This Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pie recipe is a delicious copycat of the classic Little Debbie snack. Soft oatmeal cookies are sandwiched with rich, buttery, marshmallow buttercream frosting. These are absolutely incredible!!
Looking for a more classic oatmeal cookie? Make sure to try my Crispy Chewy Oatmeal Cookies or my most favorite Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!
Table of Contents
- Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies Are A Blast From The Past!
- Why You’re Going To Fall In Love With This Copycat Oatmeal Cream Pie Recipe:
- Making An Oatmeal Cream Pie From Scratch Is Easy!
- Why Is Homemade Better?
- Ingredients:
- Instructions/How To Make Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies:
- What’s Up With the Cream Filling?
- How To Store:
- Looking For More Copycat Recipes? Here Are A Few You’ll Love:
- Get the Recipe
Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies Are A Blast From The Past!
You know you remember these cookies from your lunchbox in elementary school…or is that dating me? Nowadays kids don’t get the satisfaction of opening that plastic wrap to reveal their lunch dessert…it’s all about bento-style lunch boxes filled with perfectly cut sandwiches and celery sticks. But this was a childhood favorite for me.
I mean, I get it…I don’t buy Oatmeal Cream Pies for my kids either. Have you had one recently? They just don’t taste the same as they did when I was in 4th grade. I remember them being absolutely delicious, and when I tried one recently as an adult I took one bite and was utterly disappointed. Did they change the recipe or was my adolescent flavor palette that confused?
Anyhow, I took matters into my own hands and created a FANTASTIC from-scratch recipe for my favorite lunchbox treat, and OMG you guys these are RIDICULOUS. You’re going to love me forever.
Why You’re Going To Fall In Love With This Copycat Oatmeal Cream Pie Recipe:
I actually developed this recipe Oatmeal Cream Pie recipe WAY back in 2011 and posted it here on my site. I make them quite frequently, but thought the pictures needed a little sprucing up…plus for those of you who are new around here you might have missed this oldie recipe. And that’s just a shame because I was on my game when I came up with the recipe for these.
They are everything you WANT Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies to be: perfectly soft, cinnamon oatmeal cookies with a creamy, buttery filling that doesn’t squeeze out of the cookie sandwich. I’m telling you, these are THE BEST. The cookie dough comes together easily with no chill time necessary. The cookies alone are actually a REALLY great oatmeal cookie option.
Making An Oatmeal Cream Pie From Scratch Is Easy!
The oatmeal cookie recipe that I created is easy to make with no chilling time necessary. They spread out to be the perfect thickness and texture.
The filling is very unique. There is gelatin involved which gives it the perfect texture. The filling stays put inside the “pie” and isn’t messy at all like some homemade sandwich cookies can be!
Why Is Homemade Better?
If you have to ask I will explain! Obviously no weird chemicals or preservatives, so that’s a win. But let’s start with the oatmeal cookies…this is a special oatmeal cookie recipe specifically developed for this recipe. They are fantastic on their own, sure, but I wanted them to be ultra soft, just like the original Oatmeal Cream Pie. Here’s what I did differently:
- A combo of both baking soda and baking powder. You might think it’s too much baking soda, but trust me! it helps them spread and gives them the exact right texture.
- I used Quick Oats. Yes you can use old fashioned, or rolled oats, but the quick oats work best here for texture. Old-fashioned oats will gives a coarser appearance and a chewier texture, which is fine, but I wanted that classic appearance and chew.
- The cookies will be very soft in the centers. If you try and move them directly off the baking sheet after they bake you will end up with a mess. The unique combo of molasses, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar make these sweet and a little soft in the centers, while the edges still get golden.
- If the edges feel firm when they are fresh out of the oven don’t worry. These cookies actually soften a bit as they set, and the filling also softens the edges. A super soft texture is part of the magic of Oatmeal Cream Pies!
Ingredients:
Cookies
- Room temperature butter. I use salted but you can use unsalted butter if you prefer!
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Molasses
- Large eggs
- Kosher salt
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Ground cinnamon
- All purpose flour
- Quick oats
Filling
- Unflavored gelatin, I use the brand Knox most often as it’s very easy to find
- Water
- Granulated Sugar
- Light Corn Syrup
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
- Room temperature butter. I use salted butter in this recipe.
