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Photograph of Irish Oat Cookies

Irish Oat Cookies

A delicious, crunchy traditional and utterly moreish cookie/biscuit, loaded with oats. I'd been craving Irish Oat Cookies since our little trip to Ireland last week; obviously, the only solution was to whip up a batch as soon as possible.

Makes 15

Course afternoon tea, Breakfast, Morning Coffee, Snack, treat
Cuisine Irish
Keyword biscuits, Cookies, Irish, Oats
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Author Susan

Ingredients

Basic cookie ingredients –

  • 125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 75g caster sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
  • 75g plain/all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 125g jumbo oats

Optional extras: (up to 100g)

  • See Recipe notes for the quantities and ingredients I used
  • desiccated coconut
  • chopped nuts – such as pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachio
  • seeds – such as pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax, chia, poppy
  • dried fruit – raisins, sultanas, currants, chopped dates, chopped apricots
  • chocolate – milk, plain, white

Instructions

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Preheat oven to fan oven 160°C /180°C/350°F/Gas 4

  3. Make sure the butter is at room temperature and beat, using an electric whisk, with the sugar and salt until it is light and fluffy.

  4. Add the flour and baking powder and beat again until completely mixed.

  5. Now add the oats and mix together using a spoon.

  6. If adding any additional ingredients, add them now and thoroughly mix together.

  7. Tip the cookie dough onto clingfilm, press the mixture together really well with your hands and form into a cylinder, 5cm/2in diameter.

  8. Wrap tightly in the cling film. Once wrapped, roll the sausage shape with your hands to help create an even shape with smooth sides. Refrigerate for a minimum of 10 minutes or up to 48 hours.

  9. When you are ready to bake the cookies, use a sharp knife to slice round cookies. You should get around 14 - 15 slices with no additional ingredients and between 15 - 18, if you add other ingredients. I halved the mixture and cooked half (7) plain and added additional ingredients to the other half which made 8. I make little marks on the side of the dough before `I slice them to make sure they are all the same size. The dough may crumble a little when you cut them, simply push back together with your hands.

  10. Lay, spread out on greased baking trays, and bake in the centre of the oven for 18 – 20 minutes, until very lightly golden.

  11. Remove from the oven, leave on the baking trays for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

  • kitchen scales and measuring spoons
  • mixing bowl and electric whisk
  • chopping board and knife - if necessary, for chopping nuts
  • cling film
  • baking trays, lightly greased with butter, or you could use baking parchment
  • wire rack

What is the best way to store these cookies?

These cookies should be stored covered at room temperature. They keep well for up to 5 days.

Can I freeze these cookies?

Yes you can! You can freeze them either before you cook them or afterwards.

Freeze before cooking –

  • when wrapped in the cling film, freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost over night in the fridge and then unwrap, slice and bake as described in the recipe, OR
  • freeze slices of unbaked cookies on a flat surface. Once frozen, cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen; you will need to add 1-2 minutes to the cooking time.

Freeze after cooking –

Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Ideally freeze as soon as possible after baking but make sure they are properly cool before bagging/covering and freezing.