Gluten-Free Iced Oatmeal Cookies

These gluten-free iced oatmeal cookies are made with brown butter, warm spices, and a simple sweet glaze. They’re cookie perfection!

I’ve been in a VERY nostalgic baking mood lately. From childhood favorites like Chocolate Pudding and Peanut Butter Bars to fluffy birthday cake, I’ve loved re-creating recipes I loved growing up.

Baking is one of those things that always makes me feel better! The process of measuring ingredients and transforming them into an edible gift I can share with friends, neighbors, or family feels creative and cozy in all the best ways.

That’s definitely true when I make these Iced Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies–chewy oatmeal cookies laced with caramel notes and warm spices, topped with a simple vanilla glaze. This nostalgic cookie recipe is a homemade take on old fashioned iced oatmeal cookies, like the ones you can find at the grocery store. They’re extra amazing when the weather cools down–they’re an amazing gluten-free holiday cookie recipe!

I love how easy these gluten-free cookies are easy to mix up (it’s a one-bowl recipe!). They make the whole house smell amazing and each bite hits just the right nostalgic notes.

Best of all, they’re made from simple ingredients and pantry staples. Here’s what you need to make these gluten-free iced oatmeal cookies…

Simple Ingredients For Gluten-Free Iced Oatmeal Cookies

• Butter. First, you’ll brown the butter. This caramelizes and toasts the milk solids in the butter to completely transform the flavor. It goes from simple melted butter to caramel-y, nutty flavor which infuses every bite of the cookies with extra flavor!
• Brown Sugar & White Sugar. These two types of sugar work together to keep the cookies moist (brown sugar) and give them a gorgeous texture (granulated sugar). You *can* use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, if you prefer, for more molasses flavor.
• Eggs & Vanilla. Just enough room temperature eggs & vanilla extract to round out the wet ingredients.
• Gluten-Free Rolled Oats (aka Old-Fashioned Oats). Just like with our Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, you’ll pulse the oats in a food processor or blender a few times to break them up a bit. This trick is a total game changer and helps you get that perfect chewy texture.
• Gluten-Free Flour. Let’s keep things simple! You’ll use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum. I love and recommend this blend from King Arthur, but if you use another blend (like Bob’s Red Mill), make sure you measure carefully and make sure your blend contains xanthan gum.
• Baking Soda. For the perfect puff and spread.
• Warm Spices. A mix of cinnamon and nutmeg add gorgeous layers of warmth and spice to every bite of these cookies. YUM.
• Salt. To balance the flavor.
• A Quick Glaze. Then, you’ll finish the cookies off with a simple, sweet vanilla glaze made from powdered sugar, a little cream or milk, and vanilla or vanilla bean paste.

p.s. Get This Key Step Just Right

Browning the butter is a key step in these cookies because it adds deep notes of caramel and nuttiness throughout the dough, thanks to all those lovely brown bits. You’ll want to get it just right! I’ve put simplified instructions in this post, but for a deep dive, don’t miss our in-depth post all about How To Brown Butter. It’ll walk you through every detail, with step-by-step photos and a video tutorial to help you along the way!

How To Make Gluten-Free Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies, Step By Step

1. First, Brown The Butter. In a light colored saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, whisking or stirring nearly constantly until the butter is fully melted and begins to bubble. Continue cooking the butter over medium heat (you’ll hear it popping and bubbling) to let it caramelize and brown. After 6-8 minutes or so, the butter will begin to foam and bubble. When the butter looks deeply golden brown, smells caramel-y and sweet and you can see that the butter solids are starting to brown, turn off the heat. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl–either the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl–to cool for about 15-20 minutes. (Small brown specks are ok! That’s what you’re going for.)
2. Pulse The Oats. Add the rolled oats to a food processor or blender. Pulse 10-12 times or so, until you can see some powdery bits, some broken oats, and some whole oats. (You do NOT want to grind the oats into a fine oat flour, and you don’t want them all whole.) Set the oats aside.
3. Combine Butter & Sugars. Add brown sugar and sugar to the slightly cooled brown butter and stir or mix on medium speed to combine. The mixture will look like wet sand at this point.
4. Mix In Eggs & Vanilla One At A Time. Add one egg to the dough and stir until fully incorporated. Then, add the next egg and stir till fully incorporated. Add vanilla, and mix until combined.
5. Add Dry Ingredients. Next, add the oats you pulsed to the bowl, along with gluten-free flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda. Stir until just combined.
6. Chill For 30 Minutes. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge 30 minutes or so while you preheat the oven.
7. Preheat The Oven & Prep The Pan. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. (This way you can alternate cookie sheets with each batch so you don’t put cold dough on a hot baking sheet!)
8. Scoop & Roll The Dough. Use a medium cookie scoop (2 Tablespoons) to scoop even balls of dough. Roll the dough balls between your palms to smooth them out a bit, then place 6-8 cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet. Return the rest of the dough to the refrigerator in between batches.
9. Bake & Cool. Bake just one cookie sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges and look just done in the center. (Try not to over-bake, and keep in mind that the cookies will continue to cook after you pull them out of the oven.) Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat this process, alternating between baking sheets with each batch, until all the cookies are baked.
10. Mix Up The Glaze. When the cookies have cooled completely, mix up the vanilla glaze. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Whisk or stir with a fork until the glaze is smooth and very thick, with no lumps. If needed, you can add additional milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is thin enough to dip the cookies into, but keep in mind, you want it quite thick in consistency so it’s mostly opaque on the cookies.
11. Dip The Cookies. Working one cookie at a time, hold the cookie in your hand face-down and lower into the glaze just until the tops of the cookies touch the surface of the thick icing. Shake off excess icing, then set the cookie glaze side up on a wire rack to set. Ideally, you want the glaze to cover the ridges of the top of the cookie, with little cracks visible in between. Repeat until all cookies are glazed.
12. Set, Serve & Store. Wait until the icing sets completely then enjoy the cookies. Store leftover iced cookies in an airtight container at room temperature 3-4 days or in the freezer up to 2 months.

FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The BEst Gluten-Free Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Don’t Skip The Chill Time! It’s tempting to bake the dough right away, but the chill time is a crucial step to getting these cookies just right. It allows the flour to absorb more of the liquid, softening the texture and helping to control the spread. If you bake the dough without chilling, the cookies will spread too thin.

Make Sure to Buy Gluten-Free Oats! If you’re gluten intolerant or baking for someone with Celiac disease, it’s crucial to use certified gluten-free oats for these cookies. We like One Degree, Trader Joe’s, Bob’s Red Mill, and Thrive Market brands! Double-check that you’re buying old-fashioned or rolled oats, not quick cooking oats.

Can I Use Quick Oats or Steel-Cut Oats Instead? I don’t recommend them. Quick oats (sometimes labeled quick-cooking oats) can make these cookies turn out a bit dry. Steel-cut oats will not soften enough during the bake time and will remain crunchy.

Play With The Glaze! One fun thing is that you can play with the glaze recipe here. Instead of dipping the cookies for an iced oatmeal cookies look, you can drizzle the glaze on the cookies. Try a zig-zag pattern, or make 1.5x the glaze recipe so you can cover the cookies more fully in glaze instead of the crackle look we did.

🌟 Leave a star review below when you try our Brown Butter Iced Oatmeal Cookies recipe! We can’t wait to hear what you think!

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