Homemade, soft and chewy, Copycat Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie recipe. This classic childhood treat is chock full of flavor and filled with a delicious creamy center!
Love oatmeal cookies? Be sure to try our reader favorite Iced Oatmeal Cookie recipe! Or give these chewy Revel Bars a try for dessert.
Table of Contents
Copycat Little Debbie Dessert
Do you remember eating Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Cream Pies as a kid? I sure do!
If you’ve never had one—and for that I apologize for your childhood—it’s two soft oatmeal molasses cookies sandwiched around a layer of sweet and gooey vanilla cream filling.
(maybe you were more of a ding dong or twinkie fan? Or you loved cosmic brownies?)
Fun fact for you. The Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies were the very first snack baked under the Little Debbie name.
If you love these easy soft oatmeal cookie pies, you may also love our chocolate whoopie pies or our pumpkin whoopie pies! Both feature a cream filling that is out of this world!
Ingredient Notes
There’s a good chance you already have everything you need to make these copycat Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies.
- Oats- In our testing we found the quick cook oats to work best.
PRO TIP: Use a food processor to process the oatmeal into smaller pieces. I usually give it a few pulses (you don’t want fine crumbs).
Butter flavored Crisco- do not swap this for real butter. While it may work, it won’t result in the same classic flavor. Trust us, we tested it!
Sweeteners– A combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar results in the chewiest cookie!
Molasses- provides the rich caramel color and flavor for these oatmeal cookies.
- Dry Ingredients- flour, kosher salt, baking soda, and cinnamon for the classic oatmeal cookie texture. Be sure to choose kosher salt and all-purpose flour!
- Eggs & Vanilla- help bind the ingredients together and give flavor. Use our homemade vanilla extract for best results!
- Filling Ingredients- Marshmallow fluff, hot water, salt, Crisco, powdered sugar, and more vanilla extract!
Tips and Tricks
- Use a piping bag or ice cream scoop to evenly add the cream filling to the cookies. Tip: make an easy piping bag by snipping off the end of a ziploc bag and then putting the cream filling through it.
- Pair similar-sized cookies together. These will be much harder to eat if you have a small cookie on the bottom and a big one on top, or vice versa.
- Watch the cookies closely while they bake so they don’t get overcooked.
- Use quick oats for the best taste and texture with this recipe. Old fashioned or steel cut oats will change the texture of the oatmeal cookie and affect baking time.
- Use a food processor to process the oatmeal into smaller pieces. I usually give it a few pulses (you don’t want fine crumbs).
- Allow the oatmeal cookies to cool completely before adding the cream filling. If they aren’t completely cooled, the cream pie filling will melt and you’ll have a sticky mess!
- Use margarine or butter-flavored Crisco for the best texture.
Recipe FAQs
Store homemade oatmeal cream pies in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week, for best results. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.
Yes! Oatmeal cream pies, after baking and cooling, can be frozen. Wrap each individual cream pie in plastic wrap, then slide into an airtight container or ziploc freezer bag. Freeze for up to 60 days. Thaw in refrigerator overnight, or at room temperature and serve.
You can. However, if you want the classic taste you remember from childhood, crisco gives you the perfect texture. If using butter, you’ll need to soften it first.
More Cookie Recipes:
- No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
- Chocolate Oatmeal Cream Pies – Same great recipe with CHOCOLATE!
- Football Cream Pies
- Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
- No Bake Oatmeal Scotchies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
Oatmeal Cream Pie
Ingredients
For the Cookie:
- 1 cup Butter Flavored Crisco
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ½ cup quick cook oats
For the Filling:
- 2 teaspoons very hot water
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ jars Marshmallow Fluff 10 ounce total
- ¾ cup Butter Flavored Crisco
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In large bowl, beat Crisco, brown sugar, granulated sugar, molasses, vanilla, and eggs.
- Add in the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix in the oats.
- PRO TIP: Use a food processor to process the oats into smaller pieces. I usually give it a few pulses (you don't want fine crumbs).
- Drop by ONE tablespoon onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until just starting to brown around the edges. DON’T OVERCOOK!
- After cookies have cooled, combine hot water with salt and mix until salt is dissolved.
- In large bowl, beat marshmallow fluff with Crisco, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on high until fluffy. Add in salt water and mix until well combined.
- Spread filling on one cookie and press second cookie on top. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use a piping bag or ice cream scoop to evenly add the cream filling to the cookies. Tip: make an easy piping bag by snipping off the end of a ziploc bag and then putting the cream filling through it.
- Watch the cookies closely while they bake so they don’t get overcooked.
- Use quick oats for the best taste and texture with this recipe. Old fashioned or steel cut oats will change the texture of the oatmeal cookie and affect baking time. Use a food processor to process the oatmeal into smaller pieces. I usually give it a few pulses (you don’t want fine crumbs).
- Allow the oatmeal cookies to cool completely before adding the cream filling. If they aren’t completely cooled, the cream pie filling will melt and you’ll have a sticky mess!
- Use margarine or butter-flavored Crisco for the best texture.
Video
Nutrition
Copycat Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie recipe. This childhood treat is the perfect soft and chewy cookie!
