Cheesy Scottish Oatcakes

Cheesy Scottish Oatcakes are easy to make with simple ingredients. But they’re wickedly good!  Based on a traditional savoury biscuit or cracker, the addition of cheese takes them to another level.

You can eat the cheesy oatcakes as part of a cheeseboard, with pates or even instead of bread with the likes of soup. But I think they’re tasty enough as a snack or nibble all on their own.

Traditionally made with oatmeal, if you don’t have it, simply substitute porridge oats or rolled oats, whizzed up in a blender.

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WHEN IS A CHEESY SCOTTISH OATCAKE NOT A CHEESY SCOTTISH OATCAKE?

How do you make cheese and biscuits even cheesier? By adding cheese to the biscuits, of course!

In this case I mean Scottish Oatcakes which are a simple but delicious type of biscuit or cracker.

However, despite not being Scottish myself, I really do have to call these delights cheesy Scottish oatcakes. That’s because, here in north Staffordshire, the word oatcake doesn’t mean biscuit or cracker at all. Staffordshire Oatcakes are yeasted pancakes often eaten for breakfast stuffed with bacon or sausage plus cheese.

A local delicacy, to us they’re just ‘oatcakes’, hence my need to specify the current recipe as Scottish oatcakes. Is that clear? Okay, now we can talk oats.

OATS & OATMEAL

One thing I discovered after posting my recipes for Homemade Digestive Biscuits and my non-cheesy Scottish Oatcakes is that many people find oats, oatmeal and all their various guises really confusing.

It’s particularly baffling for Brits looking at US recipes to read that ‘oatmeal’ seems to be what we call porridge.

However, here in the UK oatmeal simply means a flour that’s made from oats. It’s usually sold as fine, medium or coarse. You can see examples of all three in the image above, along with rolled oats scattered about.

You’re unlikely to find the different grades of oatmeal in supermarkets, but independent stores like my local wholefood shop sells all three. You’ll also find them online.

But the good news is, even if you can’t find oatmeal, you can easily make your own!

Simply whizz up in a blender or food processor rolled oats (sometimes labelled jumbo oats) or porridge oats.

Grind them up until you get the fineness you like. Coarse, medium or fine, or any combination of these, will all work in Scottish oatcakes.

EASY CHEESY SCOTTISH OATCAKES

For something with such simple ingredients and so easy to make, Cheesy Scottish Oatcakes are wickedly good.

You start by putting in a bowl equal amounts of rolled oats and oatmeal (or ground up oats, as above), plus mature Cheddar cheese and some salt and pepper.

To bring the dough together, stir in two wet ingredients: melted butter and boiling water from a kettle.

Then it’s just a case of rolling the dough and stamping out oatcakes with a cutter. These days, I prefer to roll out on wholemeal flour as it’s less sticky. But use more oatmeal instead if you like.

If you find the dough comes apart at the edges as you roll, just use your hands to push it together and keep going.

In my classic Scottish Oatcake recipe, I suggested you roll the dough 3-5 mm thick. But for this cheesy version I recommend you stick to the thinner end of the range.

The reason for that is I found the toasty, cheesy flavour much more pronounced in the thinner oatcakes. And that’s got to be a good thing, hasn’t it?

As you cut them out, place on a baking tray, ideally lined with baking parchment to prevent sticking.

Once you’ve stamped out the first batch, bring together the scraps and make more oatcakes.

It’s worth noting that oats can be quite ‘thirsty’. This means that as you re-roll you may need to add a drop more water to the dough to stop it going crumbly.

Rolling the dough 3-4 mm thick and using a 6-7 cm cutter should give you at least 24 oatcakes.

BAKING & STORING

Unless you’ve rolled the dough thickly, the oatcakes should be golden and baked all the way through in 25 – 30 minutes.

Oven temperatures aren’t always accurate though, so I suggest you check after the 15 minute mark and turn the oven down if the oatcakes are browning too quickly.

