This post may contain affiliate links . Read my full Disclosure Policy.
These Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies are soft and chewy and topped with a sweet vanilla bean icing. They are everything you love about a classic oatmeal cookie, but even better with a hint of sourdough flavor.
What I love about these cookies is how customizable they are. You can remove the icing and add in raisins for an oatmeal raisin cookie, or add chocolate chips to make an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie! Or, make sandwich cookies like my Sourdough Oatmeal Cream Pie recipe.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Warm flavors – This Sourdough Oatmeal Cookie recipe is full of warm and delicious flavors thanks to the addition of brown butter, cinnamon, and vanilla bean paste. If you love spiced cookies, you have to try my Cookie Butter Sourdough Cookies too.
- Easily customizable – If you’d like to add raisins or chocolate chips, you can easily do so! You can also leave off the icing if you prefer. There are so many different options you could try!
- No refrigeration needed – For many of my sourdough cookie recipes, like my Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Chocolate Sourdough Cookies it is recommended to chill the dough before baking so that they hold their shape better. But, for this recipe, we are looking for a flatter cookie, so no refrigeration is needed.
Important Ingredients & Substitutions
- Brown butter – The brown butter adds a warm, nutty flavor to the cookies. It is well worth the extra few minutes it takes to brown the butter.
- Sourdough discard – Discard is sourdough starter that is no longer active and bubbly. If you do not have discard on hand, active starter also works in this recipe.
- Rolled oats- Old-fashioned oats give the cookies a chewy texture. You can use instant or quick-cooking oats, but it does change the texture of the cookies.
- Cinnamon – A hint of cinnamon brings out the flavors of the brown butter and oats.
- Vanilla bean paste – I love the flavor the vanilla bean paste gives in the icing, and I love the look of it as well in the icing. But you can use vanilla extract if you prefer.
See all the ingredients and amounts in the recipe card below.
How to brown butter
Browned butter is just butter that is cooked until it is golden brown. It takes on a nutty flavor that adds depth and pairs so well with the warm spices used in this recipe. If you love brown butter, be sure to also try Apple Crisp Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls, Sourdough Pumpkin Scones, and Sourdough Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Here’s how you do it:
- Melt the unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir frequently with a spatula. If you have a light colored pan that is helpful to see the color better but dark pans will do the job.
- Once the butter melts, it will begin to foam. The butter should begin turning a golden brown color. Continue to stir. You will want to keep an eye on this as it can quickly burn if not attended to.
- Once the color turns a deep bronze color and the foam begins subsiding, usually within 5-8 minutes of starting, the butter is ready. It should smell nutty.
- Once browned to your liking, immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl or jar.
You can find more in-depth instructions here.
Instructions to make Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies
Step 1: First, make the brown butter. Take the butter and cut it into cubes. Add it to a light-colored pan, if you have one, so that you can easily see when the butter has browned. Heat over medium heat, stirring consistently to prevent the butter from burning. Heat for about 5 minutes or until the milk solids have turned a golden brown color and you can smell the nutty aroma.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter and brown sugar.
Then, add in the wet ingredients: sourdough discard, large egg, and vanilla paste or extract, and mix until incorporated.
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.
Step 4: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Each cookie sheet should have 12 dough balls evenly dispersed on the pan.
Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the edges are lightly golden and the tops lose their sheen. Be careful not to overbake, as this will result in a crunchier texture. After they have cooled slightly, add the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 5: Once the cookies are cooled, make the icing. In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, and milk. You want the icing to be thin enough to drizzle easily off a spoon, but thick enough to hold its shape for a few seconds in the bowl before blending back in.
Step 6: To ice the cookies, hold each cooled cookie upside down and dip the top into the icing, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl. Lift and gently shake or tap your wrist to remove any extra icing, then flip the cookie upright.
Step 7: Add the iced cookies to a wire rack or parchment-lined sheet tray.
Recipe Tips
- Cookies will continue to bake after coming out of the oven, so resist the urge to bake these after the sides start lightly browning. Overbaking will result in crunchy cookies.
- Wait for the cookies to cool and set before adding the icing, or they will fall apart as they are dipped.
- The brown butter adds a beautiful nutty flavor, but if you are short on time or prefer to skip this step, you can. Instead of browning the butter, cream softened butter with the sugar instead, using a stand mixer or hand mixer, although this will change the texture of the cookie.
