A heritage recipe contribution from my friend, Nancy
After writing about The LaHave Bakery and their incredible oatcakes, my friends and readers responded with sharing their recipes as I was desperate to make these delicious addictive East Coast Canadian finds. It became clear that there is actually a Canadian Oatcake distinctly different than the original Scottish oatcake through my travels, writing and research. Discovering and identifying heritage Canadian recipes and food is a main objective at A Canadian Foodie, and always a thrill. The Canadian Oatcake has sugar. The Scottish Oatcake does not. When Nancy shared her mother’s recipe with me, I made it immediately.
I hadn’t intended to cut the cakes into cracker sized morsels, yet the size seemed fitting once I was rolling them out. With so few ingredients, I was not expecting to become immediately dependent on them – yet, I was. They are a powerful moment in time on one’s palate. Intently oat with a sense of “good for you” coupled with heartily satisfying spelled out H-O-M-E in big letters. I could see why this Scottish recipe took off and went viral in those early settlement days throughout the Atlantic provinces. And a little bit of sugar might kick it up a notch? And it certainly did. Oatcakes without sugar are more commonly referred to as Oatbread on the East Coast.
Mis en place is really this simple, with one exception. I did not have the proper oats. Steel cut or Scottish oats are required to make this recipe properly. I used my Thermomix to whiz my slow cooking rolled outs to half mast, but found that didn’t work.
After cutting in the lard and butter, the mixture was simply too dry. Why? The oats were too big. As I didn’t have the correct cut of oats, I put the fat cut in mixture into my Thermomix and whizzed it all together once again.
Please realize that the fine texture of my dough will be different that the texture of the dough made with the proper cut of oats.
Making a well in the dry ingredients, I add the water. Take great care to not over mix, or you will get tough oatcakes.
Combine ingredients until a ball just forms, then roll out the dough as thin as possible. Traditional Canadian Oatcakes (with sugar) are thick. Traditional Scottish Oatcakes (without sugar) commonly referred to as Oatbread, are rolled out very thin.
This was the moment I decided to make crackers with my oatcake dough. I have never seen Nancy’s oatcakes. Of course, I did my research and the options appeared endless. So, for me, on this day, as we were headed to the Okanagan for a wedding, cracker sized it was. Great for snacking on.
Above, unbaked; below, baked.
Where does one buy Scottish oats? They are now on my list. This recipe is a keeper. It is not easy to roll and be tender with the dough to ensure the oatcakes will not be tough. There was barely enough water to hold the dry ingredients together, but it did work. Persevere. It is oh, so worth it.
Incredible with cheese. Alone. With cheese. Alone. One-after-the-other. With milk.
I did manage to get a lovely tender bite and a flaky break.
I also made the recipe for LaHave Bakery Oatcakes a reader sent to me that she found online, and Deb Merriam’s Traditional Canadian Oatcakes (in the middle, below): recipe follows at the end of this post
More to come, and thank you so much for sharing your family recipe with us all, Nancy!
Margaret Semple's Traditional Scottish Oatcakes
Makes 50 very small cracker sized bites Traditional Canadian oatcakes have sugar. Oatcakes without sugar are more commonly called oat bread in the Atlantic Provinces.
Ingredients
- 2 cups steel cut oatmeal (I ground mine)
- 1 tablespoon shortening
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup water (approximately)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375F
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Grind oats, if you choose to
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Add dry ingredients to bowl; cut in butter and shortening; mix until crumbly
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Make well in centre; pour in just enough water to make dough hold together
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Flour board and rolling pin sparingly; roll dough until very thin
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Cut as desired; place on a greased cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes at 375F
Recipe Notes
Like pastry, if too much water is used the oatcakes will be tough
Deb Merriam’s Oatcake Recipe
Deb writes: “Oat Cakes in Nova Scotia are served as both savory crackers (no sugar. a bit of milk in the recipe, lard in place of shortening, rolled thinner, usually called “oat bread” instead) and sweet cookies (with sugar and no milk, sometimes butter in place of shortening), but the cookie version is much more common.”
This recipe is from Deborah Merriam’s husband’s aunt who taught Home Economics in Dartmouth. Deb likes to make hers round, and dip one end in melted dark chocolate and let it harden on wax paper before serving.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups steel cut oats
- 1 cup flour (whole wheat flour is a nice alternative)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- (¼ teaspoon baking soda is added in the Out Of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens Cookbook: the bible of NS home cooking)
- ¾ cup butter
- ¼ cup ice water
Instructions:
- Mix dry ingredients in bowl: oats, flour, salt, brown sugar, (baking soda, if using)
- Cut in fat; add water and mix until absorbed and forms a dough (don’t over mix)
- Roll to ½ inch thick on floured board; cut into desired shape
- Bake at 350F until golden brown or about 15 minutes
I love oatcakes!
