Oats are universally associated with Scotland, and breads made with this ancient grain – called oatcakes – were for centuries a staple not only there but also in Wales, Ireland and northern England. This recipe will show you how to make traditional Scottish oatcakes. 

Biting into a freshly-made, golden oatcake is a complete joy! First, there’s the satisfying snap as it breaks. Then the crumbly, crunchy oats impart their toasty flavour, and, as you chew, you understand why oats are called the ‘golden’ cereal. Oatcakes are the taste equivalent of a bountiful harvest on a sunny, summer’s day.

Oatcakes are the taste equivalent of a bountiful harvest on a sunny, summer’s day

Before wheat…

And yet, as well as being incredibly tasty, these cakes, in their heyday, were completely practical – being one of the earliest forms of bread in the United Kingdom, sustaining populations long before wheat ever got a look in. The ‘cake’ in their name may, to our modern ears, conjure up images of light, fluffy treats, but here the word is used in its original sense: a round, flat portion of bread. Oatcakes are actually more like crackers than cakes and can substitute bread in so many meals.

Authentic Scottish oatcake ingredients

My recipe draws on original methods. It’s simple – oats, water and a touch of salt, plus a bit of fat (I use the authentic lard or butter) to help bind the dough. The Scots traditionally use oatmeal – oats ground to a coarse flour in a stone mill – (these are called Scottish oats in the USA) but you can also use the more easily-available rolled oats.

They would have traditionally been cooked on a griddle above a fire, enclosed ovens being a relatively recent invention. I have cooked these both on the stove using a cast iron pan and also in the oven. The results are quite different and I’d suggest trying both. This recipe is written for stove-top preparation. If you’d like to use the oven, check the note at the after the recipe.

Note about soaking: The Scots did not pre-soak their oats when making oatcakes. If you wish to, you can soak the oats with an acidic medium and then dehydrate them back to dryness ready for this recipe.

Traditional Scottish Oatcakes

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 40-45 minutes

Servings: 3 large oatcakes which can be divided into a total for 12 portions

Ingredients:

200g oats – you can use rolled/flaked oats, but if you want to be more authentic, I suggest using 100g medium/100g fine oatmeal (‘Scottish oats’)

2.5g salt

14g lard – you can substitute butter

90g water

Extra oat (or other) flour for rolling

Method:

1. Preheat a cast iron pan that’s at least 8in/20cm on medium-high and, when hot, turn it down to low.
2. Measure the oatmeal (or rolled oats) into a heatproof bowl and add the salt, mixing well.
3. Heat the water and the lard together in a small, lidded saucepan. Aim for the lard to be completely melted but the water not quite boiling.
4. Sprinkle a working surface with oat (or other) flour in preparation for the rolling/shaping.
5. Add the hot water/lard to the oats and mix well. The mix will be hot, so be careful (start with a spoon if necessary before switching to hands).
6. Bring the mix together into a dough. Squeeze it with you hand, encouraging its stickiness to work it into a large ball.
7. Working swiftly (the dough is easier to form when it’s still warm), divide the ball into three and place the first piece onto the floured surface. Using your palms/hands (or a floured rolling pin) flatten and shape the dough into a circle about 6in/15cm diameter, 3mm deep.
8. Cut the circle into four quarters (these quarters are traditionally called farls).
9. Repeat this process with the remaining two dough pieces, so that you have three oat cakes, each divided into four pieces.
10. Carefully transfer the oat cakes onto the hot cast iron pan (no cooking fat is needed). You’ll need to do this three times, cooking each oatcake one at a time.
11. Cook them for 5-10 minutes per side, until they start to show a golden surface and lift slightly away from the pan at the corners.

For cooking oatcakes in the oven:

If you wish use an oven instead of the stove, pre-heat it to 180C/355F before starting, place the oatcakes onto baking trays (no need to grease) and cook for 25-30 minutes until lightly golden in colour, turning them halfway through the cooking time.

How to store these traditional Scottish oatcakes

These oatcakes are best eaten fresh, ideally still warm. They were traditionally stored packed in chests of recently-ground oatmeal. If you, like me, don’t have one of those, you can keep them in an air-tight container, they’ll maintain their crispness for a day or two this way.

Other articles/recipes you might like:

Sourdough Oatcakes

Why Our Scottish Ancestors Didn’t Eat Rolled Oats

The Fascinating History of Jannock: The Giant Oat Bread That Defined Authenticity!

Want another traditional Scottish oat dish?

If you’d like to explore the way the Scottish traditionally fermented their oats into a creamy, easy-to-digest porridge and a tangy probiotic drink, check out my course Sowans: The Scottish Oat Ferment here!