Who loves a sandwich cookie? I do, I DO! You get two cookies plus a HUGE bonus…frosting, and it’s only one cookie, so to speak! This soft and chewy oatmeal sandwich cookie recipe is like snuggling up to a bowl of oatmeal, the nuttiness of the oats, a hint of salt, and oh my, this creamy maple, brown sugar buttercream! No spoon required!
Reader Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I have made these twice now for a total of 3 batches – 1 single batch and 1 double batch – and EVERYONE raves about them! My cookie scoop is smaller, I think, because I end up with way more than 16 cookie sandwiches…These cookies are amazing & will be made many more times to come!”
Better than Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Creme Pies
The frosting is divine! I took all of the ingredients that I love in my oatmeal and developed this luscious buttercream, then sandwiched it between two classic chewy oatmeal cookies. I love a hint of maple syrup, butter, brown sugar and a little bit of sea salt. You could also put in a little cinnamon. These are much better than store-bought Oatmeal Creme Pies.
I don’t know what it is about an oatmeal cookie, but they are one of my favorites! I love the hint of salt that brings out the sweetness in the nutty oats, like these, healthy breakfast cookies, Cowboy cookies or these oatmeal cranberry bars.
Simple Ingredients
- Butter: I use salted butter for extra flavor, but unsalted works too. Make sure it’s at room temperature—not too soft—or the cookies may spread too much. If using unsalted butter, you may want to add a pinch more salt.
- Light Brown Sugar: Packed brown sugar adds moisture and that cozy, caramel-like sweetness. At high altitude, slightly reducing the amount helps control spreading.
- Granulated Sugar: I prefer natural cane sugar, but regular granulated sugar works just fine.
- Eggs: Use large eggs at room temperature so they blend smoothly into the dough.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla gives the best flavor and warmth.
- All-Purpose Flour: I use unbleached all-purpose flour. At high altitude, a small extra spoonful helps give the cookies structure.
- Baking Soda: Provides lift and chew. At high altitude, slightly reducing it helps prevent over-spreading.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances all the flavors.
- Cinnamon (Optional): Adds a subtle warmth that pairs beautifully with oats and brown sugar.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: I love old-fashioned oats for their hearty texture, but quick oats can be used for a softer cookie.
- Flaky Sea Salt (Optional): A light sprinkle on top adds a lovely sweet-salty finish.
- Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream: You’ll need butter (room tempterature again), light brown sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, half and half or whole milk, pure maple syrup and a pinch of salt.
Get the full recipe in the recipe card below.
How to Make Oatmeal Cookies
Measure all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl – mix together with a whisk, set aside
Place your softened butter in the bowl of a mixer and mix on medium-high until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
Now add your brown sugar and all-natural cane sugar, with mixer on medium-high; beat until smooth and fluffy, 4 minutes. Scraping down the sides once or twice.
Add eggs to the creamed butter/sugar mixture, one at a time, beating each egg on medium-high for 1 minute. Scrape down sides. Next add your vanilla.
Pour in the flour, ½ cup or so at a time, but on low speed, so you don’t spew your flour all over your kitchen.
Mix on low until just combined, now we’ll slowly mix in the oats. Scrape sides.
Using a medium sized scoop, scoop dough balls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Scoop all of dough and place onto a smaller parchment lined baking sheet and place in fridge to cool 10-15 minutes before baking. Then transfer to parchment line pan, about 12 cookies per half sheet pan.
Once ready, bake one sheet at a time at 350°F (175° C) for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
Remove from oven, allow to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then move to a cooling rack. Sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt if desired. By the way, these cookies are smashing all by themselves!! They may be frozen until ready to fill.
Repeat process until all cookies are baked and completely cooled.
How to Make Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream
Decadent, buttery, brown sugary buttercream filling with a hint of maple.
Start with your butter and brown sugar and mix well, on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy, turn off the mixer and allow to sit for 15 minutes for the brown sugar to “melt” into the butter, once it’s set a bit, add your powdered sugar.
With mixer on low, mix in the powdered sugar and then add in the maple syrup until incorporated. This mini measuring cup, a favorite kitchen tool of mine!
Next dribble in the cream and blend on low until incorporated. (I love this dribbly picture).
Pour in vanilla extract and add your salt, don’t forget your sea salt. Truly!
Whip it, whip it good and well, 3-5 minutes on medium to high for a smooth, creamy, dreamy frosting. If it’s still gritty, let it sit another few minutes, then whip it again on high speed for 1-2 minutes.
Expert Tip: If your buttercream is still gritty, let it sit another couple of minutes, and then scrape down the sides of the bowl and whip on high speed for another 1-2 minutes. Whipping is the key to breaking down the coarse grains in brown sugar.
Match up the cookies to similar sizes.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop a generous portion of frosting onto the bottom of a cookie.
Press the second half on top, squishing the frosting out to the edges. Repeat until all sandwiches are done.
Wrap individually in plastic wrap. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days or freezer for up to 2 months. Remove from fridge or freezer an hour before serving or simply toss in a lunch box and they’ll be thawed by lunchtime! Your family will love these Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies with maple buttercream.
Make some up for a great treat, they are delicious in lunch boxes!
Like this recipe?
Don’t forget to give it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating and leave a comment below the recipe!
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Oatmeal Cookies
- 1 cup butter softened, I use salted butter, you may also use unsalted, you "may" need to add ¼ teaspoon extra salt.