Instructions/How To Make Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies:
- Cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and molasses together for 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, salt baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon and mix for 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour and oats, mixing until combined.
- Using a medium (2- tablespoon) cookie scoop drop the dough on to the prepared baking sheet 3- inches apart. These cookies will spread.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden and centers are just set.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack, carefully, to cool completely. The centers of the cookies will (and should be) very soft, which is why letting them cool on the baking sheet is an important step.
- Filling: In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup water. Stir it together and let it stand about 5 minutes. Mixture will get thick as it sits.
- In a 2- quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water until mixture comes to a full boil. Continue boiling for 30 seconds and immediately remove the pan from the heat.
- Stir in the vanilla and gelatin mixture until it dissolves completely.
- Transfer the mixture to the clean bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. With your mixer on medium speed, mix for 20 seconds. Gradually raise the speed to high and mix until the mixture is stiff, white, fluffy, and cooled to barely warm, 5-7 minutes.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add your powdered sugar, mixing until incorporated. Then add the butter and turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix until completely smooth, about 2 minutes.
- The filling will set up as it sits, so wait until it is thick enough to spread or pipe before filling the cookies, 5-10 minutes. Make sure not to let it sit too long, as it will become too thick and marshmallow-like to spread.
- Assemble: Use a large piping tip or an offset spatula to spread about 2 tablespoons of filling onto the bottoms of half the cookies. Press the remaining cookies onto the filling, creating sandwiches.
- Allow the cookies to set for 20-30 minutes.
What’s Up With the Cream Filling?
You’ll see in the ingredient list the filling isn’t a straightforward buttercream. It’s actually more like a marshmallow buttercream with the addition of gelatin. Making the frosting this special, bouncy-ish texture is what makes these the BEST copycat recipe out there. I’m telling you, it’s perfect for these cookies.
The marshmallow buttercream sets up, which means once it sets it won’t squeeze out the sides of the cookie, which happens to be my biggest pet peeve with sandwich cookies! It stays perfectly in place, while being rich, creamy, and buttery. It’s a really unique frosting that I think you will LOVE! I don’t recommend using Marshmallow Fluff in this recipe to shortcut the gelatin step, because you just don’t get that same texture that stays in place like the gelatin version.
How To Store:
These cookies can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container or ziptop bag at room temperature for yo to 5 days. Even wrapping them individually is a great idea! You can also freeze these airtight in a freezer bag for up to 30 days for best freshness. Thaw them at room temperature before enjoying!
Looking For More Copycat Recipes? Here Are A Few You’ll Love:
This recipe was originally developed and published in 2011. The photos have been updated for 2020 and the recipe has been slightly tweaked with only a few minor changes to the original.
Print
Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutnes
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 20 sandwiches 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies are outrageously delicious! Soft oatmeal cookies with a rich marshmallow buttercream filling. You will LOVE these!!
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups quick oats
Filling
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (about 1 1/2 packets)
- 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup water (divided)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
Instructions
- Cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and molasses together for 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, salt baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon and mix for 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour and oats, mixing until combined.
- Using a medium (2- tablespoon) cookie scoop drop the dough on to the prepared baking sheet 3- inches apart. These cookies will spread.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden and centers are just set.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack, carefully, to cool completely. The centers of the cookies will (and should be) very soft, which is why letting them cool on the baking sheet is an important step.
- Filling: In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup water. Stir it together and let it stand about 5 minutes. Mixture will get thick as it sits.
- In a 2- quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water until mixture comes to a full boil. Continue boiling for 30 seconds and immediately remove the pan from the heat.
- Stir in the vanilla and gelatin mixture until it dissolves completely.
- Transfer the mixture to the clean bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. With your mixer on medium speed, mix for 20 seconds. Gradually raise the speed to high and mix until the mixture is stiff, white, fluffy, and cooled to barely warm, 5-7 minutes.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add your powdered sugar, mixing until incorporated. Then add the butter and turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix until completely smooth, about 2 minutes.
- The filling will set up as it sits, so wait until it is thick enough to spread or pipe before filling the cookies, 5-10 minutes. Make sure not to let it sit too long, as it will become too thick and marshmallow-like to spread.
