!
Hi Saba, I haven’t tested an egg-free version. But let me know if you try anything!
I made these cookies this afternoon and they are delicious! I quickly starred the recipe and added it to my favorites (along with Sally’s Maple Brown Sugar Cookies). I will definitely be making these again and again. Not only are they yummy and make a good Christmas cookie, but they also make the kitchen smell so good while baking.
Super yummy, chewy, sweet and gingery! I made them the night before and let them sit out for about 45 minutes, made them a little smaller than the picture, delicious!
★★★★★
Can I use treacle instead of molasses? I am based in the UK and molasses is difficult to find.
Hi Jenn, molasses is key to that signature gingerbread taste, but some readers have swapped treacle in its place. The flavor profile will be a bit different.
Why does it show the butter crossed out?
Hi Tracy, the ingredients will show a strike through when clicked. This is a handy feature for readers to cross off which ingredients they have already used. Simply click it again and it the strike through will be removed. Hope this helps!
I made these tonight I was so excited bc they look beautiful. These were very very sweet. Amazing flavor and delicious spices, is there any way the sugar can be reduced?
★★
Hi Anthony, you can certainly try reducing the sugar in the cookie dough. Keep in mind, however, that the texture will change as sugar helps the cookies spread, and stay moist, chewy, and soft. Let me know what you try!
Tastes like a big, warm hug. I absolutely love these, and so easy to make
★★★★★
Loved this! Super easy and all ingredients I have on hand.
These were a huge hit!