Scottish Spiced Griddle Cakes - Gluten Free Winter Treat

The Scottish poet Robert Burns described his native land as a 'Land o' Cakes' and as with all cookery in our family we like to make variations on a theme. So as we just about every day make some form of oatcake or oat based blini for our breakfast, I've been experimenting with making a twice-cooked oat griddle cake, which serves as a sweet biscuit that we can eat anytime. Chocolate chip griddle cookies are now a firm favourite in our house but I wanted to make something that was more festive.

A Short History of Oat Griddle Cakes

Like the ancient Mongolians, who used their shields to cook their food, documents show that in the 14th century the Chieftain and his clan used theirs to bake oatcakes. It is even believed that the Romans, whilst in the country, to misquote Saint Ambrose; 'did as the Scotch did' and survived on oatcakes! As for Dr Johnson in his famous dictionary of the English Language, published 1755, under the entry for the grain he wrote: 'Oats n.s. [aten, Saxon.] A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.'
To which the writer Walter Scott returned: 'Did you ever hear of Lord Elibank's reply when Johnson's famous definition of oats was first pointed out to him?
"The food of men in Scotland and horses in England," repeated Lord Elibank; "very true, and where will you find such men and such horses?"'¹

Below a pair of our family's Highland cob crosses, neither of whom would be averse to an oat cake!

 

FOREWORD on Gluten-free Oats

Oats do not contain gluten, however it is best not to buy them, if you are gluten intolerant, unless they are labelled as certified gluten-free. In countries where oats are not a traditional crop, fields can be contaminated by stray plants when other cereal crops are grown in close proximity. Here in France, for example, where there were no dedicated oat-growing areas, we used to find it impossible to buy certified organic gluten-free oats. However, due to the ever increasing popularity of gluten-free foods and international cuisine, we are now seeing certified oats on the shelves. It is also worth noting that post harvest, certified gluten-free oats are processed in dedicated mills where they can not be contaminated with other grains. This is why people often get confused about why all oats are not labelled as suitable for those allergic to gluten.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 10 large cookies

2½ cups - 200g - 8oz rolled oats liquidised or ground into a coarse flour

A generous pinch of salt

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 tablespoons of raw cane sugar

¾ cup - 200ml - ⅓ pint of raw milk

Handful of raisins, pre-soaked in a little white wine ( or cold black tea)

¼ teaspoon of mixed spice ('mixed spice' is a traditional British pie, pudding, biscuit and cake blend, made from, ground coriander, cassia, ginger, nutmeg, caraway and cloves). Apple pie spice is similar and do add more if you like a spicier cookie.

The zest of half a medium lemon.

Icing sugar for dusting

Lard for greasing 

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 355°F - 180°C

Grind the oats, don't make them too fine or you'll lose the lovely chewy nature of the oat.

Using a liquidiser or coffee grinder, only grind a small amount (2oz - 50g) at a time and pulse the liquidiser, this stops the oats getting too hot as this spoils the flavour.

Put the ground oats into a mixing bowl or jug and add a pinch of salt, the sugar, mixed spice and the bicarbonate of soda.

Add the milk whilst whisking.

Drain the raisins off the wine and add them to the mix, stirring in with a spoon. Add the lemon zest.

Leave the batter to thicken for around 5 minutes.

I shot the griddle cooking of the cookies as they rose and expanded on the griddle, so you can get a sort of flicker book idea of movement if you run the images quickly one after the other.

Add one teaspoon of fat to the warmed pan and make sure it coats the whole surface.

Each cookie is made from one dessert spoon of the batter which is placed onto the griddle. Make sure you do not overcrowd the pan as each heap of batter needs room to expand.

The cookies are ready for turning over when bubbles appear in the batter and it no longer has a wet look to it.

Keep checking each cookie once you have turned it to make sure it doesn't burn.

Once cooked, put them on a warmed plate or in the warming drawer of your cooker.

Repeat the process until all the batter is used.

Place all the cookies on a lightly greased tray and place them in the oven (middle shelf) for approximately 5 minutes, this crisps them on the outside but they will still be soft and chewy on the inside. If you cook them longer they become more 'biscuity'.

Place on a cooling rack and when they are still just slightly warm, sprinkle with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

If you have enjoyed this recipe and found it useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog and/or subscribing to my Youtube, Odysee  or BitChute Channel or even supporting us on Patreon or

It all helps to keep me going!

