Rene's Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies

Rene, a fellow foodie at my new office, gave me this recipe to try out after I told him I had a strawberry shortcake cookie recipe on The List.

I told him I wanted to use a shortbread cookie base as the "shortcake" and then add dehydrated strawberries and strawberry jam.

He said I should give his oatmeal shortbread cookie a try and then play around with the recipe to incorporate the fruit. I told him I'd of course give it a try!

Buttery, oaty, and just right with a cup of tea. A 1/2 batch would also make a really good crust for a cheesecake or key lime pie. (Hmmm...I'd better write that down!)

Makes eight 1/4"-thick wedges. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Rene's Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies.)

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups oatmeal 1/3 cup sugar 5 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 325º.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, add all the ingredients and mix until well incorporated and the butter is evenly distributed.
   
3. Grease a pie plate with butter.
4. Add the combined ingredients to the greased pie plate and pat down until you form a firm, flat disk of dough.
5. Bake at 325º for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie disk are brown. Remove the pie plate from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
   
6. When cool, transfer the cookie disk to a cutting board and cut into wedges.
7. Let wedges cool for 30 minutes to firm up and get crispy.