# Scottish Bannocks or Oatcakes

This recipe includes three variations of bannocks: Scottish Oatcakes, Selkirk Bannock, and Beltane Bread, along with a Beltaine Cream Pie.

- Total time: 50 min
- Cuisine: British
- Category: Dessert
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- 1.5 C oatmeal
- 0.125 tsp salt
- 0.25 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 0.5 cup hot water
- 1 lb flour
- 8 oz sultanas (seedless white raisins)
- 4 oz sugar
- 2 oz butter
- 2 oz lard
- 2 oz chopped mixed peel
- 0.25 pint milk
- 0.25 ounce dried yeast
- 1 tablespoon milk and sugar for the glaze
- 4 cups sifted flour
- 0.5 cup ground almonds
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tube almond paste
- 0.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup rich cream
- 0.5 cup butter
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 0.14 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ground nutmeg

## Instructions

1. Combine oatmeal, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Melt the butter, and drizzle it over the oats.
3. Add the water, and stir the mix until it forms a stiff dough.
4. Turn the dough out on a sheet of wax paper and knead thoroughly.
5. Separate the dough into two equal portions, and roll each one into a ball.
6. Use a rolling pin to make a flat pancake that is about ¼" thick.
7. Cook your oatcakes on a griddle over medium heat until they are golden brown.
8. Cut each round into quarters to serve.
9. Sieve the flour and sugar into a bowl, add the yeast and mix well.
10. Melt the butter and lard in a saucepan on a low heat.
11. Remove as soon as it is melted.
12. Warm the milk in another saucepan and then pour it into the melted fats.
13. Create a hole in the middle of the flour, sugar and yeast and mix well into a smooth dough.
14. Cover the bowl with a warm, damp towel (or plastic clingfilm) and leave in a warm location for 45 minutes.
15. The dough will rise, doubling in size.
16. Knead the dough (with flour on your hands to stop it sticking) for five minutes.
17. Add the sultanas and mixed peel and knead well again for another five minutes.
18. Place the dough in a loaf tin and cover with a plastic pollythene bag (tied at the top) and leave in a warm place for 20 minutes to allow it to rise again.
19. Remove the tin from the bag and bake in a preheated oven at 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4 for an hour.
20. Mix the tablespoon of milk and sugar.
21. Remove the cake tin from the oven and place on a heat-resistant surface.
22. Brush the top with the milk and sugar, using a pastry brush.
23. Return the cake tin to the oven (using oven gloves - it's still hot) and bake for another twenty minutes.
24. Test with a skewer - if it is wet, continue baking for another ten minutes.
25. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing.
26. Store in an airtight container.
27. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and combine: 4 cups sifted flour, 1/2 cup ground almonds, 2 cups sugar, 1 tube almond paste, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 5 eggs.
28. When dough is worked to medium soft, shape into flattened balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
29. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
30. Cool, ice with white Solar Cross.
31. Prepare and pre-bake a pie shell and have it ready in the pie dish.
32. The pie filling will be warmed but not baked.
33. Melt the butter in a wide cooking pan.
34. In a separate bowl slowly add the milk to the cornstarch making sure it is fully dissolved and absorbed before adding more milk.
35. When the cornstarch is fully blended add this and all the other ingredients, except the vanilla, to the cooking pan.
36. Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture becomes thick like a pudding.
37. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
38. Pour the mixture into the waiting pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg

## Equipment

- bowl
- rolling pin
- griddle
- wax paper
- loaf tin
- pastry brush

## Tips

- Traditionally, the Beltane bannock would have been made with meat fat, such as bacon grease, instead of butter.
- You can use this if you prefer.
- To serve, split the bannocks and spread with butter.
- They’re excellent with soups or with a big dollop of honey.
- You could try this as a single loaf.
- I also like to make an almond biscuit with biscuit mix, almond extract, sugar, cinnamon, and eggs, but in smaller proportions.
- Traditionalists will use a heavy cast iron pan.
- the pie may be eaten while it is still warm as long as it has cooled just enough to set.
- Or the pie may be chilled and eaten later

## Source

- Original video: https://branawen.blogspot.com/2011/05/celtic-cookery-beltane-bannocks-bread.html#google_vignette
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/ada416e5-6e35-4f2b-84b0-09f8395b272c
- Extracted: 2025-03-31

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt