Bake up a batch of chai oatmeal sandwich cookies this fall. These chewy oatmeal cookies are filled with oats, cozy spices, and sweet maple frosting.
Heather's recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Chewy oatmeal cookies are filled with cozy chai spices and sandwiched around a sweet maple buttercream frosting.
Quick and easy. There's no chill time, so your cookies can go straight in the oven after mixing. Whip up a batch of frosting while your cookies cool, then assemble in minutes.
Yield: 18 sandwich cookies
Similar to: Chai Oatmeal Cookies, Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Butter - Unsalted butter and half of the listed salt can be substituted with salted butter if desired.
- Oats - I used quick cook oats in this recipe, but old fashioned oats can work as a substitute. Your cookies will have a chewier, more substantial texture when using old fashioned oats.
- Maple - Optionally, add a ¼ teaspoon of maple extract for a stronger maple flavor in the frosting.
How to make oatmeal sandwich cookies
- Use a hand mixer to cream together wet ingredients until light and fluffy.
- Whisk dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to wet ingredients and slowly mix to combine. Add oats and mix to combine.
- Portion dough using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned and set in the middle.
- While cookies cool, prepare frosting. Spread a heaping tablespoon of frosting (or as much as you'd like) on the bottoms of half of your cookies.
- Top with remaining cookies to create a sandwich.
Heather's Top Tip
For accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
Tips and tricks
Room temperature ingredients - Room temperature butter and eggs are important to ensure the ingredients incorporate evenly and cream together with the sugars in the recipe. Melted butter will cause your cookies to spread more in the oven and cold butter can leave clumps throughout the dough. Set your butter and eggs out about 30 minutes before starting for a perfect, room temperature (68F) butter.
Use a cookie scoop - It's important that your sandwich cookies are all about the same size and shape. A cookie scoop perfectly portions the dough into equal amounts. I used an OXO medium cookie scoop (size 40) for this recipe.
Use parchment paper - A greased cookie sheet causes cookies to spread more while baking. A sheet of parchment ensures your cookies don't spread more than intended.
Allow cookies to cool completely - Warm cookies will melt the buttercream frosting. They must be at room temperature before assembly.
Filling cookies - Spread buttercream with a knife or use a pastry bag to pipe frosting onto each cookie.
Frequently asked questions
Old fashioned oats can work as a substitute for quick cook oats. Your cookies will have a more substantial, chewier texture. Steel cut oats do not work in this recipe.
Here are a few common reasons why your oatmeal cookies are spreading too much and how to prevent this from happening:
- Using grease instead of parchment. Adding grease to a baking sheet will cause any cookie to spread more than they should. This recipe calls for a parchment lined baking sheet.
- You used melted butter instead of room temperature butter. Melted butter will cause your cookies to spread more and turn out flatter than shown in the photos.
- Placing dough on a hot baking sheet. A hot pan will melt the dough before your cookies make it to the oven. Use two baking sheets and rotate them out, or allow your pan to cool before loading it up with more cookies.
If your cookies aren't spreading in the oven, it sounds like too much flour was added to the dough. For most accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
Apple pie spice blend or pumpkin pie spice blend works great as a 1:1 substitute. You can also make your own chai spice blend using my recipe (chai spice blend) or substitute with: 1 and ½ teaspoons of ground ginger, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of cloves, and ¼ teaspoon of cardamom.
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📖 Recipe
Chai Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup (160 g) brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon chai spice blend
- 3 cups (267 g) quick cook oats
Filling
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (228 g) confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until fluffy, about a minute. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, chai spices, baking soda, and salt. Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture until just combined. Add old fashioned oats and stir until just combined. Dough will feel sticky.
- Scoop dough using a 1.5 tablespoon (medium) scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 inch balls. Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for about 11-13 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges and across the tops. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Filling
- In a bowl, add room temperature butter. Beat with a hand mixer until creamy.
- Add confectioner's sugar gradually and mix on low speed until ingredients are fully combined. Then, whip at high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add milk, maple syrup, and salt, then whip for an additional about 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Pipe frosting with a piping bag or spread frosting generously with a knife onto the bottoms of half of the cookies. Top with remaining unfrosted cookies to make sandwiches.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Oat variations: Quick cook oats can be substituted with old fashioned oats for a chewier, more substantial cookie texture. Steel-cut oats do not work well in this recipe.
- Storage: Cookies will keep for 5-7 days at room temperature in a sealed container. Add a slice of bread to the container to help keep your cookies soft for longer, replacing the bread slice as needed.
- Freezing: Leftover dough and baked cookies can both be frozen for up to 3 months. To thaw, place on the counter for 1-2 hours.
- More tips: Check out my post 10 Tips for Baking Cookies for my favorite tips based on reader questions!
I had so much fun creating this recipe! I hope you give it a try and love it as much as I do. If you have a question, check out the post above, which is packed with information about the recipe. Tried the recipe? I'd love to hear your thoughts — leave a comment and a star rating to share your feedback!