- Assemble: Use a large piping tip or an offset spatula to spread about 2 tablespoons of filling onto the bottoms of half the cookies. Press the remaining cookies onto the filling, creating sandwiches.
- Allow the cookies to set for 20-30 minutes.
Notes
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze airtight for up to a month.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 356
- Sugar: 33.3 g
- Sodium: 258.2 mg
- Fat: 17.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.7 g
- Protein: 3.5 g
- Cholesterol: 61.3 mg
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So many recipes that are “homemade oatmeal cream pies” call for marshmallow fluff as one of the ingredients in the cream. I will be honest, I was going to “cheat” too but the store I went to did not have the fluff so I looked up this recipe right there in the aisle to get the ingredients to make my own. I am SO glad I did. It was so easy and delicious! I made these for a neighbor whose dog passed away this week. He mentioned in conversation once that he enjoyed the Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies as a kid. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I hope your neighbor enjoyed as well! I think making the filling 100% homemade is what sets my recipe apart. It’s truly the best in my opinion!!
My favorite recipe and always such a crowd pleaser! I don’t even know how many times we’ve made them but I’m currently making a batch now
These cookies were absolutely delicious. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the icing to work. It never worked up into white stiff peaks 🙁 The flavour was there though, so I decided to just glaze the cookies in it.
Hey! Really want to make these but I have no molasses. Any suggestions?
Hi! Can I use pectin in place of of gelatin?
Oh, Shelly – how you saved the day today!! My Dad went into the hospital with COVID-19 last night, my Mom has a fever of 101 degrees today and is being tested. It has just been awful. I needed baking therapy to cope, and made your Oatmeal Cream Pies this afternoon. How happy they have made me and my husband! The cookies themselves are amazing and a stellar recipe on their own. (Hubs had to go outside and mow to keep from eating them all, warm out of the oven. ) The frosting was unlike any recipe I’d ever made – and I had some nerves about it early in the process. But it came out rich and glossy and tastes decadent encased between 2 of those cookies. Bless you for your recipe-developing genius, and for cheering us up on a very bad day!
So glad you liked it!! I love this recipe so much and I’m so glad you did too!
Where does the 1 cup of butter go that’s for the filling?
Step #5 in the filling section!
The cookie part turned out fantastic! The filling was a fail. It sets up way too firm and you’re left with an actual marshmallow in the center. I will definitely make the cookies again, but will try a different filling. The cookies are lovely on their own, too.
One question I have is usually when I make cookies, I mix all the dry ingredients together first, flour salt baking powder baking soda etc. then add to the butter/sugar mixture. It found it mixes differently when all the dry ingredients are blended together first then mixed with the wet.
You can certainly do that without any issue. I don’t find that to be a necessary step in all cookie recipes, like this one. But if you prefer to do that step, it won’t hurt!
These came out great! very tasty, cookie was soft and the filling was not too sweet and just firm enough not to squirt out as the recipes says. I used a small ice cream scoop so all cookies came out the same size…yes in the picture I did do a batch of bigger cookies :)) …2 mistakes I made 1) when I took the first batch of cookies out of the oven I banged the cookie sheet on my counter by mistake and the cookies center fell…BUT that was a good thing… I actually did that to the rest of them…the second mistake was when I made the filling, I should have let it firm up a little more before I piped it on. It was a little runny and messy, I read a few people waited too long and had issues so I was kind of working quickly. I think if I had waited another 5 or 10 minuets I would have actually been able to get more of that delicious filling on them! I did have a lot left over ..only change I would make next time is add a little more cinnamon.. but that’s just a personal taste …the recipe is spot on
So glad you enjoyed and thanks for your feedback and review. LOVE the pictures!!
I made these tonight. I bought the wrong type of oatmeal but really wanted to make them tonight and did not want to make another trip to the store. I made them with old fashion oats. They still turned out great. The filling was easy to make but it was a little difficult to spread onto the cookies. I may have let it set a minute to long. I was able to spread them on the cookie but it didn’t look pretty. Great thing is that nobody could tell since you put another cookie on top. I will try it again with instant oats and keep a closer eye on the filling Overall it was delicious and my son and his friend loved them! I don’t think we will be able to eat them all within a few days so I am gong to try to freeze them.
SO glad you enjoyed! Yes that filling can get get a little difficult to spread if you let it sit too long…but the cookie on top hides it all!