Spiced Oatmeal Cookies
These oatmeal cookies are the best. They’re soft and fluffy in the middle, with crisper edges and lovely flavor, thanks to warming spices and oat flour.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 19, 2024
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My grandmother Virginia makes the best cookies. When my cousins and I were growing up, she always kept homemade cookies stashed in old cookie tins in the freezer (I bet she has some in her freezer now, too). She’d open up a canister and unfold the waxed paper lining, and we’d start grabbing for one after another. I like her cookies straight from the freezer; they have a more satisfying chew that way. I like them at room temp and fresh from the oven, too.
The cookies that stand out most in my memory are her oatmeal, dried cranberry and macadamia nut cookies. Or does she use white chocolate chips, not macadamia nuts? Grandma will tell me. She’s eighty-four, operates a brand new iPhone, and receives my new blog posts by email. She reads your comments, too. :)
She’d tell you that I wanted to do things my way when I was little. Guess I’m still doing it, because I came up with my own oatmeal cookie recipe instead of asking for hers (I’ll get it later, for sure). I wanted oatmeal cookies with a soft, fluffy interior and crisper edges with more concentrated flavor. I wanted these cookies to be even more redeeming than most, but mostly to be the tastiest of oatmeal cookies.
Instead of adding dried cranberries and macadamia nuts (or white chocolate chips), I kept these simple with some cinnamon and nutmeg, which permeate the whole cookie with delicious warming spices. More specifically, I used Frontier Co-op’s Ceylon cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract, which are all organic. Frontier Co-op has generously filled my spice drawer with their products and the more I use them, the more I appreciate them. Take a whiff and you’ll know what I mean; they’re more potent and offer superior flavor than other brands. Plus, you can read where the spices came from on the bottle. I’m glad to be working with them again this winter.
These cookies are made with 100 percent whole grains—lots of old-fashioned oats, some oat flour (which you can easily yourself make out of oats, see notes) and some whole wheat flour (check the recipe notes for alternatives). Oat flour lends extra oat flavor and a light-as-air texture, and whole wheat flour offers enough structure to keep these cookies together. I know it’s a bit of a pain to use multiple flours, but this combination is really key to awesome oatmeal cookies.
Lastly, I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, which is less processed and contains some potassium. I’ve been able to find it at all of the grocery stores that I frequent lately, usually in the health food section but sometimes in the regular baking section. I had to use a couple of tablespoons of cane sugar to get the texture and sweetness level just right.
I hope these cookies make it to your holiday tables. Since they are on the softer/more delicate side, I wouldn’t recommend trying to pack these for shipping (these macaroons are perfect for that). Please let me know how they turn out for you!
Spiced Oatmeal Cookies
These oatmeal cookies are truly the best. They’re soft and fluffy in the middle, with crisper edges and lovely flavor, thanks to warming spices and oat flour. Recipe yields about 2 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick/8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened*
- ½ cup packed coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons Frontier Co-Op vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Frontier Co-op ground Ceylon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Frontier Co-op ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ¾ cup old-fashioned oats
- ⅓ cup oat flour**
- ⅓ cup white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour***
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, or lightly grease them.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the butter, coconut sugar and cane sugar. With a hand-held electric mixer or by hand, beat them together until they are fully incorporated and lighter in color.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat well, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and blend until combined.
- Lastly, add the oats, oat flour and whole wheat flour. Blend on low speed until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula, and mix briefly to be sure it’s evenly blended.
- With a cookie dough scoop or two spoons, scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough at a time onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches of space around each cookie.
- Bake the cookies for 12 to 13 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown with slightly darker edges. Their middles may still look a tiny bit shiny; that’s OK, they’ll continue to bake as they cool on the pan.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, place the pan on a cooling rack, and let the cookies cool completely on the pan before handling (these cookies are delicate when warm). Repeat with any remaining cookies.
Notes
Recipe created with reference to The Kitchn’s chewy oatmeal cookies and Serious Eats’ ultimate chocolate chip cookie guide.
