Remember these beauties from last year? 2024 was the year of the famous brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso latte from big coffee shops, and after seeing so much hype, I knew I wanted to infuse those delicious flavors into a cozy, chewy cookie.
SO, for Day 3 of AK Cookie Week, I had to re-share one of the most popular cookie recipes from last year: the most incredible vanilla brown sugar oatmeal latte cookies with a light espresso icing. I couldn’t believe just how deliciously chewy these came out — they’re like your favorite oatmeal cookie with hints of vanilla, rich brown butter, and warm coffee notes.
Enjoy a latte cookie with a cup of coffee or even your shaken espresso for the ultimate duo!
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Ingredients in these vanilla oatmeal latte cookies
These gorgeous cookies have a super simple base, plus a few special ingredients that give them that true latte flavor. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Butter: you know we’re browning that butter for that rich, caramel-like flavor. You’ll use a little brown butter in the icing as well!
- Sugar: another key to the flavor of these cookies is using all DARK brown sugar. No white granulated sugar in here! Dark brown sugar has more molasses than light brown sugar, so it adds a lovely depth of flavor and sweetness.
- Eggs: you’ll need 2 eggs to help the cookies bake properly.
- Vanilla: I actually used vanilla bean paste for an even more prominent vanilla flavor! If you don’t have any, you can simply use vanilla extract.
- Flour & oats: we’re using regular all-purpose flour and old-fashioned rolled oats as the base for these cookies.
- Espresso powder: because these are latte cookies, you’ll add some espresso powder to the dry ingredients for a nice coffee flavor.
- Baking staples: don’t forget the baking soda, salt, and a pinch of cinnamon.
- For the espresso icing: OMG the best part. It’s made with a little of the reserved brown butter from the dough, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, more espresso powder, and a little milk. So easy, too.
Choose your coffee flavor intensity
I ended up adding about 2 full tablespoons of espresso powder to my dough because I really wanted the coffee flavor to shine through. If you’re not a big fan of coffee flavors, feel free to use less espresso powder in the dough and/or in the icing.
I recommend using espresso powder (for baking) rather than instant coffee powder in order to get a nice, strong flavor!
Q&A on ingredient substitutions
As always, I recommend sticking to the recipe to get the best results:
- Can I make then gluten-free? I haven’t tested these cookies using a gluten-free flour, so I’m not 100% sure how they would turn out. If you want to give it a try, I suggest trying a 1:1 gluten-free all purpose flour.
- Can I make them dairy-free? Feel free to use a dairy-free butter substitute, but note that you cannot brown dairy-free butter. You’ll just want to melt it, then use it as directed in the recipe.
- Can I make them vegan? I haven’t tested these cookies using two flax eggs, but let me know in the comments if you do! You’ll also need to use dairy-free butter.
No stand mixer? No problem
If you don’t happen to have a stand mixer, feel free to use an electric hand mixer OR simply mix well by hand. Be careful not to overmix your dough!
Important tip on using the right oats
In order to ensure that the cookies don’t turn out too flat when they bake:
-
Make sure you don’t use quick oats.
-
I used Bob’s Red Mill old fashioned rolled oats for this recipe, but all oat sizes are different. If the dough is too wet, I suggest adding 1/4 cup more oats!
-
If you like a heartier/thicker cookie, I suggest using 2 cups of rolled oats total.
How to make oatmeal latte cookies
- Brown your butter. You’ll start by browning the butter in a skillet, then add it to the bowl of your electric mixer to cool. Remove a tablespoon of the brown butter and add it to a separate bowl for the icing!
- Mix the wet ingredients. Mix the brown sugar in with the cooled brown butter until it’s well combined, then mix in the rest of the wet ingredients until the mixture looks like caramel.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together all of your dry ingredients, then mix them into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Chill, then bake. Yes, this is essential! Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, then scoop your dough balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until just slightly golden on the edges.
- Ice & devour. While the cookies are cooling, mix together the espresso icing ingredients until smooth. Lightly dip each cooled cookie in the icing, then place on a wire rack or parchment paper to let the icing set before digging in!
