These Iced Maple Oatmeal Cookies are soft, chewy, and packed full of warm spices and maple flavor!
Okay, has anyone ever scratched their cornea? Pretty sure I did, and pretty sure I’m well on my way to needing an eye patch. An eye patch. Maybe if I wear an eye patch and walk around partially blind, my sense of taste will improve. And maybe that means I need to make a batch of these Iced Maple Oatmeal Cookies like NOW to 1) make me feel better with my scratched cornea and 2) because they already taste out-of-this-world and can you even IMAGINE how good they would taste if I had improved taste from my eye patch?!
I digress. Less about my cornea, and more about these cookies. Because no matter the status of your vision, these iced maple oatmeal cookies are GOOD. Like give you warm and fuzzy, nostalgic feelings good.
These cookies are perfectly thin, oh so chewy, soft, and have amazing flavor thanks to a combination of brown sugar, warm spices, and maple syrup. They’re moist and chewy, a texture combo that I’m in major favor of when it comes to oatmeal cookies. I borrowed a technique from Sally’s Baking Recipes where you pulse the oats in a food processor before using them in the dough. You don’t pulse them to the point of turning them into oat flour- just 10 to 15 pulses to give you a mixed combination of oat flour, some broken oats, and some whole. It makes the texture of these cookies just perfect.
To make these cookies even more delicious, after they cool you dunk them in a thick maple glaze that really ups the ante. Maple in the cookies, maple in the glaze, maple everywhere. I might dub these my favorite fall/winter cookie of 2022.
And what’s better? These cookies stay delicious for days after you make them. I might even dare to say they taste better the day after you make them.
Make these iced maple oatmeal cookies, y’all. I promise, you won’t be disappointed!
What you’ll need to make these iced maple oatmeal cookies:
Old-fashioned rolled oats: Partially for structure, but also to give these cookies a lovely chewy texture. The oats are pulsed a few times in a food processor to give these cookies just the right texture- a trick I learned from Sally’s Baking Recipes. Be sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats, not steel cut or quick oats.
Flour: For structure.
Baking soda: For a tiny bit of leavening power.
Kosher salt: For balance.
Ground cinnamon + nutmeg: Warm spices and maple are a match made in heaven! The combination of flavors makes for a warm, fall-forward flavor profile.
Butter: For moisture and flavor.
Brown sugar: The large proportion of brown sugar in these cookies makes them extra flavorful and chewy. Brown sugar also adds moisture.
Eggs: For structure and binding. Using an extra egg yolk adds moisture, richness, and chewiness.
Pure maple syrup: I love using maple syrup in these cookies! It adds that warm, distinct flavor that you can only get from maple syrup and pairs so well with the spices, brown sugar, and oats. Be sure that you’re using pure maple syrup, not the fake kind that’s made only for topping waffles and pancakes.
Vanilla: For added flavor.
Powdered sugar, pure maple syrup, vanilla, kosher salt, and milk for the maple icing.
FAQs:
Why is this recipe primarily listed in grams? I develop my recipes in grams because weighing your ingredients is the best, most accurate way to bake. Baking is a science and precision is key to success! Measuring cups are not standardized, and what’s more, the way each baker uses them varies drastically, which ultimately gives you inconsistent (and sometimes negative) results. For instance, did you know that scooping flour out of a cannister can give you 50% more flour than what’s called for in the recipe? By weighing your ingredients rather than using measuring cups, you can confidently know that you are using the correct amount of each ingredient, giving you greater success & delicious results. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale, like this one when you bake. Plus, it makes clean up a lot easier!
Do I have to chill the dough? Yes, this dough needs to be chilled for at least 1 ½ to 2 hours. This makes for a more flavorful cookie and keeps the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. See my recipe notes if you choose to chill the dough for longer than 2 hours.
A few notes before you bake:
Be sure to measure your oats and flour correctly for this recipe! Using too much flour and/or oats can drastically alter the results of a recipe. In this case, using too much oats and flour can result in dry, cakey cookies instead of moist, chewy cookies. I highly recommend weighing your ingredients, but you can also use the spoon and level method, which I describe here.
To get perfectly round cookies, I use the “scoot” technique. When the cookies are hot and fresh out of the oven, use a round cutter larger than the size of the cookies and give the edges of the cookies a little nudge to even them out.
Just so you know, these cookies taste even better the next day in my honest opinion.
Print
Iced Maple Oatmeal Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus chill time
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 17 minutes (plus 1 1/2 to 2 hour chill time)
- Yield: about 30 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert, Snack
Description
These Iced Maple Oatmeal Cookies are soft, chewy, and packed full of warm spices and maple flavor!
Ingredients
For the maple oatmeal cookies:
- 160 gm (2 cups, spoon and leveled) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 250 gm (2 cups, spoon and leveled) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 226 gm (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 210 gm (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons, firmly packed) brown sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 120 gm (1/2 cup) pure maple syrup (if you keep syrup in the fridge, be sure to set it out beforehand to come to room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the maple icing:
- 180 gm (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
- 30 gm (2 tablespoons) pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons milk, plus more as needed
Instructions
To make the maple oatmeal cookies:
- Add the oats to the bowl of a large food processor and pulse 10-15 times, until you have a mixed texture of oat flour, some partially broken, and some whole.
- Combine the pulsed oats, all-purpose flour, baking soda, kosher salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside for now.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg and egg yolk, one at time, scraping down the bowl again if necessary. Next, mix in the maple syrup and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 2 separate additions, beating on low speed after each addition until the ingredients are just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours*. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a #50 spring-loaded cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 3 to 4 inches apart (a #50 cookie scoop holds a little more than 1 tablespoon of dough). Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned (the centers will still look a bit soft and gooey). Allow the cookies to set on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Make sure the cookies are completely cool before icing.
To make the maple icing:
- Place the sifted powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, kosher salt, and 2 tablespoons milk in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the icing is thick but thin enough to dunk the cookies in.
- Dunk each cooled cookie in the maple icing and place back on the wire rack to allow the icing to set, usually about 1 hour.
Notes
*Chill time: This dough needs to chill for at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours, however, you can chill it longer if you’d like. For longer chill times allow dough to soften at room temp for about 30 minutes to make scooping the dough easier.
Storage: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
