Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies are a crispy variation on traditional Scottish shortbread. Oatmeal adds warm, toasty flavor to these buttery treats. Dressed up with chocolate and sprinkles, these pretty cookies are a hit for any occasion.
Looking for more shortbread flavors? Next time try this convenient slice and bake recipe for shortbread cookies that makes three different flavors with one dough!
Why you'll love this recipe
The Monday Box has a lot of easy shortbread recipes. Shortbread is a wonderful cool weather care package cookie, generally sturdy with long lasting freshness, and can be made in an infinite variety of flavors and shapes.
When time is limited, shortbread can be pressed into a pan and sliced into bars. Shortbread dough can also be scooped into individual cookies or prepared as dough logs for slice and bake cookies.
Shortbread cookies made with cookie cutters or rolled in sprinkles for thumbprint cookies are show stoppers! There are so many ways to use this simple, versatile dough!
When baking, the best results and flavor come from using the best quality ingredients you can. This is especially true for shortbread.
This oatmeal shortbread recipe has so few ingredients, that choosing quality ingredients has a noticeable impact on the flavor of these biscuits. The type of butter, oats, and sugar used can make the difference between a good cookie and a special one.
Butter is the main flavor in most shortbread, so choosing a rich, flavorful butter is important. I always use a European style butter, such as Kerrygold or Plugra, in shortbread. For more information, The Butter Institute provides helpful tips for baking with butter.
With just 6 ingredients, Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies are a great recipe to whip up at the last minute! Dip them in chocolate and add sprinkles in colors for holidays, schools, or sports teams. Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies are an easy, sweet treat to bake for drop in visitors and beautiful for cookie platters or care packages.
Recipe Ingredients
- Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies contain rolled oats (3 minute oats) that add flavor and crispness. Steel cut oats would be too hard and nut-like in these low moisture cookies. Quick cook oats would be mushy.
- How finely the sugar is ground affects the texture of shortbread. Though some people like the crumbly, sandy texture of shortbread made with powdered sugar, I used caster sugar (ultra-fine bakers’ sugar) for a crunchy shortbread that is sturdier for care package travel.
- Melting chocolate, or compound chocolate, is a confectionary chocolate made with cocoa for flavor, but without cocoa butter. No tempering is required in order keep the chocolate coating shiny and appealing for a long time.
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Combine the ingredients with an electric mixer to form a soft, pliable dough. Then, scoop 1 tablespoon portions.
- Roll the dough balls into 2 ½" logs and place 2" apart on parchment lined baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes, until edges begin to turn golden.
- When the cookies have cooled, dip the end of each cookie in the melted chocolate.
- Immediately dip in sprinkles and set on a wax paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate to firm the chocolate.
Storage
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Tips and variations
- Add the dry ingredients in small amounts and stop when the dough is soft, pliable and no longer sticky. Humidity can affect the exact amount of flour needed to form the dough.
- This dough will also work for drop cookies, or pressed into a shortbread mold or baking pan and sliced immediately after baking. The dough is crumbly and doesn't work well for slice and bake cookies.
- European style butter is recommended for these cookies. The main flavor of shortbread is butter, so the better the butter, the better the cookie.
- Tea infused butter can be used to add the flavor of your favorite tea to these cookies.
- If you prefer shortbread with a sandier, crumbly texture, replace the ¾ cup of ultra-fine sugar with 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar.
- This recipe uses regular (3 minute) rolled oats. Steel cut or long cooking oats are not recommended as they will be tough inside the cookie. Instant or quick (1 minute) oats are also not recommended as they are precooked and will not have the same nutty flavor and chew in this cookie.
- Cover the chocolate dipped ends with shopped nuts, flaked salt, holiday sprinkles, or white chocolate drizzle.
- Using melted chocolate chips instead of melting chocolate, will not produce the same shiny chocolate surface. In addition, after a few days melted chocolate chips may get a whitish coating that happens when the fats begin to rise to the surface of the chocolate. That white "blooming" doesn't happen with compound melting chocolate.
- Enjoy this buttery shortbread with a mug of hot chocolate or a cup of tea!
Frequently asked questions
When referring to cookies and pastry, the term "short" means "crumbly". Shortbread cookies are crumbly due to the large amount of butter used.
European style butter has a slightly higher milk fat content than most American butters. This small difference provides better flavor and texture to shortbread cookies.
There is a lot of confusion about which oats to use for baking, but the answer is really very simple. The way oats are processed effects whether they will maintain their shape and texture while baking or become soft, almost dissolving, while baking.
Rolled oats are steamed and pressed flat. The thinner the oats are rolled, the faster they will cook. Old-fashioned rolled oats will maintain more chewiness in cookies that quick cooking oats which will get soft.
