Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

Soft and chewy oatmeal cookies are sandwiched together with delicious vanilla buttercream to create the perfect dessert. Forget Little Debbie; fresh, homemade oatmeal cream pies are where it’s at.

Oatmeal cream pies are one of those store-bought items that I simply can’t have in the house.

I loved them as a kid and even had them on my weekly shopping list in college – which totally contributed to the freshman twenty.

Well, those and Taco Bell nachos bel grandes with extra sour cream. Keepin’ it real, folks.

There’s just something about soft oatmeal cookies sandwiched together with a layer of sweet frosting that makes me happy and nostalgic.

Do you remember opening up that crinkly plastic wrapper and getting hit with the sweet, oaty smell of those super soft cookies and delicious frosting?

Someone should totally make a candle that smells like that.

I had to permanently remove them from my shopping list when I found myself noshing down on an entire box of them in a matter of a few days. (And don’t get me started on the Christmas tree cakes.)

If you haven’t had an oatmeal cream pie in awhile, allow me to remind you that there are 12 oatmeal cream pies in a box, so I was getting down with those suckers in a serious and not-so-good-for-me kinda way.

They’d pretty much fallen off my dessert/snack radar for years until I stopped into a local bakery to pick up a cake.

Keeping it even more real, this baking blogger bought a cake for her stepmom’s birthday. Sometimes life gets the best of you, and a bakery is just the way to go, friends.

The lovely girl who owns the bakery greeted me a gorgeous ombre rose cake and an oatmeal cream pie the size of my face.

The thing was crazy big, so I broke a not-so-tiny piece off and passed the rest off on my mom.

But then I immediately added giant, homemade oatmeal cream pies to my must-bake recipe list.

Why you’ll love homemade oatmeal cream pies

Since bigger is always better when it comes to oatmeal cream pies, you know I’m not messing around with small, flat, sad oatmeal cookies.

These babies are large, sturdy cookies.

They’re slightly crisp on the outside and perfectly chewy on the inside, which makes them perfect for sandwiching together with a generous slathering of vanilla buttercream.

Your whole house will smell like that candle I want someone to make, and it. Is. AMAZING.

The first time I made these, Eric had been out at the gym, and when he walked in the door, I believe he exclaimed, “OMG WHAT did you bake?!”

This house is never short on good baking smells, so that’s saying somethin’, folks.

These homemade oatmeal cream pies would be fantastic for taking along to summer picnics and potlucks because they travel easily and well.

They’re sure to be crowd pleasers – have you ever known anyone to ever turn down an oatmeal cream pie, let alone a homemade one? Doubtful.

You’ll be a potluck hero, for sure!

How to make homemade oatmeal cream pies

One of my favorite things about these homemade oatmeal cream pies is that I know what the ingredients are.

I don’t know if you’ve ever looked at the ingredients list on the store-bought version but…it’s not great.

I’ve definitely been known to let my kids indulge in store-bought snacks and there’s a time and a place for everything. But if I can give them a homemade version that tastes better and has a better list of ingredients?

I’m gonna call that a win.

Ingredients you’ll need

If you’ve ever made oatmeal cookies, you’ll recognize these ingredients as very traditional oatmeal cookie ingredients. I bet you even have everything you need to make them in your pantry right now.

For the cookies, you will need:

• 1 cup softened unsalted butter 
• ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick or old fashioned oats

Before you start baking, make sure you know how to measure flour correctly so your oatmeal cream pies come out perfect every time.

Brown sugar gives the cookies an extra chewy texture. If you’re out of brown sugar, whip up a quick brown sugar substitute to use instead.

If your brown sugar hardened in the pantry, check out my tips for how to soften brown sugar and save yourself a trip to the store. 

You can use quick-cooking oats or old-fashioned oats in these cookies. I find that the old-fashioned oats give a little bit chewier texture, but they both work really great.

That recognizable ingredients list applies to the oatmeal cream pie filling, too. For the filling, you will need: 

• ¾ cup softened unsalted butter 
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk or half and half

Make sure your butter is soft before you start mixing the buttercream. If you forget to set yours out ahead of time, learn how to soften butter quickly.

Making this recipe

Make the oatmeal cookies first:

Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes; don’t try to rush through this step.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly add this mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

Stir in the oats until thoroughly incorporated.

For large cookies, use a 3-tablespoon (large) cookie scoop to drop the dough onto lined baking sheets. Bake at 350°F for 13-15 minutes.

For smaller cookies, use a 1.5-tablespoon (medium) cookie scoop and bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes.

Let the cookies cool in the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Now make the cream filling:

Using a mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes. Yes, 5 minutes!

This is important for making the buttercream filling extra fluffy, so don’t skip it.

Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the powdered sugar, followed by the vanilla and the milk.

Turn the speed back up to medium-high and continue beating the frosting for another 3-5 minutes. If needed, add a bit more milk or half-and-half a splash at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

Spread or pipe the filling on the flat side of half of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies to make the oatmeal cream pies.

Oatmeal cream pie storage and freezing 

Store homemade oatmeal cream pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

These beauties will taste best and the filling will have the best texture if you let them sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving.

Not that I haven’t eaten them straight from the fridge before. Because when you need an oatmeal cream pie…well, you really need an oatmeal cream pie.

You could also freeze the them for up to a month. Wrap each cream pie in plastic wrap and then store them in a zip-top freezer bag.

Let the oatmeal cream pies thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a couple of hours.