can anyone make oatcakes without flour (or wheat flour anyways?_

[kally]

I am trying to reduce my use of flour, and wonderedif anyone had accomplished this. Mine are wettish dough and they aren't holding together very well

[bae]

I've had great luck using oat flour.

[mira]

I always thought oatcakes were flourless? Mainly because a coeliac friend of mine used to eat them by the bucketload. Here's a recipe I found: http://www.virtualscotland.co.uk/scottish_recipes/scottish_recipe_011.htm

Unless we're talking about different sorts of oatcakes

[IshbelRobertson]

That's very similar to my family recipe, although we use lard rather than bacon fat, and no bicarb!

I make them 3 or 4 times a week!

[Brian]

I do not use wheat flour but if using steel cut coarse (one pass ground groats) I will use a portion (middlings that missed first grind) and put them back in coffee grinder to make oat flour... helps larger grains "stick" and not crack oatcake on flip.

[IshbelRobertson]

Hmmmm - seems what we Scots call oatcakes is not the same as those who live elsewhere!

Ours are a savoury, thin biscuit which is usually eaten with cheeses and pickles, or cooked fresh and slightly thicker, part of a traditional Scots fry-up!

[kally]

Can you share your recipe please.
Hmmmm - seems what we Scots call oatcakes is not the same as those who live elsewhere!

Ours are a savoury, thin biscuit which is usually eaten with cheeses and pickles, or cooked fresh and slightly thicker, part of a traditional Scots fry-up!

[mira]

These are the sort of oatcakes Ishbel and I are referring to:
http://www.irvingsbakery.co.uk/assets/images/2912008144736.jpg

I just did an image search and found photos of pancake-like things, which I suppose is the other variety we are talking about.

[Brian]

Mira - Ishbel pics are the oatcakes I make except to save time/handling I roll out pie crust sized wheel then cut into triangles like scones or shortbread, as punching circles means reworking left over sheet... least handling the better to keep these biscuits from cracking... though cracked bits are cook's perks.

Recipe mentioned uses pinhead oatmeal which would hold together fine without any added oat flour IME. Too fine a meal (flour) and they get glue like and too coarse and you end up with an excellant crumble topping/granola base. I grind my own groats in plunge type coffee grinder and sieve for size... not perfect so I end up with gradient pinhead/cut mix. To my mind fresh ground tastes much better than preground.
I have experimented, when I have time, with pretoasting about 1/3-1/2 of the oats in cast iron flat iron I use to cook them on, as I love toasted oats but trying to achieve that level of browned with oatcake is tricky (brown to crumbled pile on flip is a flash).

I have used them with thin butter or date spread then faced with another (think sandwhich cookie) to take with as trail or road nosh.... broken/crumbled ones make good addition to gorp as snack.

I eat them as is, or with thin old cheddar.... or with stem ginger preserve.... but would enjoy that on cardboard I think?

[IshbelRobertson]

When I make them to eat at the time, I roll them a little thicker and then serve them hot and still moist with fried eggs, tomatoes, bacon and haggis as a part of a breakfast meal. They certainly wouldn't work if I ground the oatmeal into flour, they'd be far too glue-y!

[kally]

I tried again, but they held together a bit, but not terribly well. I shall perservere.

[Brian]

What type of grind oat meal did you use, and did you add some oil or shortening? If you let the dough rest after adding water for an extra 15 mins it might help bind the mix, sort of like muffin or cake batter, over mixing is not good, nor over handling dough IME.

I def had crumbly experiments back when, but most related to too coarse a grind (steel cut rough) or rolling out/over working issues. Now if you let then get really brown when cooking they tend to break up. Not sure what else to suggest Kally? I have experimented with diff additions but after the ex inlaw and messing with old southern family recipe saga, I will not risk the ire of ancestors ... cough.. rice flour ... cough... by messing with a Scottish classic. Good Luck... they are worth getting hang of IMO.

[Tiam]

Yes, but when you say biscuit, you mean crisp? But maybe not. You said moist? The pictures look like they are hard? Because, being American, if you tell me 'biscuit' I don't tend to think of tea cookie but the soft, roll like bread used here. I confess, I've never had an oatcake. I want to try one. Not sure if I will cook one because it would only be for me.

[Brian]

well not biscuit as in biscuits (shape description) and rolls at dinner but neither cookie as in sweet as they are savory so more like dense cracker? Would say like a hovis biscuit for cheese but that is not US thing either?

[Tiam]

So, cruchy?

[IshbelRobertson]

More firm than crunchy, if oven baked and left to cool. If I make them as an accompaniment to a hearty breakfast, I make them on a girdle and don't roll them so thinly, so they absorb all the wonderful egg yolk!