My best cookie-baking tips
You’ll find all of my best tips & tricks for making perfect cookies in the Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking e-book! A few key takeaways for these vanilla brown sugar latte cookies:
- Substitute at your own risk. Please be sure to follow the recipe as written unless substitutes are noted in the notes section of the recipe. Changing ingredients will likely change the texture and/or flavor of the cookies, so do so at your own risk.
- Use room temp ingredients. After you brown your butter, you’ll want to make sure that it’s completely cool so that it doesn’t coagulate the other ingredients. Be sure your eggs are at room temperature as well, so that they don’t coagulate with the butter. Simply run it under warm water for about a minute or place it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes before adding it to your dough.
- Use fresh baking soda. Make sure your baking soda is fresh to ensure that these cookies bake up properly.
- Measure your ingredients correctly. I weighed the ingredients for these cookies, as you’ll see in the full recipe below. If you don’t have a scale, be sure to use this method for measuring flour!
How to store & freeze these vanilla latte cookies
- To store: store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- To freeze: you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks for freezing cookies here.
Tools you’ll need
Get all of my kitchen essentials here!
More cookie recipes you’ll love
- The Best Bakery-Style Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Salted Brown Butter Coffee Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Mint Chocolate Cookies with Mint Frosting
- Soft Brown Butter Ginger Cookies with Lovely Lemon Icing
- The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Eat
Get all of my cookie recipes here!
I hope you love these vanilla brown sugar oatmeal latte cookies! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Vanilla Brown Sugar Oatmeal Latte Cookies with Espresso Icing
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 226g) salted butter
- 1 ½ cups (320g) dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or sub vanilla extract)
- Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups (240g) all purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups (158g) old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 to 2 tablespoons espresso powder, depending how much coffee flavor you like!
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- For the espresso icing:
- 1 tablespoon reserved brown butter
- 1 cup (180g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk constantly; the butter will begin to crackle, then foam. After a few minutes, the butter will begin to turn a golden amber color. As soon as the butter turns an amber brown and gives off a nutty aroma, 5 to 8 minutes total, remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl of the electric mixer to allow it to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Make sure you scrape all the yummy bits of brown butter from the pan into the bowl – that’s where the flavor is!
- Remove 1 tablespoon of the brown butter from the electric mixer bowl and add it to a medium bowl for the icing. Set aside as you won’t need this until later.
- Add the brown sugar to the bowl of the electric mixer with the brown butter. Using the paddle attachment, mix together the brown butter and sugar on medium speed until well combined, 1 minute. Add in the eggs and vanilla bean paste and mix again on medium speed until smooth and well combined and mixture resembles caramel, about 1 minute.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, oats, baking soda, espresso, cinnamon, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on medium-low speed until just combined.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes while you preheat your oven and clean up your kitchen. Don’t skip this step, a little chill time is good for the dough. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to grab about 1 ½ tablespoonfuls of dough and drop onto the cookie sheet. Alternatively you can roll the dough into balls and place onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving at least 2 inches of space between each dough ball.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until just very slightly golden on the edges. I find 10 minutes to be perfect. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
- Once cookies are cool, make the icing: Make sure the 1 tablespoon of reserved brown butter is still melted. If it is not, warm it in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds until it is warm. Add the powdered sugar, espresso powder, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon milk to the medium bowl with the brown butter and mix with a fork or small whisk until smooth and there are no visible lumps. If icing is too thick, add more milk to thin, ½ teaspoon at a time until you reach a THICK but smooth icing. Remember, you want this to be a thick icing so it sets up nicely.
- Dip each cookie VERY lightly into the icing then return to the wire rack or to a sheet of parchment paper to let the icing harden. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
Recipe Notes
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Make sure you don’t use quick oats.
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I used Bob’s Red Mill old fashioned rolled oats for this recipe but all oat sizes are different. If the dough is too wet, I suggest adding 1/4 cup more oats!
-
If you like a heartier/thicker cookie, I suggest using 2 cups of rolled oats total.
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on December 2nd, 2024, and republished on November 30th, 2025.
86 comments
Looks amazing! Would coconut sugar be a substitute for the brown sugar?