*How to soften butter: I just microwaved mine in a bowl for 20 to 30 seconds. Or, let it soften on your stovetop while you preheat the oven until it’s soft and slightly melty.
**How to make your own oat flour: In a blender or food processor, blend up about ½ cup old-fashioned oats until you have a fine flour. You will have some extra flour left over (it stores well, so I always make extra for future baking projects).
***Flour alternatives: You can also use gluten-free all-purpose flour or regular all-purpose flour.
Make it gluten free: Use gluten-free all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats and oat flour (or make your own out of certified gluten-free oats).
Make it dairy free: Replace the softened butter with room temperature coconut oil.
If you want to add mix-ins: You can fold in up to 1 ½ cups chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and/or chopped nuts at the end, just before you scoop the dough. You might need to bake the cookies a minute or two longer, given the increase in volume.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This post is sponsored by Frontier Co-Op and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
Loved this recipe! Cookies came out delicious! Made them with demerara sugar (I didn’t have coconut sugar) and gluten free flour. I also added raisins.
I didn’t use nutmeg either.
Excellent recipe! Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thank you for reviewing, Erika.
Mine turned out flat and thin, not sure what i did wrong? Great flavor though!!
Hi Miss Anne! I’m sorry this one didn’t turn out perfectly for you. Did you add the leavener? Did you over stir your batter?
Very good. I don’t normally bake cookies. But my one grand-daughter ordered cookies from me. So I had seen this recipe and decided to try them. I hav made a few things from your site. Only changes I made was using light brown sugar instead of cane sugar which I ran out of. And I omitted the two tablespoons of sugar to cut down on the sugar. And added cranberries and sliced almonds. My husband said they were good and why don’t I make cookies more often. I will rate as four stars as I will definitely make them again. Super easy but that is because of you. I now need to make them for my granddaughter and omit nuts. Maybe use pumpkin seeds due to nut allergy. I only got 15 but that is fine.
Sorry gave it the five stars it deserved. It was just as good the next day. My granddaughter ended up eating two. I have made them again today with pumpkin seeds, cranberries and raisins. Made them smaller and got 23.
Hi Kate and Cookie!!
Can I substitute the sugars for stevia and/or maple syrup?
Just found your website!! Looks wonderful!!!
Hi Stacey! Sorry to disappoint, but I tested this recipe with a liquid sweetener and since baking is so precise I can’t say for sure.
Alrighty, I am a dedicated fan and follower of all your recipes and up till now, I have done every single one justice while following the recipe well. Today, I messed up… but it was an absolute banger. Instead of using 1 and 3/4 of a cup of oats, I used 3/4 of a cup (there may have been some wine involved). The end result was uhh flat… but I forked some up and hot damn was it delicious. I ended up scraping my big mess up and putting it in a tupperware, only for my roommates to absolutely demolish it. I could not recommend more trying this weird “dessert granola” version of the recipe, because it was by far the best mistake I have EVER made.
Oh no! I’m sorry this one didn’t turn out for you, Valentine. But, I’m happy you were still able to enjoy it (and with wine!).
Hi I made this just as the recipe stated, but they came out flat. I’ve read some other comments that had a similar issue. I used white whole wheat flour. The flavor was very nice, just don’t know why they came out flat when I used an egg, baking soda, and powder.
Hi, I’m sorry to hear that Summer. How did you measure your flour? Are you sure you didn’t over stir?
Hi!How many grams of dough do you get in total with the x1 recipe? Thank you
Hi Mon, sorry to disappoint but I don’t provide gram measurements.
I love the versatility of this recipe! I used what I have on hand: white and brown sugar, as well as white and whole wheat flour, with some flax meal; I love the texture it lends! And because it’s the holidays, I added dried cranberries and white chocolate. HEAVEN!
I made these today and I absolutely love them! Full of flavor! I did put mine in the freezer, just like your grandma. Looking forward to trying them after being in the freezer.
I’m happy you loved them! Thank you for sharing, Michelle.
