Girdle Oatcakes (Scottish Oatcakes on the Griddle)

Oatcakes cooked the old way, on a hot iron girdle rather than in the oven: one side on the iron, never turned, the top dried by the heat below or finished before the fire.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Flatbreads pages and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

• 110 g (4 oz) medium oatmeal, plus more for rolling
• 110 g (4 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 55 g (2 oz) lard, dripping or poultry fat
• 1 level teaspoon salt
• 4 to 6 tablespoons cold water, about (enough for a soft dough)

Glaze (optional)

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Directions

1. Mix the oatmeal and flour, rub in the fat, add the salt, then mix in just enough cold water to make a soft dough that is not tacky.
2. Roll it out on a board strewn with oatmeal. Cut rounds with a scone cutter, or cut a dinner-plate round and quarter it into farls.
3. If glazing, beat the egg, milk and sugar together.
4. Heat an ungreased girdle or cast-iron griddle to medium-hot. Lay the oatcakes on it and do not turn them. Brush with the glaze, if using, as soon as they are down; it turns shiny as they cook.
5. Cook until the underside is lightly coloured and the top has dried and set, then lift them off. The old way was to finish the top before the fire; a few minutes under a low grill does the same job. Cool on a rack and store airtight.

Notes

Sources Quantities from James Martin’s “Oatcakes” on BBC Food (from Castle in the Country), which cooks them “on an ungreased medium-hot griddle, without turning them”. His method prints “enough cold to form a soft … dough”, with the word water missing, and gives no water amount, rolling thickness or cooking time; the water figure here is an estimate. His recipe is not a traditional one: it adds wheat flour and an egg glaze. For an all-oat dough, use the collection’s Scottish Oatcakes proportions and cook them this way.

The girdle method is from Meg Dods, The Cook and Housewife’s Manual (1862 edition, No. 1047½, “Girdle Cakes”): make the cakes one at a time “with hot water and salt enough”, roll them “five to seven inches in diameter”, and “bake on one side on the girdle, and the other toast before the fire”. She notes butter or dripping, and milk or sweet whey instead of water, as the better housewife’s versions, and says oatcakes kept more than a week should be re-toasted.

Oven or girdle The collection’s Scottish Oatcakes bakes them at 375 °F; this is the stovetop version. The Flatbreads Europe page (/breads/flatbreads/europe/) covers oatcakes and farls.

The photo The photograph shows oatcakes cooking in a pan on a camp stove, not this exact recipe.