Thicker oatcakes will also benefit from being turned over part way through.

Then it’s onto a wire rack to cool. Of course the cook is allowed to sample one (merely for quality control, you understand 😁) as soon as the cheesy lovelies can be safely handled.

Once completely cold, the oatcakes can be stored in an airtight container where they’ll keep for a month.

If you can resist them that long, that is.

SERVING CHEESY SCOTTISH OATCAKES

You don’t need me to tell you that savoury biscuits and crackers go wonderfully well with cheese, maybe topped with a bit of chutney too.

I love the rough, rustic nature of these oatcakes which complement beautifully both smooth, creamy cheeses and tangy, crumbly ones.

But oatcakes aren’t just for a cheeseboard.

Traditionally a major source of carbohydrate, they would be served with all sorts of meals. Try them instead of bread or toast at breakfast or alongside soups.

And the really great thing about Cheesy Scottish Oatcakes is that, so tasty, they can be eaten with no embellishments at all.

Full of toasty, cheese flavour, you can eat them as a snack or nibble just as they are. Or pack a couple in work and school lunchboxes for a treat.

Made from wholesome, real foods, they’re a million miles from the ultra-processed crisps, crackers and savoury nibbles packing the supermarket shelves.

Give my Cheesy Scottish Oatcakes a try and I think you’ll be surprised at just how good something this easy can be be!

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5 from 2 votes

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Cheesy Scottish Oatcakes

Easy to make and with simple ingredients this cheesy take on a traditional savoury biscuit or cracker is wickedly good! Enjoy as part of a cheeseboard, at anytime instead of bread, or as snack just as they are.

Course Snack, Bread, Cheese

Cuisine British, Vegetarian, Scottish

Keyword crackers, biscuits, oats, oatmeal

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 24 oatcakes (approx)

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 140 g rolled oats or porridge oats
• 140 g oatmeal (fine, medium or coarse) plus, optionally, extra for rolling out. See Recipe Notes #1 and #2
• 100 g mature Cheddar cheese grated
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 75 g butter melted
• 100-120 ml boiling water
• wholemeal flour for rolling out optional: see Recipe Note #2

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
2. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.

3. Mix together in a bowl the oats, oatmeal, Cheddar cheese, salt and pepper, then make a well in the centre.

4. Pour the melted butter into the well, along with 100ml of boiling water.

   Stir quickly to bring the mixture together into a firm dough. Add a little more boiling water or oatmeal if necessary.

5. Dust your worksurface with oatmeal or wholemeal flour (wholemeal flour is less sticky and easier to work with) then transfer the dough onto it.

   Sprinkle the dough and a rolling pin with oatmeal or wholemeal flour and roll out 3-4 mm thick.

   If the dough starts to come apart at the edges, just push it back together with your hands.

6. Cut out oatcakes using a 6-7cm cutter then, using a round bladed knife to help you lift them from the worksurface, transfer to the baking trays.

   Bring together the scraps and re-roll to make more oatcakes until all the dough is used up.

   Tip: the oat dough can be very 'thirsty': you may need to add a little more water when bringing together the scraps, especially if you've added a lot of oatmeal or flour to your worksurface.

7. Put the trays in the preheated oven and bake until golden and cooked all the way through.

   Unless you've rolled the dough very thickly, this should take 25-30 minutes.

   Check after 15 minutes and reduce the oven temperature a little if the oatcakes are browning too quickly. Thicker oatcakes may benefit from being turned over part way through.

8. Transfer the oatcakes to a wire rack to cool.

   When completely cold, store in an airtight container. Should keep at least a month.

Recipe Notes

Note #1  To make your own oatmeal, whizz rolled oats or porridge oats in a food processor, blender or coffee mill. Whizz briefly for coarse oatmeal, longer for fine.

Note #2  Wholemeal flour is less sticky than oatmeal and makes rolling out easier, but use extra oatmeal if you prefer.

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