Steel cut oats (Irish oats) aren’t rolled. They are cut with steel blades. Steel cut oats take the longest to cook and are the chewiest when added to baked goods.
Both caster sugar (also called ultra-fine or bakers' sugar) and powdered sugar are used in shortbread recipes. The sugar used effects the texture of the cookie.
Shortbread made with powdered sugar has a sandier, melting texture and is a more delicate cookie prone to crumbling. Shortbread made with caster sugar has a crunchy texture and is a sturdier cookie, making caster sugar the better choice for care package cookies.
Baking tools
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COOKIE SCOOP BAKING SHEETS
More oatmeal cookie recipes
You will love, Oatmeal Apple Raisin Cookies ,chewy cookies full of sweet dried fruit.
Biscoff Toffee Oatmeal Crunch Cookies are spiced cookie butter cookies with crunchy edges and chewy centers. These thin cookies are great for making ice cream sandwiches.
Try Marathon Cookies for a thicker oatmeal cookie filled with nutritious ingredients to keep up your energy!
Use chewy, nutty Irish oat to make these delicious Steel Cut Oats Cookies.
These Oatmeal Bars are full of chewy, dried fruit. A delicious bar for breakfast or for snacking!
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Oatmeal Shortbread
Equipment
- small cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rolled oats I use Flahavan Irish Rolled Oats
- ½ teaspoon salt optional
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup ultra-fine sugar caster sugar, or granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
- 1 cup melting chocolate discs
- sprinkles
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 325° Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, and salt (if using).
- In the stand mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Blend in the vanilla.
- Gradually mix in ½ cup portions of the dry mixture, just until the dough is no longer sticky and holds together like play doh. A small amount of the dry ingredients may not be needed.
- Use a small (1 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough).
- Shape each dough ball into 2 ½" logs and place on the prepared cookie sheets about 2" apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, unil the edges of the cookies just begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate
- Line a cookie sheet that will fit in the refrigerator, with wax paper.
- Pour about ¼ cup of sprinkles into a small bowl.
- In a small bowl, microwave the melting chocolate at 50% power for 1 minute. Mix. Return to the microwave and continue to heat at 50% power for 15 second intervals, alternating heating and stirring, until completely melted.
- Dip one end of each cookie into the melted chocolate, then immediately into the sprinkles. Place the decorated cookies on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Refrigerate the filled cookie sheet for about 5 minutes to firm the chocolate.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Add the dry ingredients in small amounts and stop when the dough is soft, pliable and no longer sticky. Humidity can affect the exact amount of flour needed to form the dough.
- This dough will also work for drop cookies, or pressed into a shortbread mold or baking pan and sliced immediately after baking. The dough is crumbly and doesn’t work well for slice and bake cookies.
- European style butter is recommended for these cookies. The main flavor of shortbread is butter, so the better the butter, the better the cookie.
- Tea infused butter can be used to add the flavor of your favorite tea to these cookies.
- If you prefer shortbread with a sandier, crumbly texture, replace the ¾ cup of ultra-fine sugar with 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar.
- This recipe uses regular (3 minute) rolled oats. Steel cut or long cooking oats are not recommended as they will be tough inside the cookie. Instant or quick (1 minute) oats are also not recommended as they are precooked and will not have the same nutty flavor and chew in this cookie.
- Cover the chocolate dipped ends with shopped nuts, flaked salt, holiday sprinkles, or white chocolate drizzle.
- Using melted chocolate chips instead of melting chocolate, will not produce the same shiny chocolate surface. In addition, after a few days melted chocolate chips may get a whitish coating that happens when the fats begin to rise to the surface of the chocolate. That white “blooming” doesn’t happen with compound melting chocolate.
Nutrition
First Published: August 28, 2019. Last Updated: September 26, 2021. Updated for additional information, improved photographs, and better reader experience.
saltandserenity
I had never even considered oatmeal as an addition to shortbread, but now it's all I can think about. Why not? They look so delicious. Saving this recipe to make very soon.
Wendy Sondov
I never considered it either, Cindy! That is why I was SO intrigued when I found the original recipe in an old cookbook. Made with powdered sugar, it is sandy and crumbly with the oats adding a toasty flavor. When made with granulated or caster sugar, the cookies are more crunchy with buttery, toasty flavor. Either way, delicious. Not your traditional shortbread, but a very worthy cousin. 🙂
Carlee
I wish I had a couple with my coffee this morning! They look absolutely delicious and certainly sound easy enough to make.
Wendy Sondov
Thanks, Carlee. Shortbread is wonderful with coffee and the toasty oat flavor in these makes them especially good with coffee (and for breakfast) !