Scottish Oatcakes
Scottish Oatcakes can easily be made in your kitchen and are naturally gluten free. Perfect for breakfast, brunch a snack or cheese platter.
You should really get to know Scottish oatcakes.
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What are Oatcakes?
Oatcakes are truly unique, not being a cake in any way, shape or form, and not really being what we would term a “cracker”. Oatcakes, which are made from ground oats, are in a class by themselves. If you’ve never tasted a real Scottish oatcake, put it on your culinary bucket list, or your baking list.
You can make them yourself using the recipe that follows (it is extremely easy using a food processor). However, you should know that not only are they really versatile and delicious, they are sugar free, gluten free and really quite nutritious, and healthy. They pair perfectly with cheeses, but also jam and butter. Eat them with soup, too.
I’m a bit of a nut about oats and oatmeal, so check out how to make oatmeal (taste better).
I have seen recipe for “oatcakes” which are like soft pancakes, but they are NOT SCOTTISH OATCAKES; do not be misinformed.
This is my award-winning dessert recipe using oatmeal: sticky toffee porridge!
Scots are particularly passionate about our food (and drink), so I don’t want you to be confused about this traditional Scottish baked good.
What are Scottish oatcakes made of?
Scottish oatcakes are simple fare made of oats, lard (or butter or oil), a little leavening and water. They are easy to make at home.
Are Oatcakes Good for You?
Absolutely, oatcakes are very good for your health! Oatcakes are essentially almost all oats, which contain vitamin B1, B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc and more minerals. You can read more about it on Nairns oatcakes website.
You may also enjoy more of my Scottish recipes.
I usually just eat them with butter, and when using a really good quality butter. The flavor of the oatcakes is simply enhanced. Of course, they can also be served with jam, marmalade or honey, or alongside soup, or with cheese. They are savory, but can be sweetened with the topping you choose, so I hope you do choose to give them a try!
If you’d like to try some before making them yourself, you can order some from The Scottish Grocer. Use code CHRISTINASCUCINA for 10% off your entire purchase. I bet you find some other delicious goodies there, including Hamlyn’s pinhead oats to make these oatcakes from the best oats, ever!
Scottish Oatcakes
adapted by Christina Conte from an old Scottish cookbook makes 1 dozen triangular oatcakes
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Ingredients
- steel cut/pinhead oatmeal (with a little extra for sprinkling on workspace, once ground)
- Kosher or sea salt
- butter (or lard) or (Miyoko’s) vegan butter for vegan oatcakes
- baking soda
- hot water
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
Make the Dough
Place the oatmeal in a food processor and process until it has become like flour; a few hard pieces are fine. I love Hamlyn’s pinhead oats from Scotland.
Add the salt, butter, and baking soda and begin to process.
Then add the hot water through the feed tube.
Just add enough water until the mixture comes together.
Sprinkle some oatmeal flour on the workspace, and working quickly, divide the mixture in two.
Shape the Dough
Roll out into a round shape, about 1/4″ thick and cut into sixths. Repeat with the second half.
You can trace around a plate for clean edges if you like. As you can see in the lower left photo below, I trimmed one and not the other. A large cake lifter is excellent for moving the oatcakes to the tray, as well as moving cakes.
Bake the Oatcakes
Place on a baking sheet (I use a silicone mat), and bake for about 20 minutes.
Allow to cool, then store in a tin.
You can warm them in the oven just before serving, or just as they are with butter, jam, or cheese. The slate board and old fashioned scale are both very Scottish props.
Aren’t they lovely?
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Christina's Scottish Oatcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ c steel cut oatmeal pinhead oatmeal or oat flour
- ½ tsp Kosher or sea salt
- 1 oz butter or lard
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 4 Tbsp hot water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
- Place the oatmeal in a food processor and process until it has become like flour; a few hard pieces are fine. If using oat flour, proceed to step 3.
- Add the salt, butter, and baking soda and begin to process.
- Then add the hot water through the feed tube on top until the mixture just comes together.
- Sprinkle some oatmeal flour on the workspace and working quickly, divide the mixture in two.
- Roll out into a round shape, about 1/4" thick and cut into sixths. Repeat with the second half.
- You can trace around a plate for clean edges if you like.
- Place on a baking sheet, and bake for about 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool, then store in a tin.
Notes
- Nutrition info using butter (not lard).
