Soft and chewy homemade oatmeal cookies filled with a luscious eggnog icing. The addition of extra warm spices make this Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pie recipe the perfect holiday treat!
Posted: 12/2/202; Republished: 11/30/2021
Once December hits, the eggnog game is fair game, and I go NUTS for 'nog. Boozy or not, it truly calls my name. I wanted to create a simple yet fun recreation of one of my favorite childhood snacks, but make it holiday themed! Enter this Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pie recipe.
This takes an easy homemade spiced oatmeal cookie recipe with few ingredients and sandwiches them around a flavorful eggnog buttercream frosting. The cookies are lightly crisp on the outside and otherwise oh so soft and chewy!
It's the copycat Little Debbie oatmeal creme pie recipe you didn't know you needed (with a holiday twist, of course)!
For more eggnog recipes, try this eggnog creme brûlée or eggnog bundt cake!
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Key Ingredients & Tools Notes
- Old Fashioned Oats. Also called rolled oats, and the most important ingredient! Unfortunately, you cannot substitute quick cooking oats or steel cut oats in this recipe.
- Brown sugar. You can use light or dark brown for this recipe. Dark brown will produce a slightly darker cookie with more of a molasses flavor.
- Eggnog. Choose the most flavorful eggnog you've tried! Personally, I think Turkey Hill brand is the best (though this is local to my area), but am also very impressed with the Aldi brand eggnog.
- Unsalted butter. For both the oatmeal cookies and the eggnog frosting.
- Ground spices. Cinnamon and nutmeg.
There are a few key tools you'll need:
- Stand mixer or hand mixer. If using a hand mixer, incorporate the rolled oats by hand.
- Large cookie/biscuit cutter. This is used to scoot the cookies and is a crucial step to the recipe in making the cookies perfectly round. I typically use my hand sieve, but anything round with an opening larger than the cookie will work (e.g. sour cream container). In a pinch, you can do this with the tines of a fork by laying the fork down on its side and pressing the cookie inward.
- Piping bags. You can also use ziptop bags. This is the easiest way to add the filling, but it can also be spread on the cookie.
How to make oatmeal cream pies
To make the oatmeal creme pies, I want to mention up front that you'll need to allow the dough to rest for 2 hours prior to baking. You have to do this if you want the cookies to turn out, as the butter needs time to harden up. Without the chill time, the cookies will be be super flat.
Additionally, you'll need to scoot the cookies at the 8-minute mark and also again at the end of baking. While this is technically an optional step, this is what will give you perfectly round cookies and make the cookie sandwiches look impeccable!
Making the Dough
STEP 1: Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar over medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
While the mixture is creaming, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
STEP 2: Once the butter and sugars are creamed, add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine, then scrape down the sides. With the mixer on low speed, spoon in the dry ingredients until combined. If using a hand mixer, stir in the oats by hand so the mixer doesn't break them up.
Place the bowl and dough in the fridge (covered with plastic wrap) to rest for two hours. Do not skip this step.
Baking the oatmeal cookies
Preheat the oven to 350℉/177℃ and line 2 large baking pans with parchment paper.
STEP 3: Using a 1.5 inch cookie scoop, press the dough into the scoop with the palm of your hand (make it flush and remove excess), add the cookies to the baking pans, leaving as much space in between as possible. These cookies do spread quite a bit.
When scooping the cookies, use the palm of your hand to press the dough into the scoop so it's flush, then drop it onto the pan. This ensures even cookies.
Bake for 8 minutes. At the 8 minute mark, “scoot” your cookies to make them perfectly round. You can do this with a cookie cutter (or anything with a round opening - e.g. sour cream container) larger than your baked cookie or with a fork.
Simply surround your cookie with the cutter and move it around in a circular motion so the sides round back up. Because we’re making sandwiches, we want these to be as evenly round as possible.
STEP 4: Once shaped, return to the oven for about 2-4 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, scoot any deformed edges again, and place the pan on a wire rack to cool. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the pan (this will finish setting the center).
The center of the cookies should look under baked and wet when you pull them out. This is correct! It's what creates a soft & chewy cookie and they will finish baking as they cool on the pan.
Eggnog Icing
While many oatmeal creme pie recipes use a marshmallow fluff filling, this one uses a more traditional American buttercream in order to incorporate the eggnog. You want to use an eggnog that has the most flavor you can find. See the FAQs for more information.
STEP 5: To make the eggnog buttercream frosting from scratch, start by creaming the butter on medium speed (using a stand mixer with paddle attachment or a handheld mixer) for one minute.
Add half of the powdered sugar, then increase the speed to medium (it will look like a paste at this point), then slowly drizzle in half of eggnog and beat on medium high speed.