Storage Instructions
Once the icing has hardened, wrap the cookies with plastic wrap or add them to an air-tight container. These can be kept on the counter for 5 days.
These Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies can also be frozen, with or without the icing. If you are freezing the cookies by themselves, place them in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months.
If you freeze them with the icing, I recommend flash freezing the cookies by placing them on a sheet pan for 1-2 hours until they are frozen. Then add them to a freezer-safe bag. To defrost, leave them on the counter until no longer frozen.
Recipe FAQ
Yes! The raw cookie dough balls freeze great. To do so, scoop the cookie dough into balls and freeze on a lined cookie sheet until solid. Then transfer to a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag. Freeze up to 3 months. You can bake from frozen, just add a few extra minutes to the bake time. You’ll know they are ready when the edges are slightly brown.
Yes! To do this, simply mix up the dough and place it in the fridge covered for up to 2 days.
Yes, either active starter or discard will work.
More sourdough cookies
Sourdough Discard Recipes
The Best Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sourdough Discard Recipes
The Best Sourdough Oatmeal Cream Pies
Fall Sourdough Recipes
Sourdough Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sourdough Discard Recipes
The Best Sourdough Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
Tried this Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies or another recipe from the site? I’d love to hear about it! Drop a star rating and share your thoughts in the comments—can’t wait to see what you’re baking!
Iced Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 114 grams butter, ½ cup
- 165 grams brown sugar, ¾ cup
- 120 grams sourdough discard, ½ cup
- 1 egg, 50 grams
- 6 grams vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
- 2 grams cinnamon, 1 teaspoon
- 135 grams rolled oats, 1 ½ cup
- 140 grams all purpose flour, 1 cup
- 3 grams salt, ½ teaspoon
- 5 grams baking soda, 1 teaspoon
Vanilla Bean Icing
- 180 grams powdered sugar, 1 ½ cups
- 6 grams vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
- 40 grams milk, 2 ½ Tablespoons
Instructions
- First, make the brown butter. Take the butter and cut it into cubes. Add it to a light-colored pan, if you have one, so that you can easily see when the butter has browned. Heat over medium heat, stirring consistently to prevent the butter from burning. Heat for about 5 minutes or until the milk solids have turned a golden brown color and you can smell the nutty aroma.114 grams butter
- In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter and brown sugar.165 grams brown sugar
- Add in the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.120 grams sourdough discard, 1 egg, 6 grams vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- Mix in the dry ingredients. 2 grams cinnamon, 135 grams rolled oats, 140 grams all purpose flour, 3 grams salt, 5 grams baking soda
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet. Each cookie sheet should have 12 dough balls evenly dispersed on the pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the edges are lightly golden and the tops lose their sheen. Be careful not to overbake, as this will result in a crunchier texture.
- After they have cooled slightly, add the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies are cooled, whisk together the icing ingredients. You want the icing to be thin enough to drizzle easily off a spoon, but thick enough to hold its shape for a few seconds in the bowl before blending back in. Once the icing is made, work quickly as the icing will get hard as it sits. 180 grams powdered sugar, 6 grams vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, 40 grams milk
- To ice the cookies, hold each cooled cookie upside down and dip the top into the icing, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl. Lift and gently shake or tap your wrist to remove any extra icing, then flip the cookie upright and place it on a wire rack or parchment-lined sheet tray. For a thin glaze, give the cookie a quick dip; for a thicker coating, dip and let it sit a moment before lifting.
- Let the cookies sit out for an hour or two before storing them to allow the icing to set.
Notes
- If you would like an oatmeal raisin or oatmeal chocolate chip cookie you can remove the icing and add 1 cup of raisins or chocolate chips to the dough.
- Cookies will continue to bake after coming out of the oven, so resist the urge to bake these after the sides start lightly browning. Overbaking will result in crunchy cookies.
- Wait for the cookies to cool and set before adding the icing, or they will fall apart as they are dipped.
- The brown butter adds a beautiful nutty flavor, but if you are short on time or prefer to skip this step, you can. Instead of browning the butter, cream softened butter with the sugar instead, using a stand mixer or hand mixer but note the texture of the cookies will change.
- If you don’t want to dip the cookies in icing you can also drizzle the icing over the top.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These sourdough oatmeal cookies have quickly become a favorite in our house and among are friends. They are so soft and the brown butter makes them extra delicious.
Can you long ferment at a certain stage to allow the gluten to break down and be more digestible?