These homemade, high altitude oatmeal cream pies are better than the classic boxed version! Brown butter, warm spices, and fluffy vanilla buttercream filling makes these soft and chewy oatmeal sandwich cookies completely irresistible.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for oatmeal cream pie cake, oatmeal cream pie cookie bars, and oatmeal m&m cookies.
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Why You’ll Love These Cookies
Brown Butter. If you’ve never baked with brown butter, you’re in for a treat. Browning butter is a quick and simple process of cooking butter on the stove, until the milk solids turn a nutty, golden brown and the butter is incredibly fragrant. It adds a rich nuttiness that’s just wonderful in cookies, cakes and frostings. It’s great in savory dishes, too, like a simple pasta with brown butter and Parmesan cheese.
Two Cookies + Frosting. With a sandwich cookie, you get two cookies for the price of one, plus frosting! What could be better?
Soft, Chewy and Creamy. There are so many great textures and flavors in these cookies, with the soft and chewy oatmeal cookies, brown butter, molasses and spices, and the sweet, creamy vanilla buttercream.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cookies
- Butter. I use unsalted butter, but if you use salted, you can reduce some of the salt in the recipe. By browning the butter first, you’ll be bringing out the most incredible, nutty rich flavor in the butter, that’s just wonderful in these oatmeal cream pies.
- Sugar. A combination of white granulated sugar and dark brown sugar adds sweetness, moisture and depth of flavor.
- Molasses. Just a couple teaspoons of molasses adds a deeper flavor that complements the heartiness of the oats and the warm spices.
- Eggs. Add structure and bind the cookie dough together.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Flour. All-purpose flour gives the cookies structure and strength so they don’t spread out too much.
- Oats. The oats add a wholesome, hearty texture. I use old-fashioned (rolled) oats, but you can also use quick oats.
- Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the browned butter.
- Baking Soda. Gives the cookies a little lift so they aren’t thin and flat.
- Spices. A combination of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg adds a spicy warmth that’s wonderful in these cookies.
Filling
- Butter. Unsalted butter gives the filling richness, flavor, and a creamy texture.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
- Meringue Powder. If you don’t have meringue powder, you can leave it out, but I always add it to buttercream. It improves the texture and gives buttercream more stability.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
Instructions
Brown the butter.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally. When the butter starts to foam, and nutty golden brown solids have formed at the bottom of the pan, the butter is done.
- Scrape the browned butter, including all the browned bits, into a mixing bowl. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Make the cookie dough.
- Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar and molasses to the butter, and whisk until combined.
- Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until the mixture is lightened in color, smooth, and ribbony.
- Separately, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking soda and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until all the dry bits are incorporated, and you have a thick dough.
Shape and chill the dough balls.
- Divide the dough into 20 portions (use an ice cream scoop/cupcake scoop with a 3-tbsp capacity to measure the portions). Shape each portion into a ball, and slightly flatten the balls with your hands.
- Chill the dough balls in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Bake the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the chilled dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheet, and bake for exactly 8 minutes. The cookies will be just set around the edges, with a light golden color, and a gooey center. They will continue to cook and set up after you take them out of the oven, so DO NOT OVER-BAKE, or you’ll end up with dry, crumbly cookies.
- As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter (one that’s larger than the circumference of the cookies), and “scoot” it around the hot cookie to pull in the edges – this will give you a perfectly round cookie.
- Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before filling with the buttercream.
Fill with buttercream.
- Use an electric mixer to beat all the filling ingredients together until light and fluffy.
- Match up the cookies into pairs, and turn half the cookies over.
- Fit a piping bag with a large tip, such as 6B or 1M, and pipe a thick layer of frosting onto the bottom of half the cookies. Top with another cookie and press down lightly.
- Place the cookies in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for 3 days, or freeze for 3-6 months.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
I use old-fashioned (rolled) oats, but quick oats work fine in this recipe, too. Do not use steel-cut oats.
Packaged oatmeal cream pies are very soft, almost cake-like. These homemade cookies are not at all cakey, and I wouldn’t call this a “copycat recipe”, either. My oatmeal cookies have slightly crisp edges with a soft, chewy center, but with a heartier texture than the packaged version, and in my opinion, so much tastier! Be sure not to bake the cookies any longer than the recipe notes, to keep them as soft as possible.
