Scottish Oatcakes

Each Thursday, Emily Vikre (a.k.a fiveandspice) will be sharing a new way to love breakfast -- because breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day. It's also the most awesome.

Today: A fantasy-worthy breakfast, for when you're not in Scotland.

I have this fantasy of traveling around Scotland, visiting Scotch distilleries and tramping about the moors in a really fantastic pair of wellies. In this fantasy, I’m carrying a walking stick and a knapsack stuffed with a canister of milky tea and a tin of oatcakes. I wander to somewhere with a view, and I sit watching the sunrise while munching on oatcakes. I probably also compose a bad poem.

So far this is still just a fantasy...except the oatcakes and milky tea. Those are reality, a very happy, cozy reality. Scottish oatcakes are something like a cross between a cookie and a cracker. I’d put them near the shortbread category. They’re crumbly and gently sweet with a lovely nubbliness from the oats. They’re perfect for a light breakfast, even better for second breakfast.

I like to make mine with salted butter (usually Irish butter, which is probably blasphemous) to give an extra salty punch to highlight the sweet. The oatcakes are plenty flavorful enough to eat plain, but you can also top them with cheese or jam, or cheese and jam -- I like Jarlsberg and raspberry -- or, if nobody’s watching, a smear of Nutella. Add that mug of milky tea and it’s practically fantasy worthy right there.

Scottish Oatcakes

Adapted from Epicurious

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen

1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chilled, salted butter (I like to use Kerrygold) cut into small chunks
1/4 cup buttermilk 

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by Emily Vikre