Irresistible Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies: Your Ultimate Holiday Cookie Recipe

As soon as December rolls around, the holiday spirit (and the eggnog!) takes center stage. For many, eggnog isn’t just a drink; it’s a symbol of cozy nights and festive gatherings. Whether you enjoy it spiked or virgin, its creamy, spiced essence truly embodies the season. This year, I was inspired to transform one of my favorite childhood snacks, the humble oatmeal creme pie, into something spectacular and holiday-themed. The result? These breathtaking Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies – a recipe designed to bring nostalgic comfort with a sophisticated festive upgrade.

This recipe starts with incredibly easy-to-make, warmly spiced homemade oatmeal cookies. Crafted with just a few simple ingredients, these cookies are baked to perfection, achieving a lightly crisp exterior that gives way to an unbelievably soft and chewy interior. But the magic doesn’t stop there. These delightful cookies are then generously sandwiched around a velvety, flavorful eggnog buttercream frosting. It’s a combination that promises a taste of pure holiday bliss in every single bite.

Forget those store-bought imitations; this is the homemade copycat Little Debbie oatmeal creme pie recipe you never knew you needed, reimagined with an exquisite holiday twist. It’s perfect for gifting in a festive cookie box, perhaps alongside these delightful chocolate-dipped cookie sticks and charming Christmas cutout cookies. These festive treats are guaranteed to be the star of any holiday dessert spread.

Craving more eggnog-inspired desserts? Don’t miss out on this decadent eggnog creme brûlée or the impressive eggnog bundt cake!

Essential Ingredients & Tools for Perfect Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies

Crafting these holiday delights requires a few key ingredients and tools that ensure the best texture and flavor. Let’s delve into what you’ll need to create these outstanding cookies and their irresistible eggnog filling:

• Old Fashioned Oats (Rolled Oats): This is the cornerstone of our chewy oatmeal cookies. Old-fashioned oats provide the perfect texture and body. It’s crucial not to substitute quick-cooking oats, which can lead to a mushier cookie, or steel-cut oats, which won’t soften adequately during baking.
• Brown Sugar: You have the flexibility to use either light or dark brown sugar for this recipe. Dark brown sugar will impart a slightly deeper color and a more pronounced molasses flavor to your cookies, adding another layer of complexity to the spice profile.
• Your Favorite Eggnog: The quality of your eggnog significantly impacts the flavor of the buttercream. Choose a brand that you personally find rich and flavorful. Many home bakers rave about certain local brands or even supermarket-specific varieties (like the Aldi brand mentioned in the original text, or Turkey Hill brand for those in its distribution area). Avoid overly thin or bland eggnogs.
• Unsalted Butter: A critical ingredient for both the cookies and the luscious eggnog frosting. Ensure your butter is at room temperature for both components, as this allows for proper creaming and a smooth, even texture.
• Warm Ground Spices (Cinnamon & Nutmeg): These spices are essential for evoking that classic holiday aroma and taste, complementing the eggnog beautifully. A touch of both cinnamon and nutmeg brings warmth and depth to every bite.

Beyond the ingredients, a few specific tools will make your baking process smoother and more successful:

• Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer: A stand mixer with a paddle attachment makes creaming butter and sugar effortless, creating a light and fluffy base for your dough and buttercream. If using a hand mixer, you’ll want to gently fold in the rolled oats by hand to prevent them from breaking down too much.
• Large Cookie/Biscuit Cutter (for “Scooting”): This unconventional but essential tool is key to achieving perfectly round cookies, which are vital for neat cookie sandwiches. Anything round with an opening slightly larger than your baked cookie, such as a large biscuit cutter, a hand sieve, or even a sour cream container, will work. The technique, known as “scooting,” is demonstrated in this helpful video. In a pinch, a fork laid on its side can also be used to gently push the edges inward.
• Piping Bags: For the easiest and most professional application of the eggnog buttercream filling, piping bags are highly recommended. If you don’t have piping bags, a large ziptop bag with a corner snipped off will serve the purpose effectively. While spreading the filling with a knife is possible, piping offers better control and a cleaner finish.

