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Stop Buying Oatcakes!

Avoid unnecessary ingredients and savour the simplicity of baking your own.

In the mire of today’s complicated array of food products, the humble oatcake eschews a compelling simplicity. I love them equally with a dollop of marmalade for breakfast or a slither of stinky, soft camembert after dinner.

Originally, just moistened oats cooked on a girdle — these little treasures have been around for hundreds of years and, reassured by their utter wholesomeness I never felt the urge to check the ingredients on shop-bought packets. I mean who would mess with an oatcake?

Just about anyone as it turns out. It would appear that palm oil and other vegetable oils are routinely added to most commercial varieties — presumably to save money and extend shelf life. And, while I’m not here to get into an argument about palm oil or other vegetable oils, what place do they have in an oatcake?

In addition to the preponderance of palm oil, I was also surprised by the amount of wheat flour used in many recipes. I just don’t see what it brings to the party and including an unnecessary ingredient — especially one which so many people are intolerant of — seems pointless.

Naturally, on the back of these earth-shattering revelations, I set about making my own oatcakes and the beauty of the process was nearly as great as any other cooking endeavour I’ve ever embarked upon. So easy, so fast, so little mess and the end result — so delicious.

Oatcakes delivers nutritionally too — an excellent snack for taking the edge off hunger. The recipe below makes about 15 oatcakes averaging around 15g each and containing (in addition to a host of micronutrients from oats and good quality butter) approximately:

Carbohydrate 9.0g Protein 1.6g Fat 4.0g Fibre 1.2g Kcal 78

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 23 minutes Cleaning Time: 5 minutes

Makes: Approx. 15 x 2.5" Oatcakes (depending on thickness)

Recipe :

1. 180g rolled oats
2. 1/2 tsp salt
3. 60g butter
4. 1 tbsp dark brown sugar (leave out for a more savoury version or double for a sweeter one)
5. 1 tbsp hot water + more as required.

Method

1. Turn oven to 160C (320F) and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
2. Grind the oats in a food processor until the desired consistency is reached. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the salt.
3. Add the sugar and 1 tbsp of water to a pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the butter and stir until melted.
4. Add the contents of the pan to the oats and combine. Add some hot water (max 1/4 cup) and mix until a doughy consistency is reached. The amount will depend on the consistency of the oats — finer ground oats will take more water.
5. Sprinkle some oat flour* on the counter and roll the dough to the required thickness. Then cut to the desired shape — I used a 2.5" pastry cutter.
6. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 23 minutes.

• Make some oat flour by grinding some oats very fine before you begin.

Making your own food is empowering and gives you a real connection to what you are eating. Being in control of ingredients is also beneficial from a health perspective while using local products makes good sense too. Not buying from a supermarket and avoiding all the packaging is another big win.

You can also customise these biscuits to suit your tastes — coarse or fine, salty or sweet, thick or thin. I have ended up with a savoury and sweet recipe — the latter is scrumptious with a smear of dark chocolate over the top and is very reminiscent of a chocolate digestive. Yum.