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!
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.
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 (80g) 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 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) 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
These are the cookies I didn’t know I needed! Love oatmeal, love gingerbread. These are a great combination and I also agree that they are 100% great even without the icing. I made half with and half without icing. Chewy, moist, delicious!
I made these for our family Christmas gathering and they were delicious. I am the cookie queen of our family so expectations are high! Maybe the best cookies I’ve ever made.
My new favorite cookie! So delicious and easy to make. I did make the icing, but honestly the cookie is perfect without it. Thank you for a great recipe!
This is the best oatmeal cookie recipe! Slightly chewy, never dry, great flavor. They’re a family favorite and even requested by friends to bring to parties.
These were one of about 8 or so cookies I made this weekend for my coworkers. I had not made these before. These were definitely the favorite, with multiple people telling, texting, or emailing me how fantastic they were. I appreciated that I could make them on Saturday, put in the fridge overnight, and bake the next day after just a short warming up period. I will definitely make these again.
Hi! Any chance these can be sugar free or reduced sugar? I know sugar is necessary in baking- I do LOVE the original recipe but can I substitute brown coconut sugar? Or maybe is honey an option as a sweetener?
Hi Nancy, 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 us know what you try!
Sally! What a great recipe!
I have never left a comment on any recipe but I had to for these!
I love gingerbread. My husband likes chocolate chip, I decided I would save time and combine goodies, so added dark chocolate chips, white chocolate to compliment the gingerbread, and crisis is to add a zip! He loved them so much that he wants to deliver to neighbors, but that means yes, I am making more for us to enjoy!
Thanks for the deliciousness!
Merry Christmas
I made these with 1:1 gluten-free flour and gf oatmeal so my grandkids can have them, too, and they turned out great. I have the same problem another commenter mentioned; I can’t stop eating them! Haven’t iced yet, and honestly they are so good even without icing — but I will add icing to make them pretty for Christmas.
I’m not very familiar with molasses and can’t find the Grandma’s brand where I live in Canada. All I can find is Crosby’s fancy or cooking molasses – which should I use for this recipe?
Hi Jess, we use cooking molasses in our recipes. Hope you enjoy these cookies!
Just made these for the first time and mine look exactly like the ones in your picture. Always encouraging when that happens. I had made the dough a couple of weeks ago and froze the balls; baked them today and it worked like a charm. The smell while they werre baking was wonderful and the taste is heavenly. Definitely 10/10
10/10 will be making again.
I first made this recipe with almond flour instead of regular flour. The cookies turned out flat, despite putting them in the fridge/freezer before baking. But the icing kept them moist and my coworkers LOVED them! The ones I did not put icing on I kept at home so I could dunk in my coffee
I’ll make them again today but with regular flour and see how it will turn out.
I love these cookies and have baked them for the last couple of Christmas seasons. They are definitely a crowd pleaser.
For the first time I made the batter two days ago, cookies turned out great but the time out of the fridge was closer to an hour so that I could scoop the dough.
These cookies are such a crowd pleaser. So very Christmassy and delicious. However, I can’t crack the texture. I’ve made them a couple of times and every time they turn out super flat and delicate, not the soft cakey texture in the pictures. I’ve tried shortening the cooking time but then they seem underbaked. Any suggestions?
Hi Louisa! Usually when cookies spread too much, the butter was a little too warm to start with. Here’s more tips for preventing cookies from spreading for your next batch!
These are delicious! This is the first time I made these for my cookie tray. I did cut the sugar down, drizzled icing on some, fully iced a few, and left some plain. Next time I’ll probably add a bit more ginger, but that’s about it. It’s perfect and delish! Thank you Sally!
I just finished a batch, and I do think they are a bit too sugary. I’m sure the kids in my daughter’s 7th grade class won’t mind, but I am hesitant to put the glaze on as it will make the cookies even sweeter. They have a wonderful chewy texture, and I love the ginger kick.
If I wanted to make a double batch to get about 60 cookies, would I just double the recipe?
Hi Christine! Yes, you can double this recipe.
Excited to make these! Would rolling them in coarse sugar before baking work in place of the icing? Trying to pack them easily, but want some extra oomph!
Hi Justine, you can certainly try that! I haven’t tested it, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work especially if you are skipping the icing. (Though I will say… the icing sets! So you won’t have issues stacking/packing the cookies.)
Sally i’ve got to say.. these are fantabulous I can’t stop eating them. It’s bad
I made these yesterday and everyone loved them. Mine turned out chewy in the middle and crispy on the edges. I followed the recipe exactly but I sprinkled the icing with McCormack’s new finishing sugar, pumpkin pie spice. Thank you for making me look good.
These are so good! I like them even better without the icing, but that’s just me. I will definitely be adding these to my collection of cookie recipes.
My girlfriend loves oatmeal cookies and suggested we make gingerbread cookies of some sort for the holiday so I started googling and found this recipe. These cookies are fantastic and the steps are well written. I even learned how to properly cream butter and why it is so important. I will be back for more recipes.
I made this recipe exactly as written. They baked for 12 minutes at 350 on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and the bottoms of almost all of the cookies burned. This has not happened to me with other cookies. Any idea why, or what I can do to prevent if I try again? It’s a massive waste of $$ ingredients and time I assume it’s me, since other reviews are so glowing. Thanks!
Hi Caitlin, we’re so sorry to hear that! Are your pans especially dark? Darker pans can cause cookies to bake faster and often burn on the bottoms. You can also try turning down your oven temperature a bit and/or moving your pan down a rack further from the heating element. We hope this helps for next time!
Hi! I love this recipe and make it often during the holidays. I’m wondering if this recipe could work as cookie bars? Thank you!
Hi Eva! Yes, they could be made as bars, but we haven’t tested them that way. The dough would likely fit into either an 11×7 or a 9×9 pan. We are unsure of the bake time you would need but let us know if you give it a try!
10/10 these are so easy and absolutely delicious! Definitely a keeper
I made these today! I love the icing on oatmeal cookies but after tasting these, I didn’t make it. They are so good plain (in my opinion). This recipe is definitely a keeper!
I live in the UK but use your recipes all the time! The flavour & texture of these was very very good. Made these with my grand daughter but we rolled the dough out and used cookie cutters to make shaped biscuits. Used black treacle instead of molasses. Baked for 7 minutes on the floor of top Aga oven. Perfection.
I almost never leave reviews on recipes, but had to for this one. Not only one of the best cookies I’ve ever made, but one of my favorite desserts I’ve ever made and that is saying a lot because I make a lot of desserts. 100/10
I would love to add pumpkin to this recipe. Any tips on how to?
We haven’t tested this recipe with pumpkin, Mary, but some readers have substituted pumpkin pie spice for the other spices (ginger, nutmeg, and cloves – keep the cinnamon as-is!) with success. You might also like these brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies. Let us know what you try!
I am the worst cookie baker ever and even I aced these! They are so easy – and probably the most delicious cookies ever created. Soft Oatmeal cookies that that taste like gingerbread?! Yes please!
Thèse are very good! Plenty sweet even without the frosting though. Next time I’ll reduce sugar by at least 1/3 cup and the frosting will be a nice addition.
These are so good. Made them for a ladies’ event. Many were asking “who made these cookies?” Yum!