Ingredients
- 1¼ cups unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 cups quick oats
- ¾ cup unsalted butter for filling softened
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract for filling
- Salt to taste for filling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla, and molasses, beating on high speed until combined, about 1 minute.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and oats.
- With mixer on low speed, slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. The dough will be thick and sticky.
- Scoop 2 heaping tablespoons of dough per cookie and place 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 10-13 minutes until lightly golden around edges but very soft in centers.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
- Beat butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add confectioners' sugar and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Pour in heavy cream and vanilla, beating on high speed for 2-3 minutes. Add salt to taste.
- Spread about 1½ tablespoons of cream filling on bottom side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, right side up.
There’s something truly special about recreating childhood favorites in your own kitchen, and these homemade oatmeal cream pies are exactly that kind of recipe. I remember sneaking these treats into my lunchbox as a kid, carefully unwrapping that crinkly plastic to reveal two soft cookies with that sweet, fluffy filling in between. Now, as a mom myself, I wanted to bring that same joy to my family – but with ingredients I actually recognize and flavors that taste even better than I remembered.
What started as a weekend baking experiment quickly became a household obsession. The first batch barely lasted through Sunday afternoon, with my kids hovering around the kitchen asking when the next batch would be ready. Even my husband, who usually prefers chocolate desserts, found himself reaching for “just one more” of these tender oatmeal treats.
The beauty of making these from scratch lies in the details you can control. Instead of artificial preservatives and mystery ingredients, you get real butter, genuine vanilla, and that perfect blend of warm spices that makes your whole house smell like a cozy bakery. The cookies themselves are incredibly soft and chewy, with just enough structure to hold up to that generous layer of sweet cream filling.
I’ve made these dozens of times now, and I’ve learned a few tricks along the way. The secret to getting that perfect soft texture is using quick oats instead of old-fashioned ones – they break down just enough to create the ideal cookie consistency without making them too dense. And don’t skip the molasses! That single tablespoon adds a depth of flavor that really sets these apart from basic oatmeal cookies.
The cream filling is where these really shine. It’s essentially a rich buttercream that’s been perfectly balanced to complement the spiced cookies without being overwhelmingly sweet. I use real heavy cream and plenty of vanilla, which creates this luxurious texture that stays put between the cookies but still melts beautifully on your tongue.
One thing I love about this recipe is how forgiving it is. The cookie dough doesn’t require any chilling time, which means you can go from craving to finished treats in about an hour and a half. The cookies spread just enough in the oven to create that classic flat shape, but they stay tender in the center. Even if they look slightly underbaked when you pull them out, trust the process – they’ll finish cooking on the warm pan and end up with the perfect texture.
I’ve served these at school bake sales, taken them to potluck dinners, and packed them in care packages for college kids. They travel remarkably well and always disappear first. There’s something universally appealing about a sandwich cookie, especially one that tastes like a hug from childhood but with grown-up sophistication.
The spice blend in these cookies is what really makes them special. The combination of cinnamon and just a touch of cloves creates this warm, comforting flavor that screams fall but honestly works any time of year. I’ve experimented with adding other spices like nutmeg or ginger, but I always come back to this classic combination – it’s perfect as written.
Making the cream filling is surprisingly simple, though I do recommend using room temperature ingredients to avoid any lumps. I’ve found that beating the butter until it’s truly light and fluffy before adding the powdered sugar makes all the difference in achieving that smooth, pipeable consistency. And while the recipe calls for heavy cream, I’ve successfully used half-and-half in a pinch when that’s what I had on hand.
Storage is straightforward – these keep beautifully in an airtight container for several days, though they rarely last that long in our house. The cookies actually improve slightly after a day, as the filling has time to settle and the flavors meld together. I’ve even successfully frozen assembled cream pies for up to a month, though I prefer to freeze the cookies separately and add fresh filling when serving.
What I appreciate most about this recipe is how it brings people together. There’s something about homemade treats that creates instant connection – neighbors stopping by for coffee end up staying for an hour, kids invite friends over just to try “mom’s cookies,” and family gatherings become more special when you show up with a container of these.
The process itself is therapeutic too. There’s something meditative about scooping uniform cookie portions, watching them spread and brown in the oven, and carefully assembling each sandwich with just the right amount of filling. It’s the kind of baking that fills both your kitchen and your heart.
These oatmeal cream pies represent everything I love about homemade treats – they’re familiar enough to trigger happy memories but elevated enough to create new ones. They prove that sometimes the best recipes aren’t the most complicated ones, but the ones that take simple, quality ingredients and transform them into something that makes people smile.
Whether you’re packing them in lunch boxes, serving them at a gathering, or simply wanting to treat your family to something special, these homemade oatmeal cream pies deliver every single time. They’re the kind of recipe that gets passed down, requested for birthdays, and remembered long after the last crumb is gone.