I made these with the coconut oil substitute last night and they were amazing! Quick and delicious. I always feel a bit sick if a recipe has too much butter or refined sugar, and these were both delicious and I felt fine after eating them. From other reader’s comments I beat the oil and sugar then beat the egg separately in a different bowl and combined. It is very hot where I live so I chilled the dough while I cleaned the dishes and then scooped and baked. Highly recommend!
I’m glad these were great for you, Kristin! I appreciate your comment and review.
I made these cookies tonight and they came out GREAT. Full disclosure: I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to have to wash one more thing (processor parts), so I didn’t make oat flour. I just used 2/3 cup of whole wheat flour instead of 1/3 wheat, 1/3 oat. Used the same amount of rolled oats that the recipe called for. The only other change I made was that I used dark brown sugar instead of coconut sugar because it’s what I had in the house. Not gonna lie- I had to chip away at the brown sugar because it was pretty solid. There were some brown sugar chunks in the batter, but with all the beating, they shrunk a bit. I wasn’t sure how the cookies would turn out, but they were excellent. I folded in some raisins and baked them for 16 minutes instead of 13. They were perfect. They did not flatten out like some others who used brown sugar have said. Honestly, I think they’re not creaming the butter and sugar enough. With a hand mixer, I had to mix on high for quite a while before they whipped up. Brown sugar is more dense, so it takes patience. Same goes for the egg addition. I didn’t mix the egg separately first; I cracked it right into the bowl and mixed on high until it was fluffy, which also took a few minutes. It’s almost as if you’re trying to make meringue with the yolk included. When adding the spices, same thing- keep if fluffy. Then I added in the oats and flour on low speed, then folded in the raisins, as you instructed. The cookies came out in perfect little domes with brown edges and were delicious. So to anyone out there using brown sugar- be patient and beat the h*** out of the butter and egg! Thanks, Kate!
Loved these! Not too sweet and slightly chewy. Mine were fat but that was fine!
As Josh said in comments in March 2020, I believe on the multiplier 2x recipe of spiced oatmeal cookie still needs to be corrected for the amount of butter? I will be making this recipe later today with brown and regular sugars. Believe it should say 2 sticks (unsalted butter) is 16 tablespoons. The cookie recipe sounds delicious!!
These are the best! I substitute 50% of the wheat flour with vanilla protein powder so my kids get a little extra nutrition. These cookies disappear fast. Love how many oats the recipe calls for.
Hi, Kate (and Cookie)! Do you think I could substitute maple syrup or honey for the sugar in this, and if so, how would that affect the other measurements?
Hi Fiona, Changing it from a wet to dry sugar will impact your results. I can’t say for sure without trying it, sorry!
These are delicious! I didn’t have coconut sugar so I used brown sugar in its place. I added 1/4 c. of raisins too. Oatmeal cookie perfection!
I’m glad you loved them, Megan! Thank you for your review.
Could I replace the egg with a chia seed egg or would I have better luck using something like Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer?
Hi Lily, I don’t think egg replacement here will work as well. If you try it, let me know what you use.
These are good cookies but the taste of soda is overpowering. Next time I will definitely reduce it by half, for such a small amount of flour and oats half a teaspoon is a lot.
Is there a substitute for the coconut sugar and cane sugar? Maybe maple syrup? I just prefer less sweet.
Hi Toni, Baking is precise so changing the ingredients can impact your results. I hope you try these as written!
Wanted to make oatmeal cookies on a whim without having to go out to get chocolate chips or nuts- just using what’s in my pantry! This recipe was a really good base to follow. I found it easy to do 1:1 substitutes for sugars used to accommodate what I had too. I think in the future, I’d probably add more cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.
Hi Kate – congrats on the baby – can I use earth balance instead of coconut oil in the cookies?
Thank you, Tracy! I don’t know if earth balance will work without trying it myself. Sorry!
I tried it and it did NOT work – I went with the coconut oil instead – my cookies were quite flat – is that right? I used GF flour
Hi Tracy, sorry for my delay. Using coconut oil instead of butter could have impacted your results.
