These oatmeal sandwich cookies bake up perfectly soft and chewy with warm notes of cinnamon and molasses and are filled with tangy, toasty, brown butter cream cheese frosting.

This cozy recipe combines all our favorite Fall flavors in one nostalgic sandwich cookie.

How to Make These Brown Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

Let’s walk through each step of this recipe to make sure it turns out as amazing as possible!

I’ve also shared a video on how to make them below, along with the tools I used. If you don’t have all of these on hand, feel free to get creative and work with what you’ve got!

Recommended Tools / Equipment

• 2 Large Baking Sheets
• Parchment paper or 2 silicone baking mats
• Small (1 Tbsp) cookie scoop
• Electric hand mixer or stand mixer

Step 1: Brown the Butter

Using brown butter is optional, but it gives these cookies such a deliciously warm, toasted flavor! However, if you’re short on time, you can always just use regular butter.

Ideally, it’s best to brown the butter 1-2 hours before you plan to make the cookies so that it can cool down to room temperature before making the cookies. But if you’re short on time, you can always pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes!

Grab a wide, heatproof bowl to pour the butter into once it’s done being browned. Set aside.

Place 1 cup of unsalted butter in a large, light-colored pan over medium heat. Stir the butter the entire time with a rubber spatula to keep it moving.

Once melted, the butter will foam and sizzle around the edges. Keep stirring!! The butter should turn golden brown after 5–6 minutes and be topped with a foamy layer of bubbles.

Shortly after this the foam should kind of fade away and the milk solids at the bottom of the pan will be a perfectly toasted brown. It should have a strong, nutty aroma.

Immediately remove the pan from heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking process.

If left in the hot pan, the milk solids will burn. It can happen in a flash, trust me!! Place the brown butter in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool to room temperature.

Step 1: Mix the Butter, Brown Sugar, and Wet Ingredients Together

Cream the room-temperature brown butter and dark brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.

Beat on a medium-high speed for a couple of minutes, or until the mixture becomes lighter in color and looks fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.

Next, scoop the pumpkin puree onto a couple of sheets of paper towel and pat it to remove any excess moisture.

Then add the blotted pumpkin puree and vanilla extract to the butter/brown sugar mixture. Mix on a medium speed until combined.

Step 2: Fold in the Dry Ingredients

Next, fold the all-purpose flour, old-fashioned oats, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and fine salt into the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is properly mixed together. The dough should be quite thick.

Step 3: Scoop and Bake the Oatmeal Cookies

Use a 1 Tbsp cookie scoop or a small spoon to measure about 32 cookie dough balls and place them on the prepared pans. Space them about 1 1/2 inches apart, as they’ll spread a bit as they bake.

Bake one tray at a time on the middle rack of your oven for 8-9 minutes, or until the edges look set and the centers have puffed up but are still soft.

Gently flatten the cookies with the bottom of a metal measuring cup or glass while they’re still warm. Then let the cookies cool on the sheet for 10 minutes, then place them on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Step 4: Make the Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

While the cookies bake and cool, make the brown butter cream cheese frosting!

I prefer making it with a hand mixer because this makes a pretty small amount of frosting.

In a medium bowl, beat the room-temperature brown butter (should be the amount remaining) and room-temperature cream cheese together on a medium-high speed until combined.

Then add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and fine salt. Mix on a low speed until combined and smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.

Scoop the frosting into a large piping bag or a freezer ziplock bag, and cut an opening at the base about 1/2 inch wide.

Step 5: Fill These Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

Pair the cookies up (it’s ok if they’re not all exactly the same size!), then pipe a generous layer of frosting on the back of one of the cookies before sandwiching them together.

Repeat until all the cookies are filled, then enjoy! These can sit at room temperature for a few hours, or be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Oatmeal Cookie Ingredients & Substitutions

While I love this recipe just the way it is, I know you might not have all these ingredients on hand! Or you might have food restrictions or allergies.

Below are some swaps and variations that can be made in this recipe.

• Brown Butter – If you only have salted butter, you can use it to make the brown butter and omit the salt that this recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter. Or if you’re short on time, you can skip browning the butter and just use regular, unsalted butter.
• Dark Brown Sugar – I like using dark brown sugar but light brown sugar will work too. If you use light brown sugar, I’d recommend adding 1 Tbsp of molasses if you have it on hand!
• Pumpkin Puree – I prefer this recipe using pumpkin puree, but you can also use applesauce or 1 large egg in its place.
• All-Purpose Flour – You can use a gluten-free flour blend if needed in place of the AP flour in this recipe.
• Old Fashioned Oats – I love using old-fashioned or rolled oats for their texture, but you can also use quick oats if needed.

How Many Cookies Does this Recipe Make?

The cookie recipe makes 16 sandwich cookies using a 1 Tbsp cookie scoop.

If you don’t have that size cookie scoop, don’t worry! You can also use a good old Tablespoon.

It’s important that they’re the same size so that all the cookies bake up nice and soft and can be paired up properly.

If you want to make more cookies, you can double the ingredients and make a double batch using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer.

Tips for Making the Best Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

• Use a cookie scoop to make sure your cookies are uniformly sized.
• Space your cookies about 2 inches apart before baking them. They will spread as they bake.
• Don’t over-bake your cookies! You want the edges to be set, but the centers to still be soft and puffy! Even if they seem a bit soft coming out of the oven, they will continue to bake and set on the tray once they’re out of the oven.
• Gently flatten the cookies with the bottom of a metal measuring cup or glass while they’re still warm. This will make them easier to sandwich together and eat.
• I used a piping bag to decorate these cookies, but you can also use a Ziplock bag if you don’t have piping bags! I recommend using the freezer type because they’re a bit sturdier.

Making These Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies in Advance and Storing Them

This cookie dough can be made up to 2 days in advance. Store it in the fridge in an airtight container, then when you’re ready to bake them, let the dough thaw to room temperature, scoop the cookies, and bake them.

Baked and filled cookies can be stored in an airtight container or ziplock bag at room temperature for a few hours, in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer for a month.

You can also freeze baked, unfilled cookies for up to a month. I like to thaw them in the fridge overnight, then fill them with frosting once they’ve reached room temperature and are ready to be eaten.

Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this recipe for oatmeal sandwich cookies, I’d love to hear what you think! Please leave a rating and let me know your thoughts by sharing a comment below.

Or if you share on social media, be sure to tag me @chelsweets and use #chelsweets so I can see your delicious creations!

Other Recipes You Might Like: