Gluten Free Staffordshire Oatcakes



This is my gluten free version of this recipe. It’s also sugar free as the milk provides enough natural sugar for the yeast to work on. These are cheap to make too and turn out far tastier than gluten free bread. They freeze and defrost really well too.

I’ve twiddled around with it and they come out a bit thicker than a shop bought Staffordshire Oatcake but I think that may be because of my warped frying pan. I get impatient with lots of writing before a recipe so here it is. I’ll waffle a little at the end instead.

Ingredients

250g oatmeal or oats ground up finely in a food processor
200g Dove's Farm gluten free plain flour
4g fast action yeast
1 tsp xantam gum
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp cider vinegar
650ml milk
650ml water
Sunflower oil for frying

Recipe (makes 8 – 10)

1) Heat the milk and water together in a saucepan on a medium heat until steam starts to rise off the pan, but before it simmers. Turn off the heat and add the cider vinegar.

2) Mix together the oatmeal/ground oats, flour, xantham gum, bicarbonate of soda and yeast in a large bowl.

3) Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and use a hand whisk to combine well. Cover and leave to rise in a  warm place for at least an hour but preferably overnight.

4) Stir the batter mix. If it looks to thick add a little milk and/or water to thin it to around double cream thickness.

5) Heat about 1 tsp of oil in a small frying pan and pour in 1 to 2 ladles of the batter (it depends how big your pan is and how thick you want your oatcakes to be). Fry for a couple of minutes until the top side is mostly set but a little wet in the centre. Turn carefully and fry for a couple of minutes on the other side. When the oatcake is cooked it will look mottled golden and brown.

Time for my waffling: I'm sure you can fill Staffordshire oatcakes with all sorts of healthy things – and on their own they’re really very healthy indeed – but please do yourself a favour and cover half of an oatcake with fried bacon and/or mushrooms, top with Cheddar cheese, grill until the cheese melts then fold over the oatckake and tuck in. They’re also lovely smothered in butter like flat and oaty crumpets.