I used tip 1M. This is a large tip for piping a thick layer of filling. You can certainly just spread the filling on with a small offset spatula, too. And if you like less filling, you can cut the buttercream recipe in half.
Yes, you should store the assembled cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator, to keep the buttercream and the cookies fresh. You can store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or wrap each sandwich cookie individually in plastic wrap and freeze for 3-6 months. They’re best eaten at room temperature, though, so thaw frozen cookies for several hours before eating, and let refrigerated cookies soften and come to room temperature for 30-60 minutes before eating.
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Soft and Chewy High Altitude Oatmeal Cream Pies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 tsp molasses, "original", not blackstrap
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 2 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Filling
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tsp meringue powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cookies
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally. When the butter starts to foam, and nutty golden brown solids have formed at the bottom of the pan, the butter is done. Scrape the browned butter, including all the browned bits, into a mixing bowl. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar and molasses to the butter, and whisk until combined.
- Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until the mixture is lightened in color, smooth, and ribbony.
- Separately, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking soda and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until all the dry bits are incorporated, and you have a thick dough.
- Divide the dough into 20 portions (use an ice cream scoop/cupcake scoop with a 3-tbsp capacity to measure the portions). Shape each portion into a ball, and slightly flatten the balls with your hands. Chill the dough balls in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the chilled dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheet, and bake for exactly 8 minutes. The cookies will be just set around the edges, with a light golden color, and a gooey center. They will continue to cook and set up after you take them out of the oven, so DO NOT OVER-BAKE, or you'll end up with dry, crumbly cookies.
- As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter (one that's larger than the circumference of the cookies), and "scoot" it around the hot cookie to pull in the edges – this will give you a perfectly round cookie.
- Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before filling with the buttercream.
Filling
- Use an electric mixer to beat all the ingredients together until light and fluffy.
- Match up the cookies into pairs, and turn half the cookies over.
- Fit a piping bag with a large tip, such as 6B or 1M, and pipe a thick layer of frosting onto the bottom of half the cookies. Top with another cookie and press down lightly.
Video
Notes
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/
These sandwiched cookies look so enticing!
These look divine!
Do you take the cookies straight out if the freezer to the oven? I found 8 mins was way undercooked when I did that.
Michelle, the instructions say to chill the dough balls in the refrigerator, not the freezer, so if you froze yours, that’s probably why they didn’t bake in 8 minutes.
Hello. What can you use in the place of Meringue powder? We don’t have that where we live 😭
You can just leave it out if you’re not able to find it. It just adds a little extra stability, but you can make the buttercream without it.
Can it be made with gluten free flour?
It’s possible you could use a 1:1 gluten free flour blend, although I haven’t tested it. Typically, you’ll need a little less, though, as it tends to make baked goods more dry and crumbly.
These were a tad on the salty side, otherwise loved them. Used 2 tsp. coarse kosher salt, per recipe. When I make again, I’d probably half that. I also overrcooked the second batch a tad, even though the recipe said not to. Next time, I’ll take them out right at 8 mins even if they don’t seem quite done.
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe! I have been making oatmeal cream pies for years but i never thought to brown the butter, and the amount of molasses and sea salt makes this recipe the best ever!!!!! My family was in love with these. I added extra ginger because i personally love it.. but this recipe will be my go to every time I make cookies.
Mic Drop!! These were eyes rolling back good!
Absolutely loved these! I ended up putting the dough in the refrigerator for a few hours, and then rolling it into balls later, which was a little tougher. I made 26 and flattened them a little, then cooked for 11 minutes since the dough was still pretty cold. They’re amazing!
These were awesome, a huge hit in my house! They were spot on for flavor, though a bit too salty for my liking, but I think that’s more of a preference thing because my husband and kids disagreed! I am also not high altitude, and my cookies never came out consistent but I wonder if that’s the reason! Thanks for the recipe!
Used to love these as a kid and it was so so fun making these now as I’d forgotten about them! This recipe is going in my rotating list of desserts as they were delicious! Only adjustment I think I would have to make is since I’m at about 10,000 elevation, I will try baking at 375 for the eight minutes. Thanks so much for the recipe!