Iced Oatmeal Cookie Bars
This may be my favorite version of oatmeal in a dessert yet: thick, soft, and chewy oatmeal cookie bar iced with a powdered sugar frosting. Iced Oatmeal Cookie Bars are layered with flavor and loaded with the best textures.
Oatmeal Cookie Bar Recipe
Here’s the deal—I guarantee that you are underestimating how delicious these are. They are not your grandmother’s oatmeal cookie! This is a thick and chewy, brown-sugar-is-king oatmeal cookie bar. I absolutely adore the texture on these bars. They are soft with a oatey chew that is just ridiculously good. And as a finish, a powdered sugar icing fills in all of the cracks and bumps on top. MMM. To sum: these cookie bars are warm and homey and all around SO GOOD.
Ingredients
*You can find instructions and exact quantities in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Salted butter – I use salted butter, but you can sub in unsalted butter if you’d prefer. If you make the swap, I recommend adding an extra pinch of salt to the dough.
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Canola oil – You can use another type of cooking oil (like vegetable) if you’d prefer.
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch – The cornstarch helps the cookie bars stay nice and soft.
- Rolled oats – You can also use old fashioned oats, but I don’t recommend quick oats for this recipe.
- Cinnamon
- Baking soda
- Salt
Icing
- Butter – Again, I use salted.
- Vegetable shortening – The shortening helps the frosting harden slightly and crust over, making these stackable. You can sub all butter if preferred.
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla `
- Milk
How to Make Oatmeal Cookie Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light in color and fluffy in texture.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the egg and canola oil. Mix until well combined.
- Add the flour, rolled oats, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Mix until the dough forms.
- Loosely press the dough into a greased 9×13 pan leaving the top textured.
- Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 15-17 minutes or until the center no longer looks wet and glossy.
Icing
- While the cookie bars are baking, make the icing by combining the butter and shortening until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tbsp of milk. You can always add more milk, if needed. The icing should be quite thick.
- Transfer the icing to a zip top bag with the corner clipped or piping bag.
- Immediately after the bars come out of the oven, zig zag the icing on top of the cookie bars. Allow the icing to melt and then use a spoon to push the icing to fill up all the dips in the texture on the top of the cookie bars.
- Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan. Cut and serve.
- Enjoy!
How should I store these cookie bars?
Once cooled, store your cookie bars in an airtight container on the counter for 3-5 days!
Can I freeze these cookie bars?
Yes! You can freeze these cookie bars with or without the frosting for up to 3 months! If freezing with frosting, place all cooled and cut cookie bars onto a cookie sheet. Place the entire cookie sheet into the freezer and ‘flash freeze’ until they start to harden slightly and the frosting is set. Move the bars to a ziptop bag or airtight container, with parchment between layers of bars.
Karli’s Kitchen Faves
Here are a few of my favorite kitchen tools that I used to make this recipe!
- Kitchenaid Mixer – I really love this thing. It’s not necessary for making good cookies, but I love the size of the bowl and the power. A Hand Mixer is also an excellent option for when you don’t want to mix things by hand.
- I sometimes like to use parchment paper to line the greased 9×13 pan. Leave a little hanging over the sides of the pan to make it easy to remove the cookie bars from the pan.
- Piping bag – These are disposable, meaning you do not have to clean them ha. They are durable and won’t burst and leak your frosting.
- Piping tips – This is a set of my 4 favorite piping tips.
- Spatula – I love these silicone spatulas for scraping down the sides of the mixer.
- 9×13 pan – This is one of my fave pans for making cookie bars.
Oatmeal Desserts
Iced Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (167g) salted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (185g) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (58g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 1/2 cup (228g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups (150g) rolled oats
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Icing
- 1/4 cup (56g) salted butter, softened
- 1 Tbsp vegetable shortening
- 1 1/2 cups (161g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla `
- 1-2 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light in color and fluffy in texture.3/4 cup (167g) salted butter, softened , 3/4 cup (185g) brown sugar, 1/4 cup (58g) granulated sugar
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the egg and canola oil. Mix until well combined.1 egg, 1 Tbsp canola oil
- Add the flour, rolled oats, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Mix until the dough forms.1 1/2 cup (228g) all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch, 1 1/2 cups (150g) rolled oats, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Loosely press the dough into a greased 9×13 pan leaving the top textured.
- Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 15-17 minutes or until the center no longer looks wet and glossy.
Icing
- While the cookie bars are baking, make the icing by combining the butter and shortening until smooth.1/4 cup (56g) salted butter, softened , 1 Tbsp vegetable shortening
- Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tbsp of milk. You can always add more milk, if needed. The icing should be quite thick.
- Transfer the icing to a zip top bag with the corner clipped or piping bag.
- Immediately after the bars come out of the oven, zig zag the icing on top of the cookie bars. Allow the icing to melt and then use a spoon to push the icing to fill up all the dips in the texture on the top of the cookie bars.
- Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan. Cut and serve.
- Enjoy!
As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it and wow!! My husband is obsessed, he loves anthing oatmeal and this is truely the best. Definitely don’t skip the piping bag since the bars are super tender when they come out and the icing needs to go on gently
As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I wanted to try it and finally got a chance to make these today. They are delicious, soft and chewy, and so easy to make! I will definitely make these again and again.
I’m excited to make these. My question is. Does the icing harden enough to stack if needed? TIA
Yes! The shortening in the frosting will help it crust over so they can be packaged.