Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies, now there is a mouthful… quite literally!

Originally Published 10/14/2021

I put this recipe together for my husband because he’s always been a big fan of oatmeal cream pies! And these are delicious! He thinks I’m crazy because I don’t love a frosted filling as he does. Even when eating Oreos, I could do without the center. What I’m after is the cookie part!

I know, I know, weirdo over here ✋🏼. That’s why, for these Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies, we could both get what we want. I get a super delicious, textured, fall-flavored chewy/cakey cookie that I can scrape the frosting off of lol. And he’s got an amazing oatmeal cream pie filled with fluffy vanilla buttercream as he loves!

That’s what you call a win-win!

I also developed this recipe so it will only make 8 Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies, as most cookie recipes make soooo many cookies. You’d be eating oatmeal cream pies for weeks. If you are feeding a larger crowd though, the recipe can easily be doubled too. Or if you’d just like to put some extra cookies in the freezer for later, doubling it would be a good idea as well. 

So on to the super easy and tasty Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pie recipe!

The first step to making these Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies

is to brown the butter. This isn’t a super necessary step, but brown butter adds a rich, bready depth to these cookies that just gives them extra pizazz!

I’d put brown butter in just about everything if I could because it’s just so good. A very Fall flavor I think!

So add your 6 tbsp of unsalted butter to a small pan on the stove, and cook it over medium heat until it turns a nice amber-brown color. Quickly remove it from the stove after it reaches this point though, as it can burn quickly!

Transfer it to a heat-proof bowl and stick it in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to chill and firm back up a bit.

Obviously,

as with most cookies, the next step is mixing the dry ingredients all together. This allows for the even distribution of the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and other spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

No clumps in these cookies!

While working on this recipe, I got curious about baking powder vs. baking soda. What do they do? Are they different, are they the same? Why do some recipes call for both and some only one? 

I came across an article on Sally’s Baking Addiction that answered all my questions! 

Science Nerd Alert!

Baking Soda: It is a base, so it needs an acid to activate it. When you add something like lemon juice or buttermilk that is acidic, it reacts with the baking soda and the bubbling carbon dioxide helps rise the baked good. It’s also necessary to have the acid in the recipe to help neutralize the baking soda or your baked good can taste metallic or soapy.

Baking Powder: “Baking powder contains baking soda. It is a mixture of baking soda, cream of tartar (a dry acid), and sometimes cornstarch.” Because it already has the acid in it to help cause the bubbling reaction and neutralize you don’t have to add any more acid ingredients to the recipe…unless you want to! Also, baking powder is generally double-acting, so it starts doing its thing when it gets wet, and then when it gets heated in the oven.

So why would a recipe call for both? Sally’s Baking Addiction explains, “Basically, the reason for both is because sometimes you need more leavening than you have acid available in the recipe. It’s all about balance.”

This recipe for Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies contains both. At first glance, you might think, “Austin…there isn’t anything acidic in these cookie ingredients to balance out the 1/4 tsp of baking soda.” But, what I didn’t know until recently is that Brown Sugar is in fact on the acidic side and will cause the necessary reaction with the baking soda!

Science… super cool lol.

Anyway, back to making these Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies!

After the dry ingredients are mixed together, set them to the side and start on the wet ingredients.

First, whip together the browned butter and shortening. 

Another quick baking fact…using both butter and shortening helps to produce a less flat crispy cookie and a more rounded fluffy cookie. The reason being is that butter will melt faster than shortening. So an all-butter cookie will quickly flatten out in the oven and become thinner and crispier faster.

After you’ve got those two elements combined, throw in the sugars and mix. And next, the eggs. Most cookies only call for one egg. I wanted these cookies to be cakey (not everyone’s jam I know) so I added two. Whip the batter until it turns a light yellow color and it looks fluffier. After this, pour in the oats and give them a swirl. Then follow with the flour/dry ingredients. Neither my hubby nor I am super fond of raisins, thus the dried cranberries. I prefer their brighter, more tart flavor. Get everything mixed super good and you’re ready to start shaping the cookies!

