Scottish Oatcakes
Crisp, rough oatcakes made with just oatmeal, a little fat and hot water: perfect with cheese, soup or stovies.
AI assistance: the introduction, ingredient list, method, tips and FAQ on this page were drafted with an AI writing tool, working from long-established traditional methods. Named editor who reviewed it: owner to supply How we work
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Makes
- 16 servings
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Course
- Biscuit
- Cuisine
- Scottish
Oats grow well in Scotland's cool, wet climate, and oatcakes have been baked there for centuries, first on a girdle over the fire. They are savoury, crisp and only just bound together.
Round oatcakes are usually cut into quarters, called farls, or stamped into small rounds.
Ingredients
- 225 g medium oatmeal, plus extra for rolling
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 25 g butter or bacon fat, melted
- 100 ml hot water, roughly
Equipment
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- Rolling pinHow to chooseShop on Amazon(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
- Baking trayHow to chooseShop on Amazon(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
- Large mixing bowlHow to chooseShop on Amazon(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
- 6 cm round cutterHow to chooseShop on Amazon(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas 4 and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- 2
Mix the oatmeal, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. Pour in the melted fat and enough hot water to make a stiff, slightly sticky dough. Leave for 5 minutes to firm up.
- 3
Dust the worktop with oatmeal and roll the dough out to about 5 mm thick. Work quickly, as it cracks when it cools; press any cracks back together.
- 4
Cut into rounds with a 6–7 cm cutter, re-rolling the trimmings, or cut a large round into 8 farls. Lift onto the tray.
- 5
Bake for 20–25 minutes, until firm and just coloured at the edges. Cool on a wire rack; they crisp as they cool.
Tips
Serve with cheese, with cullen skink or soup, or alongside stovies as they do in Scotland.
Keep in an airtight tin for up to a week. If they soften, crisp them in a low oven for 5 minutes.
If it goes wrong
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Dough crumbles when rolling | Too dry or cooled | Add a little more hot water and roll while warm |
| Hard rather than crisp | Rolled too thick | Roll to 5 mm or thinner |
Guides for this recipe
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Card photos: Small cakes cooling on a wire rack, James Petts from London, England via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Round-cut scones on a baking tray going into the oven, James Petts from London, England via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Mince pies baked in a bun tray, Jeremy Keith via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, cropped; A wooden rolling pin with handles, Peter Kammer via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Stacked cream-coloured ceramic mixing bowls, RLiverpool2021 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; A bowl of cock-a-leekie soup with shredded chicken and leeks, Laurel F via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Glasses of cranachan beside a bottle of Scotch whisky, Saskia van de Nieuwenhof from Edinburgh, United Kingdom via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; A bowl of Cullen skink with a bread roll, Metukkalihis via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped. All credits: image credits.