Return to low and add in the rest of the powdered sugar, ground nutmeg, then the remaining eggnog and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. If it still feels a bit too stiff, add in another drizzle of eggnog until it's a pipeable/spreadable consistency. If too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
Assembling the Cookie Sandwiches
STEP 6: When the cookies are completely cool, pipe or spread the buttercream onto the bottom side of one of the cookies in a swirl. When piping, leave a bit of room around the edges of the cookies to allow for spreading when you sandwich the cookies together.
Place the bottom side of another cookie on top and gently press together until the eggnog icing just reaches the edges (but don't squish it out!).
Storing and Freezing
Store the Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies in a sealed container (or a ziptop bag) in the fridge for up to 3 days. Allow the cookie sandwiches to completely come to room temperature (about 1 hour) before enjoying so the butter has time to re-soften.
I actually find that these cookies are best on day 2 after a night in the fridge. The cookies soften up a bit from the contact with the buttercream...just make sure to bring it to room temperature!
The cookies can be frozen in a few forms:
- Flash freeze the dough on a sheet pan for 30 minutes, then transfer to a sealed container and freeze for up to three months, then bake from frozen. You will need to add a few minutes to the bake time.
- Freeze the cookies after baking in a sealed container for one month, then thaw at room temperature (uncovered) and fill.
- Fully assemble the cookie sandwiches, flash freeze for 30 minutes, then transfer to a sealed container and freeze for one month. Thaw in the fridge, then bring to room temperature and enjoy.
FAQs & Tips
An oatmeal creme pie is best known in Little Debbie form as a soft oatmeal cookie sandwiched with a marshmallow creme. They are soft, warm spiced, and a childhood classic for many Americans!
You want to use an eggnog that has the most flavor possible! In my area, Turkey Hill brand is best, but use your judgement. I will say that Southern Comfort brand is probably the worst choice, so stay away from that.
Yes, it does. While the sugar in the frosting does help to preserve the frosting for about a day or two, it's best to refrigerate it to be safe.
More cookie recipes:
- Cookie Butter Cookies
- Stuffed Fluffernutter Cookies
- Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Christmas Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles
Be sure to tag me on Instagram @thecozyplum and use #TheCozyPlum! I can't wait to see your creations. For more ideas, follow me on Pinterest.
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📖Recipe
Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- 1.5-inch cookie scoop
- Large baking pans
- Piping bag (or ziptop bag)
Ingredients
Oatmeal Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature (226g)
- 1 cup brown sugar 200g (light or dark)
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100g
- 1 large egg + 1 yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour 210g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats 150g
Eggnog Buttercream
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature (85g)
- 3 cups powdered sugar 360g
- ¼ cup eggnog 60ml
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
Oatmeal Cookies
- Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar over medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- While the mixture is creaming, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
- Once the butter and sugars are creamed, add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine, then scrape down the sides. With the mixer on low speed, spoon in the dry ingredients until combined, then add in the oats last and give one more mix.
- Place the bowl and dough in the fridge to rest for at least two hours. Do not skip this step*.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/177℃ and line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.
- Using a 1.5 inch cookie scoop, press the dough into the scoop with the palm of your hand, add the cookies to the baking pans, leaving as much space in between as possible.
- Bake for 8 minutes. At the 8 minute mark, “scoot” your cookies to make them perfectly round. You can do this with a cookie cutter (or anything with a round opening - e.g. sour cream container) larger than your baked cookie or with a fork. Simply surround your cookie with the cutter and move it around so the sides round back up. With the fork, place the fork on its side and use the tines to round out any uneven edges. Because we’re making sandwiches, we want these to be as evenly round as possible.
- Once shaped, return to the oven for about 2-4 minutes. The middles will still seem very underdone - this is what we want. Remove the pan from the oven, scoot any deformed edges again, and place the pan on a wire rack to cool. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the pan (this will finish setting the center).
Eggnog Buttercream
- While the cookies are cooling, make the buttercream. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer), cream the butter for about a minute over medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Add half of the powdered sugar, then increase the speed to medium (it will look like a paste at this point), then slowly drizzle in half of eggnog and beat on medium high speed.
- Return to low and add in the rest of the powdered sugar, ground nutmeg, then the remaining eggnog and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. If it still feels a bit too stiff, add in another drizzle of eggnog until it's a pipeable/spreadable consistency. If too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
Assembly
- When the cookies are completely cool, pipe or spread the buttercream onto the bottom side of one of the cookies, and place the bottom side of another cookie on top and gently press together. Leave a bit of room around the edges of the cookies to allow for spreading when you sandwich the cookies together.
Aubrey
Loved these! A bit tricky to make sure you don’t overbake the cookies so they stay nice and soft, but they turned out so well. I wasn’t sure if such a small amount of eggnog flavor would come through but it was lovely!
The Cozy Plum
That is true, thanks so much for your feedback!