If you sub all purpose gluten free flour for the wheat flour should you use less or no baking soda or baking powder as the all purpose has that in it.
You are a wonderful baker! I know if I am using one of your recipes it will be a hit with my family. Thank you for sharing! These cookies turned out wonderful.
Glad to hear that, Emily!
Did I post before when I made these with butter and some with dark chocolate, and some with raisins? I also used 2/3 cup whole wheat flour instead of 1/3 c of whole wheat and 1/3 cup of oat flour.
Turned out great. They were not flat.
I just made them again, same flour ingredients, this time with coconut oil. They were flat, which I don’t mind either! And in some of them I put cranberries and white chocolate.
My friends think I rock! Thanks Kate!
These are delicious but mine spread like crazy in the oven. :( Next time I will try refridgerating the batter before baking. Hopefully that was the issue.
Substituted the flour and oat flour with GF self raising flour. Left out the soda and baking powder. Replaced all the sugar with light brown.
They didn’t spread much, needed squashing during the bake, and came out a little dry/powdery. They did however rise the right amount, and they are absolutely delicious! I think the GF flour is a lot more absorbent and made the dough too robust. I think it needs a little more egg and/or butter when using GF flour. Thanks for the recipe! Looking forward to tweaking and trying again.
Can I freeze these do you think?
These should freeze ok. Let me know what you think, Tammy!
These turned out sooo good! Not only did my grandson, but my husband, whose was skeptical, loved them. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Tammy! I appreciate your review.
These cookies were the easiest to make and very quick too. I made them today with my 5 year old who will carry these in her snack to school.
I used brown sugar instead of coconut sugar and halved the butter and used ghee for the other half. Added some chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
They were so yum, crispy on the edges and soft in the centre
I love to hear that, Divya! I appreciate your review.
These are a favorite in our household. I’ve had them cook beautifully and I’ve had them fall flat. But they are always delicious regardless. Having made them several times, I do have some tips for keeping them from going flat. First, note that I do make substitutes. I use coconut oil in place of butter due to allergies. I usually just use all whole wheat instead of making oat flour because the baby cries when I run the food processor. And I use brown sugar because I don’t usually have coconut sugar on hand. All that’s going to make these cookies a little more tricky. To get them to not spread, I’ve found that I make the recipe as written (with subs of course) and then check the dough. It should be about the thickness of a chocolate chip cookie dough, maybe a little dryer. If it’s not I just stir in a little more flour at a time until it’s the right texture. I don’t know if it’s temperature, moisture in the air, or what, but this has worked for me every time since I’ve started doing it. Honestly though, these are too good to pass up. If they spread on you, try it again. You won’t regret adding these to your dessert rotation.
That’s great to hear! Thank you for your review.
Should the butter be melted or softened? Your recipe says softened, but the photo shows melted. I didn’t get the whipped butter & sugar look, but the cookies still turned out good.
Kate your muffins have kept us happy and served as weekly baking therapy for me since Covid started. But today, tired of oatmeal, I baked these cookies. AWESOME! I will include chocolate Chips tomorrow so will enjoy these for the AM and the choc chip for our evening snack. I and so many of my friends who have enjoyed your creations, thank you!
You’re welcome, Fran!
Your cooking recipes never fail me, but I’ve avoided baking any of your creations because I live at altitude. I have a friend who is an oatmeal cookie addict and I promised her that your recipe would make the best oatmeal cookies she ever tasted. I need help adjusting the recipe for a 5K ft elevation before I attempt them. Can you help?
Hi Sarah, I wish I could help. I don’t have much experience cooking at altitude. Sorry!
I made these! Awesome…used 1 1/2 C raisins and added cardamom…lovely! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Lee!
Wow! Really a good recipe and very easy. I hear that refrigerating the uncooked dough overnight improves cookies so I’ll try that next time, but these were really good. My only deviation from the recipe here was to add about a teaspoon of orange zest to the dough, something I discovered a while back that works well with oatmeal cookies.
I’m glad you loved these, Peggy!
The cookies are delicious and nutritious. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Carol!