These easy Zucchini Cookies with oatmeal are soft, chewy and flavored with cinnamon spices. A layer of cream cheese frosting on top makes them even better!
When your garden (or grocery store) is exploding with zucchini, be sure to try our delicious zucchini muffins too. Or give our fudgy zucchini brownie recipe a try next.
Why this Zucchini Cookie is Best
The only thing better than a cookie is a frosted cookie! This recipe takes zucchini and turns it into a cookie that’s loaded with sweet flavor, chewy oats and creamy frosting.
If you loved our carrot cake cookies, these are the next best thing!
- Oatmeal adds a chewy texture to moist zucchini cookies
- Lightly spiced with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
- Topped with cream cheese frosting for the perfect sweetness.
These cookies are perfect when you don’t want to bake another loaf of zucchini bread! Add chocolate and make a batch of our chocolate chip zucchini cookies next.
Ingredient Notes
- Zucchini. You can use fresh zucchini or shredded zucchini that’s been frozen and thawed. It gives the cookies their moisture and softness.
- Old fashioned oatmeal. Also called “rolled oats”, this ingredient adds structure, chewiness and a toasty flavor to zucchini cookies.
- Cornstarch. Keeps the cookies from spreading and helps them stay soft as they bake and cool.
- Heavy whipping cream. Using real cream in the frosting makes it richer and helps it thicken beautifully.
- Cream cheese. Make sure to use full fat unflavored cream cheese in your cookie frosting!
Easy Instructions
Make the cookie dough:
Beat unsalted butter with sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract. Beat in the dry ingredients on a low speed. When the dough is just combined, fold in the oats. Now, fold in the shredded zucchini.
Chill:
Cover the bowl of Zucchini Cookie dough with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Bake:
Toward the end of dough chill time, preheat your oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop large spoonfulls of cookie dough onto the baking sheet. Bake just until the edges start to turn brown. In my oven, this takes 11 -13 minutes.
Make the cream cheese frosting:
While the zucchini cookies cool, beat together the ingredients for the frosting until smooth and fluffy. When the cookies are cooled, spread frosting over the tops and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Be careful not to overbake these! The cookie centers will still look soft and doughy when they come out of the oven. As the cookies cool, they’ll firm up to a perfect chewy consistency.
- Sprinkle chopped toasted pecans or walnuts over the frosting layer for a nutty addition.
- For thinner frosting, beat in more cream a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Want to bake the cookies later? Freeze the unbaked dough in balls on the baking sheet. Transfer to freezer bags and keep frozen for up to 3 months.
- Larger zucchinis tends to be drier than smaller ones, but either can be used here. If your zucchini is very larger, scoop out the big seeds insider before shredding it.
Recipe FAQs
There’s no need to squeeze liquid out of fresh zucchini. If using frozen, you will need to drain out the extra water after thawing and before measuring. Use paper towels to squeeze the shredded zucchini over the sink. Then measure and add to recipe as directed.
Frozen zucchini cookie dough can be baked without thawing first. Just place the frozen unbaked cookies on the baking sheet. Add 1 to 2 minutes of baking time.
Zucchini cookies should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They’re even more flavorful served cold! Let them soften at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
Do not use quick oats (or “instant” oats) in these zucchini cookies! Quick oats absorb more moisture, resulting in dry and crumbly cookies.
More Easy Dessert Recipes
Zucchini Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 ½ cups dark brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 ½ cups finely shredded zucchini
For the topping
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 ounce cream cheese softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine butter and brown sugar together with a hand mixer on high speed for about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another minute.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch to the bowl and beat on low, just until combined. Add in the old-fashioned oats and combine on low speed. Fold in the shredded zucchini.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Drop cookie dough by about 2-3 Tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes. Don’t overbake. The edges will start to brown first. The middle of the cookie may seem like it’s underbaked, but it will continue to bake when it’s taken out of the oven.
- For the frosting, beat butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl with electric (or hand held) mixer for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mixture should be light and fluffy.
- Add in vanilla, powdered sugar, and heavy cream. Beat an additional 3-5 minutes until frosting has doubled in size and is fully blended and fluffy. Add more cream if you want the frosting thinner.
- Spread frosting over cooled cookies.
Notes
- Larger zucchini tend to be drier and less moist than smaller zucchini. Either will work for this recipe. If using frozen zucchini, be sure to squeeze out ALL the excess liquid, THEN measure.
- Top with chopped pecans or walnuts if desired.
- STORAGE: Store cookies in an airtight container, in refrigerator for up to a week. Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months. To serve, take cookies out of refrigerator for 15 minutes before serving. This keeps them cold and flavorful, but not hard.
- FREEZING DOUGH: Dough can be frozen, unbaked for up to 3 months. I recommended rolling (scooping) the dough into balls before freezing. When baking, add an additional 1-2 minutes to bake time for the frozen cookie dough.
- Do not sub quick oats. They will absorb all the moisture leaving a dry and crumbly cookie.
Nutrition
These Zucchini Cookies with cream cheese frosting are the perfect way to use up extra zucchini. They’re so good that you’ll want to go out and buy even more of that green summer squash, just for the excuse to make more!