If you don’t like messy, stickiness

place the cookie dough in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to chill. Then shaping them will be less gooey. If you don’t mind a little goop, grab a tbsp and scoop 2 tbsp into your hand, roll it around to form a ball, and place it on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the cookies are shaped. You should end up with 16 cookies, or 8 sandwich pairs! I had to use two baking sheets so they wouldn’t all grow together while baking and form one giant cookie lol.

Bake each sheet for about 12 minutes. The cookies are done when the bottom outer edges look browned and the tops are just slightly brown. Remove them from the oven and let them start cooling on a cooling rack! These can’t be frosted warm, so patience is key!

While you’re waiting for the shells of these Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies to cool,

it’s time to make the vanilla buttercream. Super simple, just add 6 tbsp of unsalted butter, 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and 1/2 tbsp of heavy whipping cream to your mixing bowl. Whisk those ingredients together, and then add the 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Whip it until the frosting is light and fluffy!

Once the cookies are cool, you can pipe the vanilla buttercream on one cookie, and then sandwich it with its mate! If you don’t have a piping bag and piping tip, you can simply fill a ziplock bag, push all the frosting to one side of the bottom of it, and cut the tip of the bag off. Easy enough and you can pipe until your heart’s content! That’s it! Now you can enjoy a giant bite of these Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies! Or if you’re like me, you can enjoy a Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookie…🤫😂

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the science behind baking soda/powder and I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Print Recipe

Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies

Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pies are delicious, cakey cookies with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, filled with a light and fluffy vanilla cream. A new Fall favorite for sure!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time12 minutes mins

Frosting15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 8 cream pies

Equipment

• Kitchenaid Mixer
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Baking Sheet
• Piping Bag or Ziplock Bag + Large Piping Tip

Ingredients

Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

• 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter room temperature
• 2 tbsp Shortening
• 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs room temperature
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• 1 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats
• 1/3 Cup Dried Cranberries
• 1/3 Cup Pecans roughly chopped

Cream Filling

• 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter room temperature
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 tbsp Heavy cream

Instructions

Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

• First, melt 6 tbsp of unsalted butter in a small pan over medium heat on the stove. Cook the butter until it turns a nice amber-brown color and then quickly remove from the heat. Pour it into a heat-proof bowl and place it in the freezer for 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a separate bowl, combine the 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/3 cup cranberries, and 1/3 cup roughly chopped pecans. Stir to combine everything.
• In your Kitchenaid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the 6 tbsp of unsalted brown butter that was chilling in the freezer, 2 tbsp of shortening, and whip. Then add the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, and mix until combined. Finally, add the two eggs, 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and run the mixer on medium-high speed until the batter is light yellow and fluffy. You may have to stop and scrape the bottom and sides to get all the sugar and butter to fully combine.
• Next, pour in the 1 1/2 cups of oats and mix. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.
• Scoop out two tbsp of cookie dough, roll around in your hand to create a ball and place it on the baking sheet. Continue until all the cookie dough has been used, make sure to leave 1″ of space between cookies for them to spread as they bake. You may need to bake the cookies in two batches, this amount of dough should produce 16 cookies.
• Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, or just until the edges of the cookie are brown and the tops are slightly brown. The middle of the cookie should not look wet still. Once they’re done, remove them from the oven and cool them completely on a a cooling rack.

Cream Filling

• In your Kitchenaid mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add 6 tbsp of room temperature unsalted butter, 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and 1/2 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. Mix until ingredients are combined. Then add the 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Start mixing on low and increase speed as the sugar is whipped in. Whip on medium-high speed for 3 minutes or until the cream filling is light and fluffy.
• Scoop the filling into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip or into a Ziplock bag and cut the tip off to make a round piping tip. Pair up the cookies to make 8 sandwiches. Pipe a circle of frosting on one side of the pair, match them up and set them to the side. Continue until every pair of cookies has become a delicious Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cream Pie!
• Enjoy!

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