Oatcakes

Some of our colleagues live in Paris where until recently Marks and Spencer had a number of food shops selling their prized delicacies. Indeed, last year we made a pre-Christmas trip to Paris to visit the food shops - as well as to see the sights of Paris, of course.

For reasons that escape me just now, Marks and Spencer have since closed almost all these shops, keeping just a few at the major transport hubs. In addition, for some reason or other, the range of products available is greatly reduced. Our colleagues in Paris are sad, and we did not bother to take a trip to Paris this year.

Anyway, I saw a discussion about oatcakes, and how to obtain them. 

Now how hard can it be to make an oatcake? I sensed a challenge.

Some internet searches and a lot of selection resulted in the following - our oatcake recipe.

200g oats, pinch salt, 2 tablespoons melted butter*, 100ml boiling water

Mix till combined. Work into a reasonably cohesive ball of dough. 

Either : Break off tablespoonfuls and form into disks between your fingers

Or : Roll out thinly (for us the thinner the better) and cut out rounds with a suitable cutter

Bake at 170C for 20-30 mins. 

The oatcakes are nutty and crisp and wonderful with strong cheese or whatever.

* we have successfully used some left over duck fat from a breast of duck that we cooked. The oatcakes were wonderful. But butter is OK, and I reckon coconut oil or similar would also work fine.

We have also successfully used coconut oil instead of butter. this makes the oatcakes vegan. 

For a crunchy texture rather than a crisp one, add 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the mix. 

For a less granular texture put half or all the oats through a blender or a food processor very briefly.