Ingredients for North Staffordshire Oatcake:
- 225g fine oatmeal
- 225g wholewheat or plain flour
- 1tsp salt
- 15g yeast
- 450ml warm milk
- 450ml warm water
- 1tsp sugar
Method for North Staffordshire Oatcake:
- Mix the water and milk together.
- Mix the salt to the flour and oatmeal in a large bowl.
- Dissolve the yeast with a little warm liquid and add the sugar. Allow the mixture to become frothy.
- Mix the dry ingredients with the yeast liquid to make a batter adding the remainder of the warm liquid.
- Cover the batter with a clean cloth and leave in a warm place for about an hour.
- Pour out enough batter on a well-greased griddle to make an oatcake of about 22cm. The surface will be covered in holes as it cooks.
- Flip the oatcake after 2-3 minutes when the top side has a dry appearance and the underneath is a golden brown colour and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Notes:
TIP:
Try to use the heaviest frying pan available as this will keep the heat constant which is best for making oatcakes. Great served with fried bacon, mushrooms and cheese as a savoury snack or with butter and jam as a sweet treat.
Oatcakes can be frozen and a microwave is the ideal method of defrosting and reheating them.
History, Secrets and Health
I heard that soldiers returning from India in days gone by tried to duplicate the chapattis they had enjoyed but using local ingredients and the North Staffordshire Oatcake was born.
The exact recipe varies between oatcake shops and was for many years a closely guarded secret. There would be an oatcake shop on nearly every street corner years ago. Not just selling the oatcakes but also hot filled oatcakes. This was fast food prior to the Golden Arches and supersize me.
Being very much a regional dish – indeed, less than a county – oatcakes were always missed by ex-pats from the Potteries. There used to be a hotel in Leamington Spa that sent someone up to Stoke-on-Trent at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning to get supplies.
Being made with oatmeal, they are actually quite high in fibre but filling with melted cheese and fried bacon may reduce the health benefits somewhat.
Favourite
My favourite is to place under the grill with thin slices of cheese on. When bubbling, add a generous amount of Branston pickle and roll up.
You can buy North Staffordshire oatcakes from some of the major supermarkets in the UK. For those poor souls in far off lands, this is how to make them,
Hi just found your site and am well chuffed hubby is from SOT and does bring oatcakes home for us when he manages to get to the football but with 2 daughters a son and granddaughter they don”t last long at all so will be definitely trying your recipe THANKS a welshie
I lived in Stoke for 6 years before moving to Korea. I have just discovered a source of oatmeal here, and am now very keen to give this a go. I wonder what the Koreans will think of Stokie Oatcakes for breakfast? It’ll make a change from rice and seaweed soup!
Be very careful with oatcakes I have recently found them in 2 months I have undone my weight loss efforts of last summer and clapped on 1 stone through one bacon cheese and tomato oatcake as a Friday treat at work and 2 of the same on Saturday and Sundays. They are very delicious had to take to exercise now to enjoy this delicacy……simple peasant food at it’s best. Michelin star restaurants why do you think Michelin have a tyre plant in Stoke!
When I was little, we, mum,dad and 3 kids walked 2 and a half miles to church on an empty stomach every sunday for the 8.15 am Mass at Bucknall. On the way there we passed an oatcake shop opposite Newhouse Road, making oatcakes and the aroma drove us mad with hunger. On the walk back again (no car, no buses) we bought those freshly done oatcakes for our breakfasts and it was eleven o’clock before we got to eat that delicous meal of oatcakes, bacon, egg, tomato! I can’t begin to tell you what a feast it was!
This would be in the 1950’s.
I still eat oatcakes on a regular basis and now , thanks to your recipe, I am about to make my own! Thanks John! You are a gem!
I’m an ex-Burslem lad now living in Virginia, USA. A friend just sent me this recipe as I’m a die hard oatcaker. High Lane Oatcakes were the best. I even got my Mother to bring a batch with her on the last trip over. Fortunatley there is a place called World Market where you can by HP Sauce (amongst other imported English foods) and you can get Heinz Beans from Harris Teeter 🙂 I will be trying this out asap THANKS !
ooooh yummy this is one of my favourite snacks but i lost my old recipe so thankyou for putting this on
Staffy oatcakes are one of the main things I missed once moving to Australia*. Best thing you can do with them is get some asparagus and Cheshire cheese. Heat a grill and crumble the cheese into small lumps. Boil the asparagus for 2/3 minutes and heat (NOT TOAST) the oatcakes on one side (pref the side the holes!)