My mom used to make these as an accompaniment to homemade soups, especially that easiest of all soups, Irish Potato soup. You simply peel potatoes and onions, cut in one inch cubes and simmer in just enough water to cover them with a pinch of salt, until tender. Add milk, about as much as your mixture, and heat to a bare simmer then serve with a dollop of unsalted butter and a twist of black pepper. I think this is going to be my lunch on my next day off, with a few oatcakes for dessert with some homemade raspberry jelly. Brendi
Buy Scotch oats at the Bulk Barn.
Sorry, I can’t rate the recipe until I make the oatcakes. I hope to make them tomorrow.
Of course, Bill!
Looking forward to hearing how it turns out for you!
🙂
Valerie
Where are the recipes for the two other oatcakes that are on the last picture?
Kristina,
A link for the recipe for the LaHave Oatcakes is provided in the first line of the post. I have now provided it again at the end. You can also go to my search box in the right sidebar, at the top, and type in “oatcakes”. The recipes I have posted will appear. I have added Deb’s recipe after mine in this same post, just for you.
🙂
Let me know which you make and which you love.
🙂
Valerie
I’m making these tonight!
RC – You will have no regrets! let me know how it goes!
🙂
V
fantastic recipe, these turned out perfect. Thanks for shjaring.
Simon
Hi this weekend I tried your recipe andxD Norah’s – for yours I used Scottish oats from red mill and followed you recipe but was unable to create a ‘ball’ of dough to roll out – I noticed the other recipes used flour but yours appears to not use flour. I ended up having to form balls with hand pressure and then gently press them out. Deborah’s had flour and I could roll out the dough and cut.
Does your recipe require flour?
HI Musia!
Love oatcakes! Thanks for stopping by! My favourite recipe is the LaHave Bakery Oatcake recipe on my website. It includes flour and is dramatically different than Margaret’s recipe. There is no flour in it. It is a very traditional Scottish oatcake that is not sweet at all. No sugar. I like a little sweetness in mine, yet loved the traditional oatcake as a cracker. So, the Canadian oatcake has sugar and usually some flour. There is a photo in this post that shows all three: this one, Deb’s oatcake and the ones from the LaHave Bakery recipe.
Hope that helps.
🙂
Valerie
Hi thankyou for your response – and I did not realize my autocorrect typo – I meant I tried Deborah’s recipe (not D Norah – ????????)
I found Deborah’s great without the sugar – Le Havre ‘s is great too but was looking for a non sweet one for quick breakfast snacks.
Thanks so much for writing about these topics
If you can’t find steel-cut oats where you live (or, like me, you have severe allergies and don’t dare so much as walk into the front door of Bulk Barn aka Cross-Contamination Capital of the Known World) you can buy them on Amazon.
You can also get oat flour, which can be used to replace wheat flour.
Thanks, Charlene!
🙂
Valerie
Margaret Semple’s Traditional Scottish Oatcakes recipe is a travesty. The result is a dry mess of grain. Perhaps she never really used steel cut oats and did not realize the difference between then and the steamed garbage that passes for ready oats. When this mess cools, I will add some barley flour and an egg with a little more baking powder and re-bake it.
I am so sorry to hear about your experience, Jim. I made them myself with great success, as have many others.
I wonder what went wrong?
🙂
Valerie
Hello Canadian gal, i like your style. i am married to a Norweigen fellow, his mom made havachecks(my phonetic spelling)
ie oat cakes, never had a propoer recipe in all my years of fooling arround trying to match his mother’s wonderful oat cakes at christmas
checked in to your sight today. i buy organic oats in bilk bag and freeze them in smaller bags and bring out of freezer fresh all through winter etc.
i will be making oaty cakes from these put through food procesor- full flake-large. i only use butter, no transfats then. thanks for the confirmation though no wheat used. They will be garnished by individuals at the table with home made black current jam brown goat whey cheese, Norweigen style. have a great holiday!
Such a great little gift for me this morning, Wendy!
Thank you for taking the time to share your story with me.
I love to read comments from my readers and it is such a gift to find one! Let me know how they turn out for you!
Happy Holidays, Valerie
🙂
Valerie