Pure and Simple, Natural Savoury Oatcakes
I don’t buy dry biscuits (crackers) because they tend to be made with wheat flour and palm oil. I don’t buy rice cracker either as they are usually flavoured with too much salt, soy, powdered onion or chemical additives. This means my choices are severely limited when I’m serving a cheese platter.
Oatcakes made with natural ingredients and imported from the UK are readily available from good food stores, but the prices charged would leave you thinking they flew here first class. I just had to have a go at making them myself. My first trial late last year was a disaster so I put the idea aside.
Reading “English Bread and Yeast Cookery” for the Cookbook Guru gave me the first hint that oatcakes as I know them were made simply with fine oats, minimal fat and water. However Elizabeth David leaves the guidance to baking Scottish Oat Cakes to other authors and focusses on regional variations from the northern English counties, none which would fulfil my needs.
Inspired by a post which landed in my WordPress Reader from Frugal Feeding‘s blog, my next attempt at Scottish Oat Cakes was a vast improvement, but there was still room for improvement for my taste, so I tweaked the recipe and tried again.
Third time lucky they say. This batch was fantastic. They were crisp but strong and tasted only of toasty oats. A batch of oatcakes is quick, simple and cheap to prepare and from now on will be my biscuit of choice to serve with cheese.
100g quick cooking oats
100g oatmeal (or oats processed to a fine meal)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
40mls extra virgin olive oil
125 mls boiling water
Preheat the oven to 160C fanforced and line an oven tray with baking paper.
Mix together the oats, oatmeal, salt and pepper.
Add the olive oil and stir briefly to distribute it through the oats.
Add the water and mix to an easily handled dough.
Knead the dough for 30 seconds.
On a lightly floured bench roll the dough until it’s 5mm thick.
Use a 4.5cm round cookie cutter to cut out the oatcakes.
Reroll and cut the trimmings once only.
Bake until crisp and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
Transfer to a wire tray to cool
Store in an airtight container.
Makes 3 dozen.
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41 comments on “Pure and Simple, Natural Savoury Oatcakes”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
I made these and they were delicious now I am playing with different additions made some sweet ones with finely chopped chocolate and walnuts, also crystallised ginger ground up with the oats. Thanks
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Love them – and your photos! I have a similar Scottish recipe. 🙂
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Thanks Jude, much better than the commercial product
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Hello. Are these FODMAP friendly? I’ve made your spicy tomato relish (which I love) and now need foddy friendly savoury biscuits to go with it for a Christmas gift. I did find an almond meal recipe but wasn’t sure if that was safe either!! Is rosemary ok? Would love your insight. Thanks.
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Hi Sheli, yes the oatcakes are FODMAP friendly providing you limit the number you eat, up to 1/2 cup oats are OK. There is a walnut oatcake recipe on my blog which is good too https://pleasepasstherecipe.com/2015/05/14/oat-and-walnut-crackers/
Always happy to help if I can, and good luck, Sandra
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Thanks so much for both replies. 🙂
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Forgot, yes rosemary is fine, almonds only if limited to less than 10 nuts
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I had oatcakes in Scotland many years ago and still remember them fondly. I will have to try these out!
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I’m a big oatcake fan, these are delicious!
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I’ll have to post my Savory Oat Crackers recipe from Ireland! Can’t wait to try yours.
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I’d love to see you recipe, I love oat cakes😀
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Just pinned. Can’t wait to try as we do love a cheese plate!
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They look lovely! The kind of biscuit I like. This is going straight to my to-bake list 🙂
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I hope you enjoy them…
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Homemade biscuits for cheese are so superior to the bought ones. These look fantastic.
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Gorgeous oatcakes, especially with blue cheese!
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Thanks glad you liked it…
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Oh wow! your photo is mouthwatering!
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Thank you!
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Did I mention I like blue cheese? This looks very interesting to try!
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ooooh YUM! I *need* these in my life [ideally with the big hunk of blue cheese a la your photo!].
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You’re a great baker, well within your realms of expertise, and very delicious!
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Wahoo, you got them to work…and they look great! Xx
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They were fantastic, I’m very, very happy! Xx
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Very nice indeed!
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Thanks Sophie
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Love the look and ease of these, I wish the Yak could eat oats! (Shake my fist at the coeliac gods) but I will still try them as I do use store purchased crackers for cheese. (A slack and inferior choice.) I need to look into a gluten free cracker. 🙂
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Sadly gluten free crackers are generally horrible, or expensive, or both! I hope if you find a good reliable recipe that you’ll share it.
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Hi Sandra, I am very interested in these. I have been reading ED’s book trying to work out which recipe was a possibility. Your modern version seems more practical.
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I originally went to ED for Scottish oatcakes but was severely let down. This is a cheap practical and delicious oatcake recipe. I’d love to hear how you like them!
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Perfect timing because I just decided I wasn’t going to pay exorbitant prices for crackers again and I oatcakes are a favourite.
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If you like oatcakes, you’ll never but them again after making this recipe. It’s cheap simple and quick!
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I love oatcakes and am delighted that you have tried, tested and posted a recipe for them. Bookmarked to make very soon. Is spelt flour agreeable with you? If so I have a great recipe for Seeded Spelt Crackers on my blog that you may like. Your photos are gorgeous by the way!!
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Thanks Selma, spelt is good. Thanks for the reminder about your seeded crackers, i have them bookmarked already, but had forgotten about them. This oatcake recipe is almost too quick and simple to be true, but It’s excellent
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Fantastic recipe. Believe it or not, good quality (organic) Scottish oatcakes are also expensive here in the UK. I have fine oat flour and pin head oats (used for porridge) which I think might do equally as well in this recipe. But, I’m a bit puzzled why you use olive oil rather than veg oil or even margarine. I expect it adds to the flavour? Don’t get me wrong, I use extra virgin olive oil when I can for most things.
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I’m sure that any oil would be fine here, but I choose EVOO over others. The flavour of the oil had no impact. Are the pinhead oats very absorbent? The original recipe called for porridge oats. We only have quick cooking and wholegrain rolled oats to choose from. My original disaster was very dry and crumbly, so I chose the most refined option.
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Pinhead oats are absorbent, but not as quick to take up the liquid as rolled oats. To make porridge with them, the need to be cooked for a longer time. I might try doing your recipe with them + the fine oat flour – will, no doubt, report back. Oatcakes are a real winner in our house.
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Good luck, I hope they work out for you.
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