Remove the oatcakes from the grill pan – place 2 spears of asparagus in the middle and cover with Cheshire Cheese, wack back under the grill until the cheese is melted….. roll up the oatcake and eat!
*the other is Vimto!
many thanks for the recipe, my wife and i are now living in Thailand, and one of the things we miss from back home are oat cakes , we now make them regularly with your recipe. they are a great hit with all our friends over here .. as a expat stokie i must say the recipe is bang on authentic thanks for passing it on Arthur..
Thanks for the recipe. I make oatcakes slightly differently, but this recipe is just as good.
I was born in Hanley and studied both food preparation and food history. I did find that oatcakes were reportedly brought to Britain and the Scottish boarders by the Romans who were particularly efficient at making their supplies go as far as possible and keep their troops fed.
I’ve seen recipes where they made oatcakes stuffed with dates, herbs, honey etc.
Whatever you put with them – enjoy!
Thanks to my bestfriend who moved from London to Stoke-on-Trent, I’ve had the pleasure of oatcakes every time i went to visit her, the last one dating last march. Now thanks to this post, I don’t have to cross the channel to have my next serving; now I can enjoy the taste of Stoke right here in Antwerp, Belgium. What’s more, my hubby and kids love it too. Thanks John.
I like oatcakes a lot! yum
thankyou for the helpful tips and the informative history of oatcakes.
all the best
an oatcake fan
In response to Jacky Hall-Hi, I live in Bucknall and just thought you would like to know that the oatcake shop you describe on Werrington Road, opposite new house, is still here! And a very much loved shop, despite there now being a chinese, chippy, and co op store, the oatcake shop is still the one I visit most.
*I guess before I found this website I didnt realise how lucky I am to enjoy its simple delights on a regular basis. Glad that a recipe allows you the same :). This recipe is brill, great for when the shop is closed and I need my oatcake fix! Also gives me a sense of pride that I’m from Staffordshire, and can make Staffordshire oatcakes! Thanks so much 🙂
Living in Thailand and miss my oatcakes,but had a stroke of luck.Met a stokie guy over heere and his mum and dad live with him too.He is making oatcakes from home and they are beautiful.Now he is making cheese and a cheesey oatcake nearly every day now.
Thanks for showing the recipe for Staffordshire oatcakes. These were a family favourite for myself and brother as we grew up, my favourite way of serving was with butter + jam or golden syrup, thanks again.
Just eaten my first ever Staffordshire oatcake 😀 I opted for maple syrup and it was delish – when I’ve got room for another, and going to try crispy bacon and cheese.
My only complaint is that despite often making bread and having extensive baking experience with yeast, the blonde in me took over and it never occurred to me that the batter would more than double in size so there was a rather large mess in my kitchen lol!
For the person who said they couldn’t get hold of oatmeal, I just stuck some rolled oats in my blender – worked a charm 😀
Thanks a lot – absolutely delicious!!!
Don’t forget it’s Oatcake day this Sunday, 8th August 2010
I buy Staffordshire oatcakes from my local Sainsburys every week (it’s not breakfast without one) , but will give the recipe a go.
Loved me oatcakes when I lived in Stoke but sadly theres nothing that come near to them in Turkey, so thanks for the recipe shall be having a proper breakfast at last.
Travel to northern india on a semi regular basis. Himalchal and Rajisthan.
They do make an oaty version of some of the breads but it depends on the region and what is the staple grown grain.
Personaly i love roti while i am out there, paticulaly butter roti, and wondered if there was a way of making an oaty roti?
As for taking oatcakes back to Inida – maybe next time…. They certainly have the street and home sellers that used to be the way oatcakes were bought in stoke – in fact i’d guess you’d be able to find someone selling them if you went to the right area of India.
Made these years ago and loved them. Thank you for the recipe. Have been looking for it for ages.
I’m an expatriate potter (Wolstanton) living in Canada (since 1962)
and miss the oatcakes very much.
I’ve got my son and his family eating them, my grand children love them.
Keep up the good work.
Hi
Want to make these myself could you tell me where you get your fine oatmeal and wholewheat flour from.
Thanks
Brilliant . I live in Hull and have a recipe from a great Staffy lady who runs the cattery where our pussies go on holiday . Will try this one though . Will BLITZ the blend and see what happens . Keep up the good work >
Regs . Al
Hi I live in Austria now but was brought up in Cheshire. I have been telling my husband for ages about oatcakes now I can make them for him.
