Sourdough Oatmeal Creme Pies with Brown Butter & Cream Cheese Filling

There’s just something magical about taking a childhood favorite and giving it an adult twist that makes you feel like a kid again, but with better taste. For me, that’s these sourdough oatmeal creme pies. They’re nostalgic in the best way—soft, spiced oatmeal cookies sandwiched around a dreamy filling—but elevated with a few intentional swaps that make them drop-your-jaw amazing. Think nutty brown butter, cozy warm spices, and just enough tang from sourdough starter to keep things balanced. Oh, and the filling? I know, cream cheese might sound surprising in an oatmeal creme pie, but trust me—it’s the secret ingredient that keeps them from being cloyingly sweet and instead makes them harmoniously perfect.

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Yield 6

Author SALUD! Team

Prep time

20 Min

Cook time

15 Min

Total time

35 Min

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Sourdough Oatmeal Creme Pies

Hankering for an oatmeal creme pie? This sourdough recipe perfectly scratches that itch and then some

Ingredients

Cookies

• 113 g butter, browned and cooled
• 113 g oats (pulsed in a blender if rolled)
• 75 g AP flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t cloves
• 1/4 t ginger
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 75 g brown sugar
• 50 g sugar
• 10 g molasses
• 100 g fed sourdough starter
• 2 t vanilla bean paste

Filling

• 113 g light cream cheese, softened
• 1.5 T butter, softened
• Pinch of salt
• 1 t vanilla bean paste
• 150 g powdered sugar
• Milk if needed

Instructions

Cookies

1. Brown your butter in a pan over medium low heat, then let cool for 15 minutes
2. Preheat your oven to 350*F
3. Mix your pulsed oats and all dry ingredients together
4. Cream together the butter and sugars until mixture has lightened. Then beat in the eggs, molasses, starter, and vanilla
5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet slowly, careful to not over mix
6. Scoop ~1T portions onto parchment-lined baking sheets (I fit 6 per sheet), bake for 13-15 minutes
7. Let cool fully (also set out your butter and cream cheese for the filling at this point if assembling the same day!)

Filling

1. When cookies are cool and you're about ready to serve, beat together the cream cheese, butter, salt, and vanilla, then slowly beat in the powdered sugar.
2. Add milk if needed to thin the filling out a little. You want it to be thick enough that it won't immediately run off your spoon, but will take a minute to do so.
3. Sandwich ~1 T of filling in between 2 of your cookies
4. Good immediately, or up to 3 days in the fridge. 2 months in the freezer

Nutrition Facts

Calories

547

Fat

24 g

Sat. Fat

14 g

Carbs

77 g

Fiber

2 g

Net carbs

75 g

Sugar

51 g

Protein

7 g

Sodium

538 mg

Cholesterol

63 mg

The nutrition information is based on estimates and is not definitive.

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I grew up loving those little packaged oatmeal creme pies—the soft cookies, the creamy filling, the way you could split them in half and savor every bite. But as an adult, my taste buds have changed. I still love sweets, but I don’t want them to be over-the-top sweet where one bite makes you feel like you’ve climbed a sugar mountain you can’t come back down from. That’s where these sourdough oatmeal creme pies come in. They’re nostalgic, but they’re also elevated with flavor and balance.

The real star here is the cookie. I start with brown butter—and not just lightly browned butter. I push it as far as it’ll go without burning, because that’s where you get those deep, nutty, toasty notes that make you stop mid-stir and just smell the pan. That alone sets the tone for a cookie that’s anything but ordinary. Then come the warm spices: cinnamon (of course), but also a touch of clove and ginger. Those little additions make such a difference—suddenly your kitchen smells like fall no matter what time of year it is, and the flavor feels layered and cozy instead of one-dimensional.

The rest of the cookie dough is built from simple pantry staples: flour, sugar, molasses, vanilla, and rolled oats that I pulse just slightly so they’re not too chunky. And yes, a spoonful of sourdough starter. Not enough to make these taste “sour,” but just enough to give them a depth of flavor and softness you wouldn’t get otherwise. My husband calls these “grown-up oatmeal creme pies,” and I take that as the highest compliment.

Now, the filling. If you’re a traditionalist, you might be raising an eyebrow at the cream cheese. My husband did too when I told him I was testing the recipe. But hear me out—cream cheese is exactly what these creme pies needed. It brings a tangy, slightly savory balance to the sweet buttercream filling, and with a pinch of salt and vanilla bean paste stirred in, it becomes the dreamiest spread to tuck between two cookies. Sweet but not too sweet, creamy without being heavy, and just a little sophisticated. If you’re the kind of person who loves sweets but doesn’t want to feel like you’re eating straight sugar, this filling will be your new best friend.

I make six big sandwiches out of this recipe, which for a household of two is perfect. We’ll each have one fresh, maybe another the next day, and then tuck the rest in the fridge to grab whenever the craving hits. They hold up beautifully, and if you want them to soften even more like the packaged version, just let them rest a day. If you’re baking for a crowd, you can easily double the recipe or make the cookies smaller to stretch the yield. But honestly, there’s something deeply satisfying about holding one of these oversized, bakery-style oatmeal creme pies in your hand.

Another fun part about this recipe is how versatile it is. Not in a “throw in whatever” kind of way, but in a “choose your adventure” way. You can stick to the full sandwich, or just bake off the cookies and enjoy them as-is. I’ll admit I’ve eaten one straight from the cooling rack more than once before the filling ever had a chance. They’re that good on their own. The brown butter and spices make them stand out as a cookie you’d happily serve without the creme pie treatment. But when you do add the filling, they transform into something greater than the sum of their parts—a nostalgic treat, but better.

That balance is what makes these so special. They’re indulgent, yes, but they’re not overwhelming. You get sweetness, spice, nuttiness, and creaminess in every bite. They’re familiar but with enough of a twist to make you stop and appreciate the grown-up version of a classic. And honestly? I kind of love that my husband’s skepticism about the cream cheese turned into full-blown obsession after his first bite. That’s when you know you’ve nailed it.

So, whether you’re baking these just for yourself and your household, or planning to wow your friends with the ultimate cookie sandwich, these sourdough oatmeal creme pies deserve a spot in your rotation. They’re comfort food, nostalgia, and sophistication all wrapped into one chewy, creamy, irresistible package.