Hope to see you here again for another recipe from an old farmhouse in Normandie,

All the very best,
Sue

©  Sue Cross 2023

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¹ Letter from Sir Walter Scott to Mr Croker March 14th 1829, The Croker Papers Vol ii p. 35

 

 

 

Scottie Dog Shortbread Biscuits

Shortbreads were traditionally baked for Hogmanay. They were among the traditional cakes doled out in some parts of Scotland on the last day of the year to local children, which by them not surprisingly was known as 'Cake Day' and for which they had traditional rhymes such as the very obvious and straight to the heart of the matter:

'Our feet are cauld, our shoes are thin. 

Gies our cakes an let us rin!'

Several of my Great Aunts used to breed Scotties and Cairn Terriers and big, old, family Christmases always meant, shortbread, crackling fires and fetching in holly to the tune of barking! 

Scottie dogs have such long fur that their legs are often invisible which make them brilliant as a biscuit/cookie shape as legs are notorious for falling off when made of pastry! However, conversely Scottish terriers have very fine long upright tails, which seem like a recipe for disaster but we'll not be daunted. My favourite traditional shortbread recipe, has additions to the usual basic four ingredients of wheat flour, rice flour, butter and sugar and comes from Ayrshire, which is a rich dairy farming area and thus incorporates cream and egg into what is already a rich biscuit.

The 'short' in shortbread refers to the crumbly nature of the finished shortbread because of its high butter content. However, the very nature of the shortbread is also dependent on the kneading techniques of the pastry cook, as a light hand relates to short gluten strand development.

'If every Frenchwoman is born with a wooden spoon in her hand. every Scotswoman is born with a rolling-pin under her arm. There may be a divergence of opinion as to her skill in cooking, but it is certain that she has developed a remarkable technique in baking not only in bannocks, scones and oatcakes, but also in the finer manipulations of wheat, in cakes, pastry and shortbread.'
F. Marian McNell. The Scots Kitchen (1929)

In England shortbread always was and still is a very popular and traditional gift, witness above one of last year's three empty tins I bagged from my mother-in-law, to keep my garden seeds in!  

TEMPERATURES

Preheat the oven to 355°F - 180°C 

INGREDIENTS

Makes 12

2 cups - 200g - 7oz of plain aka all purpose flour

¼ cup - 25g - 1oz fine white rice flour

½ cup - 100g - 4oz butter

½ cup - 100g - 4oz sugar

2 tablespoons raw cream

1 egg yolk

1 dessert spoon of cocoa

butter for greasing

Plus

Tartan fabric or ribbon

Liquorice

Icing sugar

..and yes I should have known that someone would have already made these:

...but  I'm going to use the old fashioned method and draw my own in card and then once on the pastry dough, cut around it with a sharp knife but at some point I may think of investing in a set!

Then for the chocolate version, I will reverse my stencil and we will have Scottie dogs that can face each other for a photoshoot.

 

 

Sift dry ingredients and rub in the butter. Divide the mix into two

Add the cocoa to one half and mix again.

Add the cream and egg yolk together in a glass jug.

Pour half into each of the dry ingredients and mix and blend together using a flat knife.

Knead the dough lightly - do not over-work.

Flour the board and rolling pin and then roll out to ¼" - 5mm thickness. For the chocolate pastry dough, dust the board and pin with cocoa powder.

Use the cutter if you have one or as in my case the cardboard shape you have made.

Create the fur with a fork.

Transfer the cookies onto a lightly greased baking tray with the aid of a fish slice, being careful of the tail!

Bake for around 15 minutes.

Sprinkle the plain Scottie with sugar when cool.

Cut fine slices of licorice for the eyes. I found that where I placed them on the head can alter the personality of the dog! So it pays to experiment.

Decorate with bows and serve with tartan and lace for an authentic Scottish look.

 

Should you have any left over, then store them in an airtight tin so they will keep fresh and deliciously crumbly.

 

If you enjoyed this recipe then please feel free to comment and share it with your friends and on social media and also maybe about joining this blog and/or subscribing to my Youtube channel or even supporting us on Patreon or

It all helps to keep me going!

Hope to see you here again for another recipe from an old farmhouse in Normandie,

All the very best,
Sue

©  Sue Cross 2020