This post has been the most clicked-on photo from my Feeding Time Blog Pinterest board GREATEST HITS – so I thought I’d bring it to the front page of the blog. The recipe comes from The Steading cafe in Keith, Scotland where I tried their homemade oatcakes on a ploughman’s lunch and they were amazing. Served in place of bread with cheese, their oaty crunch complemented the meal perfectly. I have used oatcakes on my cheese plates before but I’d never thought to eat them with things like smoked salmon, clapshot (like a tasty mash potato with turnips and chives) or maybe even with something sweet like butter and jam for breakfast. They’re a great alternative to bread, if you’re looking to reduce your processed flours.
As these oatcakes are made with no flour and not much butter, they make very healthy snacks with lots of fibre. If you’re wondering what bran is, it’s the husk or outershell of the oat grain. Bran contains lots of fibre and minerals and looks like little flakes almost, and is sold in packets usually in the cereal aisle. But you might have to search a bit, they’re not usually on eye level.
If you introduce these children perhaps with their favourite spread or topped with cheese, it might become their favourite cracker and one of their best sources of fibre. Angus and Maggie from The Steading, were kind enough to let me use their recipe for home made oatcakes.
Oatcake Recipe
Ingredients:
360g oatbran
1/2 tsp baking powder
50g of melted butter or oil (rapeseed is preferable)
enough boiling water to weigh 230g
1/2 tsp salt (or enough to your taste, you might need more if you’re using unsalted butter)
Oven at 180C
Method:
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add water and butter/oil.
Mix to form a dough.
Roll out and cut circles as you would with normal cookie dough.
Bake on lined trays until golden brown and getting crisp around the edges (around 20 minutes, but keep watch).
‘If in doubt a slightly overcooked oatcake is better than an undercooked one which will be porridgy in texture.’ Angus
Leave to cool for five minutes on the tray and then transfer to a wire rack.
I’ll probably try to make these next week since there’s no sugar so it’s low G.I.
Too bad that healthy snacks like this are not sold as often as the sugary sweets!
I’ve been looking for a recipe for a recipe for Oaten Cakes for years! I’m so happy that I came across yours. I made them this morning and they turned out great! I ended up baking them longer than the 20 minutes. What I wanted was a wheat free cracker, so I brushed them with a beaten egg and sprinkled them with seeds and course salt. Very delicious! (I left a few plain to see how the original ones taste. Great recipe, thanks for sharing.
Hi Delina,
Thanks for sharing this! I’m so pleased you had success with this recipe. I recall that I too cooked them a little longer, I suppose it makes a difference how thick you roll them and how hot your oven is. I bet the seeds and salt worked beautifully – what a great idea!
I love oat cakes! I hate driving an hour to the one store that carries the Walker brand at $6 a box. My inner “Scott” cringes at the wanton waste. These are amazing! THANK YOU. I have my second batch in the oven right now. I use a beurre noisette just to bring a richer flavor.
Hi Diana,
So great to hear that this recipe has worked for you. They’re so much better than anything you can get from a box! I’ll never forget that cafe in Keith where I first tried them. How lucky too that the chef was so kind to share the recipe!
I’ve put cinnamon and raisins in with mine. Really chuffed with this recipe. X
Nice idea Janet, glad you’re enjoying the recipe. It’s been one of the most popular on my blog.
Do these keep well? Should they be refrigerated? Can they be frozen?
Hi Kathy,
I don’t imagine they would. Home-made biscuits are usually best eaten ASAP…no preservatives to keep them fresh. In the freezer they might take on water and lose their crunch. Perhaps you could try and let me know?
Thanks for this wonderful recipe.I’ve been looking for something similar,without sugar and flour,for a long time and I must honestly say that these oatcakes are fantastic: simple ,delicious and easy to make.
That’s wonderful that you’re enjoying them Delia.
Woohoo, I am on a restricted diet right now looking for foods that are exasperating my arthritic inflamation. This recipe will allow me to have a dessert by adding dried cherries and crackers for a bread replacement, and anything else I can dream up. Thank you, thank you, thank you. ??
I don’t see how many oatcakes this recipe makes. From looking at the picture it looks like there might have been 2 dozen but you ate 3 of them 😉
To be honest, I don’t remember, this post was so long ago. I guess it depends on how thick you like them. Sorry I can’t be more help.
I would like to serve this at an afternoon tea. I’m wondering what type of cheese you eat with this and would you serve it with smoked salmon (do you add anything else to the 2 items)?
Hi Greer – I’d use these the same way you’d use a any cracker on a cheese board… when it comes to cheese, I have my faves but it’s often down to personal taste. The Black Bomber cheddar cheese from the Snowdonia Cheese Co will not fail you, and I always think a creamy blue is nice on a dry, (somewhat sweet) oat cake, something like a Creamy Blue Castello or St Agur blue. I prefer a creamy Cambozola to a brie/camembert and good goat’s cheese or soft cheese like Boursin won’t do any harm! Try serving with dates – they work so well with sharp cheeses, onion chutney, picked onions perhaps, and a drizzle of honey on goat’s cheese tastes amazing. I don’t know if smoked salmon would go so well on these oat cakes as they are rather dry and crumbly. If you do, dice it up the salmon first, mix with dill, pepper and finely diced red onion and serve on top of a generous slather of cream cheese – that would probably taste pretty great. ; )
Hi I was looking to make these as part of Christmas hamper I was wondering how meany this recipe makes? Thank you
Hiya – it’s been a while since I made these… but I recall they make quite a few, maybe 20? It all depends how thick/thin you roll/cut them.
i halved the recipe as wanted to make sure they were ok before making shed loads , the biscuits were a bit crumbly ? i used oil not buttee as im vegan , and cooked for longer they didnt go golden like yours in the photo? i felt if i piled them up like yuor photo they would have crumbled and not held their shape – maybe i got my water measurememt wrong bit not as crispy as say a shop one but i like the natural taste so ineed to get texture right ! help ! my halved mixture made 8 and half cut with a wine glass – maybe too thick ?
It’s been so long since I made these, so I’m not sure what might have gone wrong. From what I remember, not every batch I made was perfect. I’ll make some more soon and get in touch if I have any thoughts. Just keep trying. I found this post on another blog that might be helpful… https://www.healthylittlefoodies.com/oatcakes/
HI Thanks for replying i did look at this one befroe i setteled on yours ! comparing the two their ratio of aots to oil is very differnt to the one of yours – yours the oats are much bigger proportion maybe i need to reduce amount of oats a bit to make them slighly less crumbly – i wil perservere as i like them and want to get the perfect oat cake ! when i made them for my froend she said they were better than the ones she got from Marks and Spencers !!!!
Well, I made some oatcakes at the weekend! The recipe worked out fine, so all I can think of is that either the butter makes a difference (which it can when it comes to cookies etc) or that maybe you didn’t let the mixture sit for 5 minutes to let the oatbran absorb the liquid before rolling out. I did use flour to roll the dough out, and noticed they absorbed a bit of that flour when I had to re-mix and re-roll the dough. Perhaps this adds to some more cohesion in the final result? (through a little flour in your mix maybe) I left out the rising agent too, and it didn’t affect the end result. Also, I cooked mine in a lower temp oven for most, 160C… the colour was a bit blergh, but the texture was just right. Go with your own instinct on cooking temp/time. I also think they’d taste a lot better with the addition of some salt and sugar… not sure how much yet, but I’ll add that next time I make them – which will be soon! Everyone’s getting them for gifts this year with some local cheese. Could you use a fat like coconut oil which is solid at room temp? That might help.. or copha?