AMAZING! I doubled the recipe with only one addition, added a table spoon of raisin paste. I made 30 pies for a graduation party and not one was left. The cookie was perfect in texture soft and chewy. Filling was not too sweet and used a pastry bag for the filling. Recipe was requested by more than 15 people. Thank you Aimee.
I don’t buy Crisco or margarine. Could I make this with regular butter instead?
Update. I made this with 12 in rounds and came out amazing. Same temp. Minutes ended up around 18 minutes. I watched it closely! I put the parchment paper on the rounds and when I spread the dough I left about three quarters of an inch dry around the pan so when the cookie expanded it filled out the whole pan.
Love this recipe! The cookies didn’t last very long!
My granddaughter and I made them together.
On our second attempt, filling was too runny. What did we do wrong. Used same ingredients and same amounts. Can you over beat marshmallow fluff?
We most definitely will try again.
These are absolutely the best oatmeal cream pies ever!! They are far better than little Debbie’s. I have made these multiple times for for many occasions and get asked to make more. My hisband is addicted!! Lol! I will be making them again this weekend for Memerial Day BBQ! Thanks for the recipe, definitely a keeper!
Soooooo delish! My family is obsessed. Can I store the leftover filling? How so?
You can freeze any extra filling to use next time. Or grab some graham crackers (or any kind of store bought cookie) and make “cookie sandwiches” with the filling. If using grahams, you can freeze for “ice cream sandwiches”
After they are made, Should these be stored in the fridge or on the counter ok?
OMG! Thanks so much for this fabulous recipe, so over the top of deliciousness! I didn’t have the butter flavored crisp so used 1 stick of margarine and 1/2 cup shortening. Didn’t need to do anything any different, I even followed your tip to pulse the oats. Used the cookie scoop and got 15 sandwiches. Thanks again so much, baked them exactly for 8 minutes, let them cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes and then transferred to the cooling rack. Still need to make the filling and I have no doubt, it will be perfect just like the rest of the recipe. The cookies do flatten when cooling but Little Debbie ones are just as flat😊
Anyone made this as a giant cookie? I’m wondering about the baking time and temp.
Update. I made this with 12 in rounds and came out amazing. Same temp. Minutes ended up around 18 minutes. I watched it closely! I put the parchment paper on the rounds and when I spread the dough I left about three quarters of an inch dry around the pan so when the cookie expanded it filled out the whole pan.
So good! I substituted gf flour and otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Soft and chewy, absolutely delicious.
My cookies flattened out pretty thin. Would this be because I split the crisco to crisco and margarine ratio instead of just crisco?
Yes. Margarine has more water in it, resulting in a thinner cookie.
So good! I substituted gf flour and otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Soft and chewy, absolutely delicious.
Made these this week and while too sweet for me (but even the originals are too sweet for me!) … everyone I gave them to loved them. They came out exactly as pictures. Thank you for a great recipe.
Followed instructions exactly (well maybe a little extra vanilla since I use home made) and they turned out perfect! Wife and granddaughter prefer them to the commercial cookies.
I dont have any flavored butter crisco all I have is plain crisco would they still turn out soft and moist? Should I use any butter at all I mean I do have unsalted butter and tube of regular butter.and what should I use for molasses because I have none?
My husband eats Little Debbie’s every day, so I made these as a Valentines treat for him. He absolutely loves them and says they are better than the name brand. They were very easy to make. I used a scoop with the cookie dough to make uniform sized cookies. I used a teaspoon to put the filling on a cookie and just pressed down with the top cookie instead of using a piping bag.
For the Marshmallow fluff- do I need 1.5 seven ounce jars, equaling 10.5 oz? Or is the 7 oz the total fluff needed? Thanks!
10.5 oz total. Yeah, I guess I wrote that in a confusing way!!
So I don’t have any crisco any chances butter would work? Or maybe vegetable oil?
TERRIBLE RECIPE I wasted all ingredients the dough was WAY TOO sticky don’t even try this ruined my night , I double checked I did everything right
Hmm, many have made this numerous times with great reviews…unfortunately sounds like maybe a measurement was off?
I had this happen but realized that I incorrectly read the Crisco measurements and put 2 sticks vs 1. Could this have happened to you? I had to adjust in the remaining batter but it still turned out yummy!
I only used 1 stick (½ cup) instead of 2 sticks (1 cup) of plant butter. My dough was also very sticky, but one tip I learned from another baker is to put the dough in the freezer for +15 minutes before trying to scoop it out. It definitely helps with the stickiness. Another tip would be to wet your hands lightly before handling the dough.
Pardon my not knowing, I’m new to this, what is plant butter?
These are soooo good. The oatmeal cookie is delicious and soft and literally spot on as far as a little Debbie’s imitation (but better!!) The only complaint I have is that the cream filling is a little on the “processed buttery side,” I think from the crisco. The fake buttery flavor comes through more than I would have liked but it’s still delicious! They were a hit with my family and definitely will be making them again (maybe with less crisco and more marshmallow in the filling?) They we’re also super easy to make which is always a plus!
These came out perfect.. just make sure to keep an eye on them as Aimee says while in the oven so they don’t burn.. I used silicone mats & they came out great on those..