oops! I also used 2 sticks of butter creamed into the sugar as opposed to the 4 melted Tb Martha called for. Forgot to add that to my previous comment.

I can see how you'd end up with a runny mess making this. So, I read the Quaker oatmeal container and did a bit of combing with/altering of to Martha's recipe. I used 3 1/2 cups of oats, 2 cups of flour, and 2 eggs. You need more dry ingredients to balance out the moisture of the applesauce (regular oatmeal cookies call for 3 cups of oats and 1 1/2 cups of flour so it's kind of a no brainer). Anyway, super tasty once you get them right!

Close to the same problem as "ltz13" and "sez":

Cookies were flat and crispy. The picture gave me the impression that they were going to be soft and chewy.

However, I did not have the problem with them sticking to the parchment paper.

I doubt it was because of the modifications I made either:
Replaced 1/4c of the apple sauce with 3T of whiskey.
I'll blame it on not having an electric mixer / whisk.

I agree with srez. This recipe failed BIG TIME. I also followed the recipe exactly. I knew right away as the dough was too runny. Something is missing! The cookies spread and came out completely FLAT.

Martha should test out her own recipes!!!

I ended up putting the runny dough into mini cupcake tins. At first another mess, as they all overflowed the tin! I put the overflow dough back into each [filtered word] and a new treat is born!

My suggestion: Stay away from this recipe!!!

This recipe failed! I followed everything exactly as written. I was very disappointed when the cookies spread flat, were sticky and stuck to the cookie sheet. I used parchment paper as suggested and I had to scrape them off the cookie sheet! Horrible, don't waste your time and ingredients. Martha you better review your recipes!

These were soft, chewy and delicious. I made one adjustment. I creamed the butter and sugar. Melting the butter seemed strange to me. I'm glad I did. The dough would have been very runny had I followed the recipe. I will be making these often...my family loved them!

I thought these cookies were way too sweet and the icing put them over the top. A more traditional oatmeal cookie would have balanced the icing better. Will not be making these again, unfortunately.

Oh, and I did take out some of the raisins and added chocolate chips.

I thought the cookies were awesome. They remind me of the store bought iced cookies. I did make my own icing to go on the top which I thought worked really well.

Icing
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon sour cream
splash of vanilla (½ tsp.)

loved them will make again and again. used smooth homemade applesauce and regular syrup instead of maple. the icing recipe made a ton will cut back next time. Also considering making them into bars.

loved them will make again and again. used smooth homemade applesauce and regular syrup instead of maple. the icing recipe made a ton will cut back next time. Also considering making them into bars.

Wow, these didn't last long in my cookie jar! They are really delicious and unique. A word of warning, however, the icing is VERY sweet. I halved the icing recipe and I still only used a fraction of it. I would recommend making a quarter of the icing recipe and only drizzling a touch on each cookie because, as I mentioned before, it is very sweet.

Use some maple extract if you'd like it stronger...and don't forget that maple syrup comes in different grades so pick a strong one...what you use in extract cut out of water, that should work. Not a fan of the pure icing sugar either...You can grab a premade icing/ marshmallow spread/ or cream cheese... add the maple syrup and thicken it with the icing sugar to desired consistency. Hope this helps.

My batch came out very good, with the suggested alterations. I used homemade chunky applesauce, added cinnamon, ginger, cardamom. Softened butter, not melted. Craisins, not raisins. 2T maple syrup instead of the 1/2 cup granulated sugar. I used 1 T water in the icing and added 1.5-2 tsp melted butter. I probably used a smidge more oats than called for. Chilled dough was easier to work with than room temp. These were gone in a flash! http://deepdarkandlovely.wordpress.com/

I followed the recipe, instead of chunky I used regular applesauce. They turned out great, not flat or flimsy. I will defiantly make these again.

Agreeing about flat and flimsy cookies. On my first run I forgot the white sugar and the cookies were much better, but lacking in flavor. Perhaphs using solid butter, less sugar, and a self rising flour would do the trick.
Something needs to be done about the icing too - overwhelming confectioners' taste and undetectable maple flavor. I would suggest cutting back on the water by two tblspoons, maybe adding butter, and adding more maple syrup.

