Easy Scottish Oatcakes Recipe - Scottish Scran (2024)

Oatcakes are a traditional cracker made out of oats that can be found in shops and restaurants all across Scotland, but not everyone has an easy Scottish oatcakes recipe for making them at home. Well, look no further…

Their versatility means you’re as likely to be served them with soup as with cheese or pate when you’re eating out, and there is a multitude of different varieties across supermarket shelves, including some with different flavour combinations.

Oatcakes are perfect as an addition to a meal or an in-between snack. They’re a bit like the bread of Scotland, and have been made here for hundreds of years.

While they’re widely available in Scotland, that’s not always the case around the world, so we decided to make a simple oatcake recipe for anyone who can’t easily get their hands on a pack, or for anyone who just fancies making up their own batch at home.

And in any case, when you’re making homemade oatcakes you can decide exactly what you want in them too! We’ll share a little more about some possible flavour combinations a bit further on.

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What is an Oatcake?

In Scotland, an oatcake can sometimes refer to something more bread-like, like a bannock. Which in turn is sort of like a flatter scone made with oats. Confused yet?

But in this Scottish oatcakes recipe, we’re referring to the hard oatcakes that are more like a cracker and have a snap.

They’ve been recorded as being made in Scotland since Roman times, but it’s widely thought that they were made there long before that.

There is tell of nuns in Scotland in the 14th Century making small pancakes the size of communion wafers; this is one of the earliest descriptions of the making of oatcakes.

Obviously, things have changed a little since then, and you’ll sometimes find oatcakes made with flour as well, rather than just plain ground oats. We’ve decided to stick to the more traditional and just use oats!

You can see what a bannock looks like in our recipe here.

Things you’ll need to make Oatcakes

Oatcakes are relatively simple to make with just a few kitchen items.

• Rolling pin
• Baking tray
• Baking paper or reusable baking mats
• Cookie cutter, glass, or scone cutter (we use one like this)

Ingredients for Oatcakes

• 100g rolled/porridge oats
• 100g oatmeal
• 25g butter
• 1tsp salt
• A few tablespoons of hot water

What oats you’ll need

Different types of oats go by different names, depending on the country you’re in. When you’re making oatcakes, the type of oats you have will have a big impact on how they turn out.

You want your Scottish oatcakes to have a little texture but not just fall apart because the oats are too big, so using the right sort is crucial to the recipe.

On the other hand, you don’t want the oats to turn into porridge and have no texture at all!

Let’s start with the UK…

Rolled oats are usually the bigger, rounder variety that are flattened with a roller. Porridge oats are a little more broken down as they are crushed. Oatmeal is like a blended version that is smaller again.

For our recipe, we use a mixture of porridge oats and oatmeal. In this sense, the oatmeal is like ground-up porridge, as we often see oatmeal referring to cereal elsewhere!

If you only have access to rolled oats, then you can use these as they also break down well in water, or you can use a blender to make them slightly smaller. Not too much or they’ll be like oatmeal!

In the US things are trickier…

You can see the photos below, which is likely to be the most helpful because there are not even uniform names in some cases. They could possibly be called quick-cook rolled oats, Scottish oats, oat flakes, etc. You could use rolled oats instead if that’s all you can get.

The oatmeal is possibly ground oats or fine ground oats.

How to make Scottish Oatcakes – step by step method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C or 350F.

Take a large bowl and mix the two types of oats together.

Add the melted butter and mix to combine.

Now start to slowly add a little hot water until the oats and butter mixture comes together to form a pasty ball. You don’t want to add too much, so add 2-3 tablespoons and allow the oat mixture to absorb it. If you need to, add 1-2 more and then knead with your hands.

Form the mixture into a ball before transferring to a flat surface for rolling out. We like to use a non-stick rolling/pastry mat, but you can also sprinkle the surface with a little flour or oatmeal if you need to so they don’t stick.

Roll the mixture out to about 1/4 inch or 0.5cm thick. Use a cookie cutter, glass, or the round edge of a scone cutter to cut the dough into circles and then move them into your baking tray.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, turning once. Allow to cool and eat!

Oatcake variations

You’ll find plenty of varieties of oatcakes in the supermarket, but now you can make your own too!

We have made these traditional oatcakes with just oats, but you can add in a few other ingredients for flavour too.

Add in some grated cheese and black pepper or some sesame and poppy seeds. Try peri-peri and a hint of chilli for some spice or even herbs like rosemary.

What to serve Oatcakes with

As we said, oatcakes can be like the bread of Scotland. That means you’ll often see them served with soup, cheese, or with a variety of toppings.

They can really be served with anything you like! Pickle and cheese is one of our favourites, as is cream cheese and a bit of cold-smoked Scottish salmon.

Other Scottish Savoury Baking Recipes to Try:

• Simple Scottish Bannocks Recipe
• Forfar Bridie Recipe – Scottish Handheld Meat Pies
• The Perfect Scottish Morning Rolls Recipe
• Butteries Recipe (Also Known As Rowies and Aberdeen Rolls!)
• Easy Haggis Sausage Rolls Recipe

Sonja and Phil x