- You'll need a little extra oat flour for sprinkling on workspace.
- You can use Miyoko's vegan butter for vegan oatcakes.
- You can see from my photos the difference from trimming vs not trimming.
Nutrition
Life in LA…
I was lucky with a shot of this little hummingbird as I was taking pictures of my oatcakes!
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Argh! I want to make these now but i only have rolled oats in the pantry….not steel cut. Have you ever experimented with rolled oats? How did it go?
No, Krystal I haven’t and really unsure of what would happen using rolled oats. Sorry!
You can make them by hand with rolled oats. Its good too, but the texture is slightly different. Mind how dry you make them though as they will get that way if you use too much rolled oats.
Just back from a wonderful 3 week trip to Scotland where we had some delicious oatcakes made with caraway seeds. So glad to have found your recipe, it worked perfectly the first time I made it. I added 1 tsp. caraway seeds to the dough and may add more the next time. Also used a round cookie cutter rather than cutting into pie shapes. Perfect with a cup of ice coffee on a warm fall day. Brings back memories of Scotland!
That’s great, Lois! So happy to hear it! Sorry for my delay in responding, but I’m traveling in Europe at the moment! :)
Absolutely lovely recipe! Reminds me of the ones I ate in Scotland while I was there this past summer. Will definitely be making them often.
Also, substituted coconut oil for butter since I was running low. Turned out perfectly.
Wonderful, Esther! That’s great to hear about the coconut oil if others want a butter/lard substitute, too! Thank you so much!
Recipe worked beautifully except tasted too salty. I followed it exactly, including measuring the lard, except I added a tbsp of sugar to counter the salt. The texture is perfect though and I will make many times again. It came together so easily.
Sorry to hear they were too salty. The salt I use is much less salty than regular table salt, so I’m guessing that might be why. You can absolutely adjust going forward, though. Glad you liked them! :) Thanks, GVC!
When we were little my mom always made oatcakes but at that time people kept all their bacon drippings so that was what she used, they were so good. However I am going to try these, love oatcakes.
You can definitely try with the bacon drippings, Wendy! That sounds good! :)
I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to try making oatcakes, I am gluten intolerant so eat a ton of them in place of bread. I usually eat Nairn’s, which are very good, but I am trying to make as many things as I can from scratch and when I saw this recipe it looked so simple (and somehow I’d had run out of oatcakes at the time) I gave it a go. Very easy, love anything you can just toss into the food processor, and the end result are lovely authentic oatcakes (I use lard as the fat and cut them into round biscuits as this is more convenient for me) I have made them several times now and make some variations depending on what I will have them with. The quantity of water in the recipe is great for slightly crumbly oatcakes, especially good straight out the oven with lashings of butter, I prefer them like this for eating with soups or stews. If I want a more cracker style to eat with cheese I add a little extra water. If I make a big batch and want them to last a bit longer I double bake. I also sometimes toss in some seeds ( chia, linseed, flax, pumpkin, depending what I have in the cupboard) and add a bit extra water. Yet another thing I have come to realise is so easy to make yourself it’s a bit daft to go out and buy it ready made. This recipe has been written in my recipe book and not everything makes it there 😊
This makes me SO happy, Marj! How wonderful that you have become an oatcake pro! Love it. I need to make some as my dad is here and he loves them, too. Thank you so much for the lovely comments and I hope you find some other recipes to enjoy from my site! (I have a gluten free option under RECIPES).
I just made this recipe today. I’ve never seen or eaten an oatcake before. Is it suppose to be crispy and flaky or a little bit chewy? I’m trying to determine if what I made was actually an oatcake or not. It seemed very salty. Otherwise the recipe was very easy, I’m only rating it a 4 because it would have been nice to know what the texture should be like when it’s cooked. Thank you! :-)
Goodness, Erica! I hope you’re not a teacher, as I can imagine you’d grade harshly!
I don’t know if you missed the part where I spoke about categorizing oatcakes and said they’re not cakes, and can’t truly be classified as a cracker (meaning they’re crispy). Yes, they are hard and crunchy, but I wouldn’t say “flaky”. They could be salty if you didn’t use Kosher or sea salt which is less salty than table salt?
Great, then what I made was actually an oatcake. Yay! Thank you for your response.
I am making another batch tonight, I’m loving them with my tea.
Haha! Glad you liked them, Erica! They’re so good for you, too! :)