Oatcakes are that glorious thing: portable porridge – a high-fibre, high-energy, pocket-friendly snack that’s almost as good on its own as it is on a cheeseboard with a wedge of Hebridean blue. Commercial versions, however (which often contain some very un-Scottish palm oil), can be so sturdy that they could double as chipboard, but once you taste these crumbly, richly flavoured, homemade alternatives, you’ll never go back.
Prep 10 min
Cook 40 min
Makes About 14
200g medium oatmeal
50g pinhead oatmeal
25g porridge oats
75g butter
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp fine oatmeal, or plain flour of your choice (gluten-free is fine), plus extra for dusting
1 Toast the oatmeal and oats
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Line a large, preferably rimmed baking tray with baking paper and tip in the medium and pinhead oatmeals and the porridge oats. Spread out and bake for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to ensure they brown evenly; you should be able to smell them toasting even with the door closed.
2 A note on the butter
Meanwhile, put the kettle on for the boiling water in the next step. Dice the butter and put it in a heatproof jug – if you’d prefer to keep your oatcakes vegan, you should be able to substitute most brands of plant butter or coconut oil (though the latter will give them a distinctly tropical flavour).
3 Flavour the toasted oatmeal
Leaving the oven on, use the baking paper in the tray to funnel the toasted oats into a large heatproof bowl. Stir in the salt and sugar – both are optional, but recommended, though you may well wish to adjust the amounts of each to taste, or indeed to add another flavouring such as dried seaweed flakes, black pepper, chilli, finely grated hard cheese, seeds or sweet spices (ginger or cinnamon, say).
4 Make the oatcake dough
Pour 75ml boiling water on to the butter, leave to sit briefly, then stir until melted. If you’d like to add a liquid flavouring such as Marmite or honey, add this now, then mix the lot into the toasted oats, along with the fine oatmeal or flour to make a damp but coherent dough; if it’s too wet, add a little more flour.
5 Prepare the baking kit
Lightly grease the same sheet of baking paper that you used to toast the oats; depending on the size of the tray, you may need a second sheet and a second tray. Alternatively, bake the oatcakes in two batches, keeping the cut-out, uncooked biscuits in the fridge for up to a couple of days (or freeze them and bake from frozen, though if you do that, they’ll take longer to cook).
6 Flatten and shape
Dust a work surface with fine oatmeal or flour, then use your hands or a rolling pin to pat out the dough until it’s about 5mm thick (if you prefer your oatcakes thinner and crisper, by all means go for it). Use a cutter or glass of your desired size (I use a 5cm one) to cut out the oatcakes, re-rolling any scraps and cutting out more oatcakes.
7 Bake for 20 minutes
Arrange the oatcakes on the lined baking tray (s), bearing in mind that, if you’re short on space, they don’t really spread during baking, so can be positioned quite close together. Put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, turning the tray around after 10 minutes to ensure they cook evenly.
8 Flip and finish baking
Using a palette knife or spatula, carefully flip over each oatcake, then bake for a further five to 10 minutes, depending on how crisp you like them. Remove, leave to cool and firm up, then tuck in. Alternatively, store in an airtight container; they keep and freeze well, too, so long as they’re wrapped up tightly.
9 Alternative uses
These oatcakes are more fragile than the commercial kind; if you end up with a few leftover crumbs, try scattering them with a little sugar over fruit and baking, or on macaroni or cauliflower cheese, or toast and toss them with pasta or with yoghurt and honey – anywhere you want to add a bit of crunch, really.