That should work!
Yum! Made these last night and they are to die for. I made them GF and used Bobs red mill 1:1 flour, and ended up adding in an extra quarter cup or so as the dough was too moist. They came out perfectly!
So glad these worked with gf flour! New fav 🙂
Hi! Thoughts on adding cornflakes to the cookies for added texture? If you think it would taste good, anything else in the recipe that would need to change? TY!
Hi! Hmmm I’m afraid they would add too much more of a “dry” ingredient and the recipe would need to be adjusted. I’d have to experiment to see what I would change! Try these cookies that have cornflakes baked in them 🙂
These were great! I used the full recommended amount of espresso and it’s not overpowering. The cookies are nice and chewy! I would make them again
Amazing! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Would I be able to sub out the espresso powder for instant espresso?
Yes! The flavor just may not be as intense.
Hi. Can I sub the espresso powder with instant decaf coffee? If so, would it be a 1:1 swap?
Yes, that should work! The flavor may just not be as intense.
I am currently making these now, but there is no temp for the oven? Is it 350? So far the raw dough is fabulous! I just need a temp! Thanks hun!
Hi! Yes, please see Step 5, which indicates to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Soft, chewy and a nice crunch when you break through the icing. Just what I wanted.
Absolutely!!
Really excited for this recipe. What kind of milk did you use? Would oat or almond milk work?
Any type of milk will work!
My dough is looking a little wet! Should I expect it to firm up/become scoopable during the fridge step?
My dough was very wet, it firmed up after chilling and I chilled for a full hour but then the cookies spread. Trying again this week with more flour and baking powder instead of baking soda to get a bit fluffier result
Hi! I’d have to see to be sure! How did they turn out / set up?
These were so good!! The icing complements them so well
Absolutely! Glad you loved them!
The recipe was very easy to follow. I have made browned butter before, but your step by step description made it turn out PERFECT. I recommend following the directions to a T. The icing is perfect. I used the nescafe GOLD espresso. If you’re using this one, I would personally cut back a bit as this is a very strong espresso flavor. I can’t wait for my friends and family to try these! If you’re doing them in batches like me, remember to check your oven temp before each batch! 🫶🏻
Amazing! So glad you loved these!
hi! so so excited to make these, they look and sound amazing! having trouble though, I put half in the oven (straight from fridge to baking sheet) to test and they are not flattening (well done outside, not baked thru inside), tried a lower oven temp as sometimes my oven can be finicky and still not flattening. they are staying rounded. any tips? tia! novice baker here but I followed the recipe strictly so wondering where I could have messed this up!
Do you have aluminum foil lining the bottom of your oven? Sometimes that can make things not heat evenly. (I have made this mistake before)
Your dough could be too cold if chilled for longer than 30 mins.
I’ve also heard that expired baking soda can also make things not spread properly.
These are really delicious. I love how the cookie itself is not too sweet so that combined with the icing, it’s the perfect amount of sweetness. My cookies came out so much puffier than the ones in your picture— any idea why that would be?
Interesting! After they cooled did they stay puffy?
Not that I’m surprised, but these are soooo good!
So glad you loved them!
This recipe was FANTASTIC even with a few of my tweaks! I am gluten free and with the 1:1 flour these cookies were still soft and chewy!
I couldn’t find espresso powder so I mashed up instant coffee in a ziplock bag until powdery. It worked great and the cookies had a really nice flavor. Amazing recipe. I’m sure it’s even better when followed perfectly. 10/10!!!
I’m glad that swap worked out well!!
Making these and they smell so good! It looks something may be off with the grams of sugar? I don’t think there is supposed to be 320g of sugar that’s more than the flour? I used a 11/2 cups of sugar instead of by weight.
The measurements are correct! The combination of flour and oats are more than the sugar 🙂
The flavor on these are delicious, the icing adds a great texture and flavor. My cookies spread out too thin though, almost like pralines. I even tried freezing the dough to see if that would help, but it did not. I think next time I may add an additional 1/4 cup of flour.