I just made these and they taste good but look horrible. They came out really flat. I figured the butter shouldn't be melted, there should be more flower and oats. I didnt even bother making the icing, i'm super bummed :(

Tried these cookies with my 9 year old brother. Didn't have enough old-fashioned oats, so added some quick. We also added 1/4 cup more flour. They worked great and came out just like the picture.

Recipe did not turn out well. Batter spread like crazy. Cookies are thin and crisp. Tasty but nothing like the photo.

Just made for the first time, they came out rather flat, but I didn't have chunky applesauce, just the smooth type - maybe that's why. One problem though, I used 'coarse' salt and every so often, I'd get a bite of a chunk of the coarse salt which wasn't very nice. Any suggestions about that? Should I just use regular table salt instead with the same measurement?

My batch turned out very good. My batter was particularly gooey when raw, so I stuck it in the fridge before baking. That did the trick.

I did not like the taste of the icing on its own - bleh. Tasted like mildewy cardboard. But once it set on the cookies, it was quite nice!

I'll definitely make these again!

If you like oatmeal cookies, you will love these. The maple syrup glaze is too die for and the cookies were easy to make. They are relatively more healthy than other cookies since there is only a half a stick of butter. The moisture comes from the applesauce. I used regular applesauce because that is what I had and I also used regular Aunt Jemima syrup because that is what I had on had. They are very good and I am going to calll and recommend them to my friends for their holiday baking.

I made these cookies and they turned out well. I used the thick and chunky applesauce from Trader Joes. It worked perfectly with the recipe. I think that a really thick applesauce is the key to success. Otherwise the dough will be too runny. Also, I added some spices (Cinnamon, Ginger, and Allspice) to the batter.

After a flat but delicious first batch, I made a few changes... Used my own applesauce (to cut back on sugar - 1 large peeled gala in the food pro), started with softened (not melted) butter, subbed half of the white sugar for 2 tbsp maple syrup, added a bit of cinnamon and cloves, and increased the amount of oatmeal slightly. Instead of the glaze, I made a soft caramel icing with butter, brown sugar, and milk. Delicious, hearty, and stable enough to ship across the country (true story)!

My batch of cookies did not look like the picture either. They were flat and so sticky that some of them broke while trying to get them off the pan. They have remained sticky even after 36 hours and because of that are difficult to store.

I think there was a misprint for the amount of flour. I think it should be 1 1/2 cups of flour. Mine were flat as well and I couldn't get them off of the cookie sheet. Very disappointing.

Son and I made these, and they turned out very tasty, not flat at all. The dough was thin but they baked up well. Next time I will leave some of the water out of the glaze and only make half the amount called for. Anybody try making them with less sugar than called for?

My cookies looked nothing like the picture. I carefully followed the directions, but my cookies turned out flat (it looks like I'm not the only one). The "icing" isn't icing at all. It's more like a thin glaze. I think the picture used for this recipe belongs to a completely different recipe. Additionally, the "icing" isn't pure white, as shown in the picture, as maple syrup was added and changed the color. I've had better oatmeal raisin cookies. There's no need to make these again.

I made these last night and they too were thin, flat, sugary, and dissappointing. I added more flour and chilled the dough for about 20 mins -after this they came out much more 'cookie-like' but i feel like this sacrificed the taste. HELP!

I made these and they turned out great. We loved them. I made my own applesauce for them. Here is a link to see the ones I made.

http://canadianbakertoo.blogspot.com/2008/11/iced-oatmeal-applesauce-coo...

I made these and they turned out great. We loved them. I made my own applesauce for them. Here is a link to see the ones I made.

http://canadianbakertoo.blogspot.com/2008/11/iced-oatmeal-applesauce-coo...

My dough was not thin and the cookies were not flat. However, I used my homemade applesauce in the recipe and it is much thicker, chunkier and more flavorful than the commercial stuff!

I agree, dough was to thin, cookies were flat.

Did not turn out anything like the picture, very flat and the dough was watery.