Oaties

Semi-sweet Oaties are perfect with a cup of tea – just the thing for an everyday biscuit.

Although I love cake, sometimes what I want is a biscuit that isn’t rich or creamy and Oaties fit the bill. Quick and easy to make with store-cupboard ingredients, you can easily make these little biscuits after work, or at the weekend, to last you through the week.

Oaties use store-cupboard ingredients

If you bake, you probably have flour, caster sugar, butter and bicarb in your store cupboard or fridge all time. I use quite a bit of golden syrup, which, as it’s a sugar derivative, keeps very well so it’s always in the pantry. It doesn’t matter if it goes a bit grainy at the bottom – it’s just crystallising – and if you’re going to heat it anyway, it will all dissolve. I also always have porridge oats. One of my favourite comfort foods as a child was oats, golden syrup and milk. I do have it occasionally now, but with a lot less syrup!

Does a pinch of ginger make a difference?

Actually, it does, so if you have some don’t leave it out. Bicarbonate of soda can have a bit of a taste that needs masking – it’s usually used in cakes with a strong flavour like ginger cakes. Here, the pinch of ginger doesn’t make the biscuits taste of ginger, but it does add something.

Why add salt to a sweet biscuit?

Salt is a flavour enhancer, and stops food being bland, so even sweet food benefits from that. Here, that pinch of salt just adds to the flavour without being able to taste it.

Helpful Tools

• Magic Liner or a silicone baking mat  –  You don’t have to grease either of them as they’re totally non-stick and you clean them in the dishwasher or in hot, soapy water in the sink.  The silicone mats are used over a baking sheet. Magic liner comes on a roll and you cut it to size to fit your tins. I have both and use them every time I bake, because there’s less mess and I don’t need extra oil or butter to stop food sticking.

If you like this…

…Why don’t you try:

Ginger biscuits

Crunchy or chewy, these ginger biscuits are easy to make and quick to cook

Melting Moments

Melting Moments are a traditional English biscuit, buttery and crunchy, rolled in oats or coconut. And they have to have a cherry on top.

Swiss Tarts

Swiss tarts have a shortbread base and a dollop of jam in the middle, but they aren’t overly sweet.

Print Recipe

Oaties

Oaties are semi-sweet oat biscuits that can be made soft or crunchy.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Teatime

Cuisine: British

Keyword: Oat biscuit

Servings: 20 biscuits

Author: [email protected] Cooks

Ingredients

• 150 g butter
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup (40g)
• 100 g plain/all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (2.5ml), in 1 tablespoon (15ml) hot water
• 130 g rolled oats
• 75 g caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of ground ginger
• Split almonds to decorate
• Glacé cherry to decorate

Equipment

2 baking sheets

Magic Liner

or

Silicone baking mats

Instructions

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/ gas mark 4/ 350°F
• Grease the baking sheet or line with a silicone liner or a piece of magic liner
• Dissolve the bicarb in 15ml hot water

For the Oaties:

• Melt the butter and golden syrup in a medium saucepan over a MEDIUM-LOW heat. Remove the pan from the heat
• Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl

  (Flour, oats, sugar, salt ginger)
• Add the bicarb liquid and the dry ingredients to the saucepan and mix in thoroughly

  The mixture will feel quite slack
• When cool enough to handle, roll into small balls

  You should make about 20 biscuits
• Place well apart on the baking sheet and slightly flatten. Top with a piece of glace cherry or a split almond if desired
• Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown

  Time depends on your oven and how you like your biscuits: less time for a softer biscuit, longer for more crunch
• Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then move to a wire cooling rack.

Notes

Everyday Cooks Tips:

Storage:

• Store in an airtight container for up to a week