Hi Carianne! Can I ask what brand and type of oats you used? A few tips: Make sure you don’t use quick oats. I used Bob’s Red Mill old fashioned rolled oats for this recipe, but all oat sizes are different. If the dough is too wet, I suggest adding 1/4 cup more oats! And if you like a heartier/thicker cookie, I suggest using 2 cups of rolled oats total.
These are so yummy and will definitely be added to the “make again” list- very easy and everything turned out great! My oven runs hot and I took them out more about 9 minutes so I would watch carefully!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
the flavor on these are wonderful but I i measured my flour & oats using a kitchen scale and the dough was so wet that the middle of the cookies ended up too raw/caramelized and sticking to the pan even though the edges were round. I also used 1.5tbsp cookie scoop and they were GIANT/spread too much even though I chilled it for an hour. I would suggest using more flour and a smaller cookie scoop.
Hi Victoria! Can I ask what brand and type of oats you used? A few tips: Make sure you don’t use quick oats. I used Bob’s Red Mill old fashioned rolled oats for this recipe, but all oat sizes are different. If the dough is too wet, I suggest adding 1/4 cup more oats! And if you like a heartier/thicker cookie, I suggest using 2 cups of rolled oats total.
I realized after I browned my butter that I was well short of brown sugar. So my butter got way too cold by the time I made it back from the store; I’m sure that affected the mix and subsequently the bake which yielded some thin, far too much spread cookies. I’m blaming myself, not the recipe though.
Flavor was a treat! I’m not usually an oatmeal cookie person, and I’m not huge on desserts in general; but you better believe 2 of these suckers made it into my mouth before I was done icing them.
My icing was far too thick with 2T of milk, I actually used an offset spatula to ice them, which meant I had to double the amount of icing to get all my cookies iced. Again, these are user errors/choices and I don’t hate this one.
My husband sent the reel of these to me on IG and the were cooled and ready to eat 24 hours later. 10/10
I’m glad they were still delicious!! Let me know if you make them again with more success 🙂
These are seriously so delicious and incredibly tasty. I will definitely be making them again.
So glad you loved them!
So delicious!! I got tons of compliments on these at my cookie exchange. I was in a pinch and had to use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar (measured by weight instead of volume), and they turned out great. I also subbed out espresso powder for decaf instant coffee since I’m very caffeine sensitive, and the coffee flavor still came through great. Can’t wait to make these again!
Perfect! So glad they were a hit!
I tried gluten free flour and they worked out. I just had to cook them a little longer. These cookies are absolutely delicious!
Perfect! I’m glad that worked out well 🙂
These cookies were AMAZING! My kids tried the first batch and said they were so good! I didn’t have powdered sugar so I didn’t have the glaze and they were bomb without it. I made the glaze the second time and on its own it’s delicious. 😋 I made these for a cookie exchange at school and I hope they love them as much as my family did.
I measured each ingredient by weight. I also weighed the dough and divided it even into 24 balls. Also a tip for round cookies is to use a large mouth or glass and put it over the cookie and move it around.
I will definitely make these cookies again!
Love that! New favorite for us, too!
Delicious recipe! The cookies are so soft and chewy. The frosting pairs perfectly. I added 1 1/4 tbsp of espresso to the cookie. Next time I’d just add the full 2tbsp. The cookies chilled in the fridge for about 2 hours and they cooked up perfectly. I also weighed mine out at 60g each which I think is slightly bigger than the recipe intended as it only yielded 16 cookies. Overall, great recipe!
So glad you loved them! They’re definitely our new favorites 🙂
I am wondering about the dark brown sugar measurement. I measure in grams and I am significantly below the g measurement noted. I am going with the cup measurement. But could you please confirm? Thank you.
Hmm the cups and grams here should be correct as I weighed all of my ingredients!
I just made these & while they taste good…the icing is nowhere near the nice color on yours in the picture. Mine look like they have pepper in them, it’s just the espresso but still. Only substitutions were oat milk & instant espresso. How did your icing become a caramel color?? Also, mine never got flat. I only chilled for 20 minutes & just bought new baking soda today (so I know it’s not expired) so I’m not sure where I went wrong! Either way, they taste great! How long does it take for the icing to harden??