Crafting Your Homemade Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies: A Step-by-Step Guide

Creating these delightful Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies is a rewarding process. Before we dive into the steps, it’s important to highlight two crucial elements for success: dough chilling and the “scooting” technique. You absolutely must allow your cookie dough to chill for at least 2 hours prior to baking. This essential step allows the butter to firm up, preventing the cookies from spreading excessively and resulting in thin, flat cookies. Without adequate chilling, your cookies simply won’t have that signature soft, thick texture.

Additionally, while technically optional, “scooting” the cookies at the 8-minute mark and again at the end of baking is what guarantees perfectly round cookies. This precision is invaluable when creating visually impeccable cookie sandwiches, ensuring a uniform and appealing finished product.

Phase 1: Preparing the Spiced Oatmeal Cookie Dough

STEP 1: Creaming the Wet Ingredients. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream together the softened unsalted butter, rich brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat these ingredients on medium speed for approximately 5 minutes, until the mixture becomes wonderfully light and fluffy. This aeration is key for a tender cookie texture.

While your butter and sugars are creaming, take a separate medium bowl and whisk together your dry ingredients: the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. Ensuring these are well combined guarantees even flavor distribution in your cookies.

STEP 2: Combining and Chilling. Once the butter and sugars have achieved that airy, light consistency, add the large egg, an extra egg yolk for richness, and pure vanilla extract. Beat until just combined, then stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated. Reduce your mixer speed to low and gradually spoon in the dry ingredients, mixing just until no streaks of flour remain. Finally, gently fold in the old-fashioned oats by hand if using a hand mixer (to avoid breaking them up) or on the lowest speed of your stand mixer for just a few seconds until uniformly distributed. Overmixing the oats can affect the final texture.

Transfer the cookie dough back into its bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator. Allow the dough to rest and chill for a minimum of two hours. As a critical reminder: Do not skip this chilling step. It’s the secret to thick, chewy, and perfectly formed cookies.

Phase 2: Baking the Perfectly Round Oatmeal Cookies

Once your dough is sufficiently chilled, preheat your oven to 350℉ (177℃). Line two large baking pans with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.

STEP 3: Scooping and Initial Bake. Using a 1.5-inch cookie scoop, press the chilled dough firmly into the scoop with the palm of your hand until it’s flush and level, removing any excess. This technique ensures each cookie is uniform in size, which is important for even baking and aesthetic cookie sandwiches. Arrange the scooped cookie dough balls on your prepared baking pans, leaving ample space between them, as these cookies will spread considerably during baking.

Expert Tip for Uniform Cookies: When scooping, firmly press the dough into the scoop with your palm, leveling it off. This creates consistent cookies that bake evenly.

Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. At this precise point, carefully remove the pans from the oven and perform the “scooting” technique to make your cookies perfectly round. Place a cookie cutter (or any round object slightly larger than your cookie) around each cookie and gently move it in a circular motion. This will nudge the warm, malleable edges of the cookies back into a perfect circular shape. For fork-scooting, lay a fork on its side and use its tines to gently push in any uneven edges. This meticulous shaping is crucial for creating beautiful cookie sandwiches.

STEP 4: Finishing the Bake and Cooling. After shaping, return the cookies to the oven for an additional 2-4 minutes. Keep a close eye on them; the centers of the cookies should still appear slightly underbaked and somewhat wet when you pull them out. This is exactly what we want, as it’s the secret to a wonderfully soft and chewy interior. Remove the pans from the oven, and if needed, give any deformed edges another quick scoot. Immediately transfer the pans to a wire rack and allow the cookies to cool completely on the pan. This prolonged cooling on the hot pan allows the centers to finish setting and locks in that irresistible soft texture.

Remember: That slightly underbaked, “wet” look in the center is intentional! It’s the key to achieving that desirable soft and chewy cookie texture. They will firm up perfectly as they cool.

Whipping Up the Dreamy Eggnog Buttercream Icing

While many classic oatmeal creme pie recipes feature a marshmallow fluff filling, our festive version opts for a more traditional American buttercream to beautifully incorporate the distinct flavor of eggnog. As mentioned earlier, selecting the most flavorful eggnog you can find is paramount here, as its essence will shine through. Consult the FAQs section below for more specific eggnog recommendations and tips.

