Here’s the thing about me and oatmeal: although I totally love it for breakfast with brown sugar and heavy cream, that is probably the only application about which I can say that. I really don’t care for it in my crumble topping and I’m not even that fond of it in cookies, unless chocolate is involved. 
This is a long way of saying that this cinnamon sugar oatmeal cookie recipe is quite a departure for me. It’s an oatmeal cookie straight-up without an add-in in sight, and I couldn’t be more smitten. I’m not going to lie. I think it is the, dare I say, genius? decision to roll the pre-baked cookies in cinnamon sugar prior to baking them that truly makes these cookies special. And by “special,” I mean chewy, and a bit salty, with some caramel-like vibes.
Yes, I melted the butter (as I believe that makes for a chewier cookie), and I used salted butter – cause, as I’ve noted before: salt-aholic. I added a hefty glug of vanilla and more brown sugar than granulated (for that caramel-y vibe-y thing I mentioned above) and basically just riffed off of my mother-in-law’s recipe, cause her excellence in the realm of baking knows no bounds. Pretty sure you are going to dig these, even if – like me – you don’t fashion yourself a huge oatmeal fan. I mean, peeps: a roll in cinnamon sugar prior to baking??!! – need I say more??!!
Cinnamon Sugar Old-School Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups quick cooking oats
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup 2 sticks, salted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 yolk
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Sugar coating
- 6 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Place the flour, oats, salt, and soda in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Place the melted butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium to medium high speed until thick and glossy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla, and on low speed, beat til combined. Add the dry ingredients and on low speed again, beat just until combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer when there are still streaks of dry flour and oats. Continue mixing by and with a rubber spatula.
- Place the bowl in the refrigerator for a at least an hour, until the dough is easily scoopable.
- Place the cinnamon and sugar for the the coating in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
- Using a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, or measuring spoons, scoop the dough into balls, rolling each one in the coating. Place on a baking sheet, covered in parchment paper, and place in the refrigerator for 24, but up to 72 hours.
- When ready to bake off the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 12 balls on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, rotating at the half way point. Serve the cookies warm with ice-cold milk, or cool the cookies completely and serve sandwiched around a small scoop of cinnamon or vanilla ice cream . . .