Hmm what brand of espresso powder did you use? I’m glad they tasted great! Did you weigh your ingredients or use the spoon-and-level method to measure the flour? Check out my note on the oats, too, if your cookies were coming out thick.
Thee tasted so good! Although my icing turned out way darker than the one in the photo.
I’m stunned with how amazing these cookies turned out!! Seriously, they were the biggest hit with my family and at my cookie exchange. My family begged me to make more of them. They were easy to make, and bake time was perfect at 10 min. The flavour and texture is heavenly. Thank you for the amazing recipe!!
So happy to hear that!!
The flavour of these cookies was AMAZING- the espresso/brown butter combo was delicious
The texture on these was a little weird- they didn’t spread in the oven and the final texture was a bit more crumbly than chewy! I’m going to experiment with not chilling the dough, adding some white sugar, and upping the butter to see if that perfects these because I do think they’re worth the work 🙂
I’m glad the flavor came out delicious! Hmmm did you weigh your ingredients or use the spoon-and-level method for the flour?
I was able to make these with plant-based substitutes and they came out perfect.
I’m already being asked to make another batch.
Per the recipe I did not attempt to brown the vegan butter.
And instead of using flaxseed I just used Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer
So happy to hear that!
These were unbelievably delicious. I used 1:1 gluten free flour and they turned out beautifully. I noticed mine turned out a bit darker than yours, but obviously that didn’t affect the test, just an observation. I will absolutely be repeating this recipe.
Perfect! Feel free to reduce the baking time a bit if the darkness was from over-baking.
Turned out perfectly with no modifications! I used 1.5 tablespoons of King Arthur espresso powder in the cookies and 2 tablespoons of milk for the perfect icing consistency.
Love it!!
The cookies tasted amazing, my only downfall is that they didn’t spread when baking, What could I do next time to make that happen?
It sounds like there was too much of a dry ingredient – did you weigh your ingredients or use the spoon-and-level method for the flour?
I am making these, and I see a comment about making them vegan w/ vegan chocolate chips, but there aren’t chocolate chips listed in the recipe. Did you mean to list them as an ingredient, or was this a typo? I think I’m going to add them anyway and hope for the best!
Hi! To test a vegan version you’ll need to use vegan butter (do not brown it), flax eggs, and vegan chocolate chips 🙂
I made these today w/ a few mods (gluten-free flour, added chocolate chips) and WOWWW, they’re AMAZING! I haven’t even frosted them yet (and may not), but they’re SO good. Thanks for a BANGER of a recipe!
Perfect! So glad you loved them!!
I made these cookie JUST as the recipe said and I took them to a Christmas office potluck and everyone went crazy for them. It made quite a large batch of cookies! So worth every bite.
I’m currently going to try it again tonight!
Love that! They’re my new favorites, too 🙂
Made these for my husband’s and my home church this morning, and everyone RAVED about them! They’re a new favorite, for sure! And having the weight measurements is so helpful in making sure to get them accurate. THANK YOU! Looking forward to trying more of your creations!
So happy to hear that!!
I’ve made these cookies at least six times. They are my whole family’s favorite!
I’m so glad!!
My cookies stayed in the shape of ball instead of baking flat, what did I do wrong ?
Please weigh your ingredients for success and make sure you scrape ALL the brown butter out of the pan 🙂 I hope you make them again!
SOO good!!! My friends were obsessed! I did switch a few things up.. no eggs because I’m allergic. Instead I did two flax eggs. Then I didn’t have espresso powder and made these pretty late at night, so instead I brewed a double espresso in my Nespresso machine and scooped from that. In total I think I did 1 tbsp-1.5 in the dough, and a teaspoon in the frosting. I added a little bit more oatmeal to offset the extra liquid from the coffee (and flax egg, I find those make things wetter). Perfect!!!
Perfect! So glad these were a hit!!
This has been a crowd pleaser every time I’ve made it. I’ve had success making them gluten free using the same amount of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. Some folks said the GF version were better than the original. Highly recommend this recipe year round.
Perfect! Glad they’re a hit!