STEP 5: Crafting the Buttercream. To prepare this heavenly eggnog buttercream frosting from scratch, begin by creaming the softened unsalted butter in a stand mixer (with the paddle attachment) or with a handheld mixer for about one minute on medium speed, until it becomes light and fluffy.

Next, gradually add half of the powdered sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium; at this point, the mixture will resemble a thick paste. With the mixer still running, slowly drizzle in half of your chosen eggnog and continue beating on medium-high speed until well combined and noticeably lighter.

Reduce the speed to low and incorporate the remaining powdered sugar, a dash of ground nutmeg for extra warmth, and then the rest of the eggnog. Beat on medium speed until the frosting is incredibly light, airy, and fluffy. If the frosting seems too stiff for piping or spreading, add another small drizzle of eggnog, a teaspoon at a time, until it reaches your desired pipeable/spreadable consistency. Conversely, if it becomes too thin, gradually add a tablespoon or two of extra powdered sugar until it thickens appropriately.

Assembling Your Exquisite Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pie Sandwiches

With your perfectly baked cookies and creamy eggnog buttercream ready, it’s time for the final, satisfying step: assembly!

STEP 6: Building the Pies. Ensure your oatmeal cookies are completely cool before proceeding. Take one cookie and, using a piping bag (or a ziptop bag with the corner snipped), pipe the luscious eggnog buttercream onto its flat bottom side in a beautiful swirl. If you prefer, you can also spread the buttercream with an offset spatula or knife. Be sure to leave a small margin around the edges of the cookie; this allows for a bit of natural spreading when you sandwich the cookies together, preventing the filling from squishing out too much.

Carefully place the flat bottom side of another cooled cookie directly on top of the buttercream. Gently press down until the eggnog icing just reaches the edges of the cookies, creating a perfect, uniform sandwich. Avoid pressing too hard, as you don’t want the filling to ooze out excessively. Repeat this process until all your cookies have been transformed into delectable Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies.

Storing and Freezing Your Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies for Lingering Enjoyment

These delightful Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies are so irresistible, you might find it hard to store them! However, for optimal freshness and enjoyment, proper storage is key. The good news is, they taste even better the next day!

Store your assembled Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies in an airtight container or a large ziptop bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Since the buttercream contains dairy, refrigeration is essential for safety and to maintain its texture. Before indulging, allow the cookie sandwiches to come completely to room temperature for about one hour. This allows the butter in the cookies and the buttercream to re-soften, restoring their luxurious, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Interestingly, many find that these cookies reach their peak deliciousness on day two, after a night in the fridge. The cookies subtly soften from contact with the creamy buttercream, resulting in an even more harmonious and tender treat. Just remember that crucial step of bringing them back to room temperature before serving!

For longer preservation, these versatile cookies can be frozen in several convenient forms:

• Freezing the Dough: For future fresh-baked cookies, flash freeze individual scoops of dough on a sheet pan for about 30 minutes until firm. Then, transfer the frozen dough balls to a sealed freezer-safe container or ziptop bag and freeze for up to three months. When ready to bake, simply bake them directly from frozen, adding a few extra minutes to the bake time.
• Freezing Baked Cookies (Unfilled): If you want to get ahead on your holiday baking, you can bake the oatmeal cookies in advance and freeze them. Once completely cooled, store the unfrosted cookies in a sealed container in the freezer for up to one month. Thaw them at room temperature (uncovered) and then fill them with freshly made eggnog buttercream.
• Freezing Fully Assembled Cookie Sandwiches: For ultimate convenience, you can freeze the entire assembled Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies. First, flash freeze the cookie sandwiches on a baking sheet for about 30 minutes until solid. This prevents them from sticking together. Then, transfer them to a sealed freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to one month. To enjoy, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, and then bring them to room temperature for about an hour before serving to ensure the best texture.

Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips

More Delicious Cookie Recipes to Explore:

If you loved these Eggnog Oatmeal Creme Pies and are eager to expand your cookie baking repertoire, here are some other fantastic recipes from our collection:

• Irresistible Cookie Butter Cookies
• Delightful Stuffed Fluffernutter Cookies
• The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
• Classic Christmas Shortbread Cookies
• Spiced Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 15 mins

Rest time: 2 hrs

Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 sandwich cookies

Calories: 520 kcal per serving