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This oatmeal shortbread recipe comes together in just six minutes with five simple ingredients. Buttery, crisp, and with the perfect hint of oat-y flavor, these oat flour shortbread cookies are so good you’ll want to make them on repeat.

Three oat flour shortbread bars in front of a cup of coffee.
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Here is Why This Oat Flour Shortbread Recipe Works

Ridiculously Easy Dough: Toss everything into a food processor, hit a button, and voilà, perfect buttery cookie dough without breaking a sweat.

Oats Make It Fancy: Grinding the oats (or using oat flour) adds a nutty flavor and unique texture that takes this shortbread up a notch.

Crisp & Buttery Perfection: A two-step baking process gives you that golden, melt-in-your-mouth texture with just the right amount of crispiness.

Minimal Effort, Maximum Reward: With simple ingredients and no fancy techniques, this recipe proves that delicious doesn’t have to be complicated.

If you like this recipe, try our easy shortbread pastry for pies and tarts or our whipped shortbread cookies.

Oat flour shortbread in a baking pan with coffee in the background.

The Ingredients

Pantry: Oats, all-purpose flour, powdered sugar.
Spices and Seasonings: Salt.
Dairy: Butter.

Variations 

Chocolate Chip Oat Flour Shortbread: Fold ½ cup of mini chocolate chips into the dough before pressing it into the pan.

Cranberry Orange Butter Biscuits: Add 1 tablespoon of orange zest and ½ cup of dried cranberries to the dough for a bright, fruity flavor.

Spiced Shortbread: Stir ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg into the dry ingredients.

Tips for Success

  • If you’re starting with whole oats, make sure to blend them into a fine powder for the best texture.
  • Let the butter come to room temperature before you mix the dough. 
  • Score the dough before it get too crisp. This makes cutting the bars into clean wedges much easier. .
  • Turning the oven off and letting the cookies sit helps them develop that signature crispness.

Storage

Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. 

Freezing: Once the cookies have cooled completely, layer the cookies between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-safe container or bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Slices of oatmeal shortbread cookie bars next to a cup of coffee.

Oat Shortbread Bars

Oat flour shortbread is a simple and reliable recipe with a buttery texture and a hint of oat flavor. It’s an easy dessert to make with pantry ingredients you likely already have on hand.

More Recipes to Try

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Several oat flour shortbread cookies stacked on top of each other.
Prep Time: 6 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
4.60 from 52 votes

Oatmeal Shortbread

A buttery shortbread with the addition of ground oats to add a nutty, oaty flavor and crisp texture. Everything comes together in the food processor.

If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating and comment.

Servings: 16 servings
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Ingredients 

  • 1 cup rolled oats , 100 grams (or ⅓ cup oat flour)
  • 1-½ cups all-purpose flour, 210 grams
  • cup powdered sugar, 80 grams
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease an 8" round cake pan or springform pan.
  • Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until they are a fine powder (skip this step if you are using oat flour).
  • If you are using a food processor, add the flour, confectioners sugar, and salt to the processor bowl and pulse a few times. If you don’t have a food processor add the oat flour and the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk them together.
  • Add the butter and blend the ingredients together either by pulsing the food processor or by using an electric mixer. The batter should come together in a smooth mass.
  • Press the dough into the prepared pan and use a knife to score it into 16 wedges.
  • Bake for 10 minutes at 400° then reduce the oven temperature to 250° and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
  • Remove the shortbread from the oven and turn the oven off. Using a sharp knife, cut along the scored lines while it is still hot.
    Place the pan back in the oven but do not turn the oven on. Let the shortbread sit in the oven with the door closed for 1 hour while the oven cools down (this will let the shortbread dry out and develop a crisp texture).
  • Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool completely.

Video

Notes

When the shortbread is finished baking, if you let it stay in the oven with the oven off, the shortbread will get extra crispy.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 102kcal, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 68mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

iconLike this recipe? Rate & comment below!

This recipe was originally posted on October 13, 2014. We updated the photos but left one of the original photos below.

Oatmeal Shortbread

About Dahn Boquist

Dahn is a retired nurse, recipe creator, home cook, baker, and self-proclaimed foodie. She loves creating in the kitchen and cooking for family and friends. She lives in Washington State with her husband and dog. When she isn't cooking or baking, you can usually find her spending time with her grandchildren or exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

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4.60 from 52 votes (51 ratings without comment)

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8 Comments

  1. Jo says:

    What type of flour?
    What can I replace sugar with?

    1. Dahn Boquist says:

      All purpose flour. We haven’t tested this recipe with a sugar replacement.

  2. Ashleigh says:

    Absolutely delicious! Followed recipe exactly and this is a keeper. Super easy. Thank you!

    1. Dahn Boquist says:

      I’m so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the shortbread recipe! It’s always a joy when something simple turns out to be super delicious, right? Thank you for your comment.

  3. Dawn Pendola says:

    Hi
    This recipe sounds close to what I’m trying to achieve. Can this batter be rolled out and made into cookie rounds? Also I want to add rosemary and lemon . Any suggestions? .
    Thank you
    Dawn

    1. Dahn Boquist says:

      I haven’t tried it as a roll and cut cookie. The bake time would differ. Rosemary and lemon would be fabulous. I would chop up fresh rosemary very finely and grate some lemon zest with a microplane. You should only need a few teaspoons to get good flavor

  4. Kathi Kirk says:

    5 stars
    These look so good! It’s so fun to watch your blog evolve. The pictures and content have come so far! Can’t wait to see what you have next!
    Kathi

    1. Dahn says:

      Thank you so much Kathi, you are always so kind