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed, reduce by 2 tablespoons for high altitude
- ½ cup granulated sugar I use natural cane sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour I used unbleached, add 1 tablespoon for high altitude
- 1 teaspoon baking soda reduce to ¾ teaspoon for high altitude
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon optional
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats I use old-fashioned, but you could also use quick oats
- Sprinkle of Flaky Sea Salt optional
Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream
- 15 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon shy of 2 cubes, softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons half and half or whole milk
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175° C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a medium mixing bowl mix together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon (optional), set aside.1 ½ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Place softened butter in a mixer bowl and cream together with sugars until light and fluffy. About 2-4 minutes on medium-high (4 min if using all-natural cane sugar), scraping down sides once or twice. Add eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition, about 1 minute each. Add in vanilla, mix in.1 cup butter, ¾ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Scooping about ½ cup of flour mixture at a time, mix on low speed until all flour is combined. Scraping down sides once, then add oats and mix until incorporated.3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- Using a medium sized scoop, scoop dough balls onto parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes prior to baking.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are golden, cool on pan for 2-3 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely, if desired, sprinkle a little flaky sea salt.Sprinkle of Flaky Sea Salt
Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream
- Place softened butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat on medium-high for 4 minutes, then let the mixture sit to "melt" into the butter for about 15 minutes. If still "gritty" beat again for another 1-2 minutes, then let sit for a couple more.15 tablespoons butter, ¾ cup light brown sugar
- Add powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. With mixer on low, add half and half, maple syrup, vanilla and salt, mix until combined, then increase speed to medium high for 3-5 minutes until light, fluffy and creamy. If too thick, add a teaspoon or two more of cream. If gritty in any way, keep beating on high occasionally scraping sides of bowl for up to 7-8 minutes, eventually it will break the sugar crystals down.1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1-2 tablespoons half and half , 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, pinch of salt
- Scoop a generous portion of buttercream onto the bottom of an oatmeal cookie, finding a similar sized cooked, place bottom side down on top of buttercream, pressing lightly to smush frosting to edges. Wrap each sandwich cookie in plastic wrap.
Notes
Nutrition
Megan Jeffery
The cookies don’t have much flavor. And the brown sugar never, ever “melts “.
Sorry you experienced that Megan, did you whip it a good long time? It does melt, but you have to whip it well. Did you use natural or more coarse brown sugar by chance? Happy to help you troubleshoot.
Angie
I would love to use this recipe in my cottage bakery. Would I be able to substitute the cream or milk with evaporated milk or water?
Assuming you mean in the frosting, I don’t see why not, though I’ve never tried either.
Chef maddy
So good!
So glad you loved them!
LSK5
So, I’m making these right at this very moment. Uhm…when are the oats added?!🤔 Ists are not mentioned anywhere except on the ingredients list…. Am I missing it?
Hi LsK5 with the flour!
Oh and it’s in step 4… 😘
Raquel G
I have made these twice now for a total of 3 batches – 1 single batch and 1 double batch – and EVERYONE raves about them! My cookie scoop is smaller, I think, because I end up with way more than 16 cookie sandwiches. But I watch the oven closely while they bake & they cook up fine. For the cream, I only currently have table syrup so I sub in maple extract in place of the vanilla. I haven’t been able to completely get rid of the gritty texture in the cream but no one has complained. I figure the texture of the cookies hides the grit so I’m not concerned about that.
These cookies are amazing & will be made many more times to come!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Raquel! Maybe try beating the buttercream a little longer before and after you let it sit. Might help reduce the grit. Again, thanks!!😊
Keri Simpson
Made these last weekend for my husband and I and our 3 boys… they were gone in 3 days! They are amazing and delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Haha!! I love it, Keri!! So glad you all loved them!
Bea
I LOVE THIS RECIPE!! I tried it because of the “Maple Brown Sugar” you had me hooked right there. They turned out delicious oh my, these will be my only addiction ????????. I beat the brown sugar for a good 5 minutes that way the sugar melts & you don’t need to rest it for 10 to 15 minutes. It was creamy & scrumptious as my grandchildren say. Thank you so much. Your filling is divine.
Thanks so much Bea! So glad you loved it! That’s brilliant on whipping the butter and brown sugar longer!
Emily Hines
Very delicious! Will make again for sure!
YAY! Love to hear that, so glad you loved them!
Rachel
Just wanted to say thank you so much for this recipe. I followed every bit of your instructions and they came out even better than I imagined they would. I’m a novice baker and sincerely appreciate recipes that take the time to explain all the little details. The only thing I will do differently next time is double the recipe because these are not lasting long enough! Haha thanks so much for sharing.
Oh Rachel, thank you, you made my year! I am so pleased that you loved the recipe, it’s one of my favorites too! Thanks for taking the time to write a nice comment, hope you will try some other recipes as well! Happy baking! Kathleen
Julie @ Back To My Southern Roots
These look amazing! And that frosting!
Thanks Julie!! The frosting is what gets me every time!!
Miz Helen
I just pinned your amazing Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies, they will be delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday,444 and hope you have a great week!
Miz Helen
Thanks sweet Helen!!! They are amazing!!!
krystel
hi, i wonder why mine didnt become flat while baking… but they were sooo good anyways ! thanks for the recipe !! 😀
Hmm, how long did you whip your butter??