Baking with Granny

Traditional Scottish and UK home baking recipes for the whole family.

  • Home
  • About
  • Scottish Recipes
  • Work with Us

Oatcakes

May 27, 2016 By Amy 13 Comments

Oatcakes

We’re big fans of oats in our house. From the daily porridge requests each morning, too endlessly trying to perfect flapjack (which I will finally share when I eventually do!), we just can’t get enough of those little super-grains. If there’s one oat classic that always feels a little bit special to me, it is Oatcakes.

I think it’s the fact we’re usually known to indulge in them with some posh cheese and nice chutney, so whenever we do have Oatcakes I always end up feeling like it’s a special occasion. The funny thing is though, that their origins are anything but fancy; oatcakes were actually first produced as a more sustainable substitute to bread for us folk up here in Scotland. Plus they’re super cheap to make and super easy also! A mere three ingredients, with a little salt and a dash of water, and you’re good to go.

We actually stay just a stone’s throw away from the factory of one of Scotland’s best loved oatcakes but with these being so simple and delicious, I think we’ll be opting to make them ourselves when it comes to gifting them within hampers at Christmas. Plus I’m a sucker for a good Scottish recipe so these do the job in making me feel all patriotic just fine.

Granny’s Top Tips
♥  Porridge oats are our favourite for Oatcakes but you can experiment with different types of oats for different textures.
♥  A lot of Oatcakes recipes call for Bicarbonate Soda or Baking Powder, however with the absence of any acid there’s no real need for these ingredients.
♥  Why not try adding a little grated cheese or some poppy seeds to your oatcakes for varying flavours?

Oatcakes

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Oatcakes

Author: Baking with Granny

Ingredients

  • 225 g Oats
  • 60 g Plain Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 60 g Vegetable Shortening
  • 60-80 ml Hot Water

Instructions

  • Pre-heat your oven to 190°c and grease a baking tray.
  • Mix the oats, flour and salt together in a large bowl.
  • Add the vegetable shortening and rub together until the mixture resembles large breadcrumbs.
  • Gradually add the water a little at a time until you have a thick dough.
  • Roll the dough on a floured surface to around 5mm thick. Cut your oatcakes with a cookie cutter into your desired shape, or alternatively you can simply cut with a knife.
  • Place your oatcakes onto your pre-greased tray and bake for 20-30 minutes until dry and lightly golden. It's also a good idea to turn the oatcakes at least once during baking to prevent them being dry & golden on one side and soggy on the other.
Oatcakes

Are you an oatcake fan? What do you top yours with?

Share the Love?

  • Share on Facebook
  • Tweet to Twitter
  • Share on Google+
  • Share via Email
  • Print a Copy

Filed Under: biscuit, recipe, scottish

Comments

  1. Nikki says

    May 30, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    I love oatcakes and even more so when I found out I could have gluten free ones! Great post xx

    Reply
  2. Dawn Santora says

    October 8, 2017 at 10:05 pm

    I am always looking for new things to bake or cook! I would love the oat cake recipe!

    Reply
  3. Mary says

    December 3, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    What kind of oats do you use? I love oatcakes but mine come out dry and tend to fall apart.

    Reply
  4. Greg says

    December 16, 2017 at 12:13 am

    Are “porridge oats” the same as rolled oats?

    Reply
    • dumbledad says

      October 11, 2019 at 12:58 pm

      Yes

      Reply
  5. Lizzie Christian says

    December 19, 2017 at 10:07 am

    Ho! Ho! Ho! Thank You so much for the recipe for Oat Cakes I lost my own recipe and saw this and thought yep that’s the one. I love my chess at this time of year. I can do without MNCs pies and chocolate. I have made three chutneys this year Caramelized Red Onion, Spicy Plum & Apple and my signature chutney Beetroot & Cranberry with Wild Berries this year! Lush! My favourite cheeses this year Goats Cheese and Wenslydale and Cranberries ah but I have also found Wenslydale and Blueberries have yet to order. And of course Brie and Stilton. So this year we have made the Christmas Cake from our wedding cake recipe with a Woodland Nativity Theme. So last shopping to do tomorrow and Friday will get some oats to make some Oatcakes. Purfect XX Have yourselves a Lovely Christmas xxx

    Reply
  6. Lizzie Christian says

    December 19, 2017 at 10:18 am

    Bless you lass I forgot to ask approximately how many Oatcakes do you make out of one recipe/batch please? Many thanks to U Seasons Blessings xx

    Reply
  7. dumbledad says

    October 11, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    When you say “A lot of Oatcakes recipes call for Bicarbonate Soda or Baking Powder, however with the absence of any acid there’s no real need for these ingredients.” I thought that bicarb releases gas firstly in reaction to acid, and secondly in reaction to heat, so it would still have an effect even in the absence of acid (like in a sponge cake)

    Reply
  8. Debi says

    April 13, 2020 at 12:51 pm

    5 stars
    So easy to make and they turned out perfect for this non baker. Don’t think I will ever buy oatcakes again after using this recipe.

    Reply
  9. Mary Bremner says

    May 21, 2020 at 12:00 pm

    I had not tried making oatcakes before (although I bake a lot) but I saw the recipe on your page and any other recipe of yours that I tried has been absolutely great – success every time!! I started making your oatcakes since lockdown and I am thrilled with the result. I dry fry seeds in a pan and add this to the mixture – oh! that crunch is delicious.
    Thank you for your simple, full proof recipes.

    Reply
  10. Ruth says

    June 5, 2020 at 10:03 am

    This receipe is just what Ive been looking fot. But I live i Asia and we dont have vegetable shortening. What can I subatityte.
    Thank you Ruth

    Reply
    • Stephanie says

      June 29, 2020 at 1:58 pm

      Try lard or butter. Some recipes use butter.

      Reply
  11. Lynsey McAllister says

    January 4, 2021 at 2:39 pm

    Can I use vegetable suet rather than vegetable shortening?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

#BiBs2019 WINNER

In 2019 Baking with Granny won the Britmums Brilliance in Blogging Award in the Food category!

Search

Hello & welcome!


Traditional home baking, just like Granny used to make. A collection of classic (metric-friendly!) recipes, as well as lots of tips and tricks from our all round baking expert, Granny.

Read more →

Come say Hello!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Popular Posts

  • Scottish Tablet
    Scottish Tablet

  • School Cake
  • Drop Scones
    Drop Scones (Scotch ...

Want new recipes direct to your email?

Subscribe to get our latest recipes and all the news from Baking with Granny.

Thanks for joining us!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

© All content copyright to Amy Reid & Christine Lorimer unless otherwise stated. 2015-2021.
Read our Privacy Policy.

This site uses cookies: Find out more.