Oh, thank you Val and John, what a lovely surprise! My mother grew up in Staffordshire and she used to make them for Sunday tea when I was a child. I’m off work waiting for an operation, but now I’m half-way through making some oatcakes, and the smell is already cheering me up fabulously. When I get back to normal, I’m planning to carry on making them. Thanks so much for making it possible!
Thanks for posting the recipe! Bought some of these about 8 or 9 years ago in London @ Neal’s Yard Dairy. Loved them and craving them since. Nothing quite like them here in Seattle.
Hi – From Stoke, but have now lived in Greece for the past seven years. Can’t get oatmeal as such, but found that ordinary oats are available – just put them in a food processor & whirr down into meal… Works fine, as does your recipe – Thanks !
I simply can’t believe just how popular these oatcakes are! Back in UK this summer, only place I could buy them was at a market in Wells in Somerset. Back in Tasmania (OZ) now & having to make my own again, brain numbs up converting fresh yeast to dry tho! Any tips? Thanks
Are you still in the U/S, I am in Lake Geneva Wisconsin, but from Leek Road, Hanley.
Oatcakes filled with sausage and cheese or bacon and cheese are my fave’s. Cooked under the grill NEVER in a microwave.
I always use 2 cheese’s mature chedder and cheshire. Mmmmm the best.
from potteries area but now living in Australia – this recipe is a Godsend – thank you so very much.
Born in Tean many years ago, brought up on oatcakes and butter hot or cold and rolled. Seem to remember after we moved to Coventry an old man used to bring the family 3 dozen every Saturday morning before returning to Leamington. Could this be the same supplier to the Leamington Hotel – for the life of me can’t remember his name but if you’re still around fond memories abound. Also remember driving to Stoke in the early hours of a Saturday morning in the late fifties early sixties just to get some of the first ones made. Pancakes, chipattis you can keep the lot, there’s only one food of the gods a staffordshire Oatcake.
Brian
As a Stokie I love my oatcakes, and always will, however, would you believe, I am unable to find a decent oatcake in Stafford!!
I can get a certain mass produced brand but refuse to buy them due to their lack of quality.
Consequently I have endured many, regular trips to Stoke on the bus.
No need to do that now though because I can make my own!
Big, big thanks for the recipe.
Living 200 ks south of Perth, Western Australia, 35 years now. I started making oatcakes 30 years ago. same recipe, it’s a good one. I have converted a lot of aussies to them, not one bad comment. Some of you ask about stone ground oats. Make your own. Just buy rolled oats, put them in your blender. You can have them as rough or smooth as you want. Also if your batter gets to thick only thin out with warm milk, never water. So well done guys, keep them oatcakes rolling. Re Trevor Fenton 17 2 2011 ps I came from Longton.
Having lived in Staffordshire for a couple of years, oatcakes are our favourite brunch! Thanks for sharing the love!
My husband and I have lived in Spain for the last 6 years, and are now regularly selling oatcakes on four local markets, we make them freshly and they are being enjoyed now by many different nationalities, who are filling them with many various ingredients, the Spanish particularly seem to like them, once sampled, about 80% buy them.
woohoo….I’m Stafford born and bred but now living in Burnley…..I’ve just read your post and being a lover of Staffordshire Oatcakes I’m going to give your recipe a try so many many thanks for posting. I have looked down the posts here and see that your Staffy Oatcakes are going round the world. How amazing is that. Well done to you for promoting our lovely County. I miss Stafford and I miss the oatcakes…Tescos/Sainsbury’s are a poor substitute for the real thing. oh, and yes….its STAFFORDSHIRE i.e. Stoke…oatcakes that are the original and best and not er Derbyshire!!! lol *waits for the flack* hehe
Delighted to see your recipe for Staffs oatcakes and to read all the comments from people who love them. I sent off for several dozen last year, but couldn’t eat them as they smelt and tasted of bicarbonate of soda. Thank goodness your recipe is authentic. The dreadful bicarb recipe was given to the Hairy Bikers, and they in turn gave out that recipe.
Thank you very much, I can now make my own. (as I live too far from the Potteries)
I can’t wait to try and make these! My Dad is from Stoke but has been in NZ for 30+ years now. When I went to the UK and met my family there, my cousin cooked up oatcakes with bacon, melted cheese and mushrooms. They were delicious! I can’t wait to make them for my family here!
Was born in Tunstall, grew up in Fegg Hayes, went to Hanley High School and did my electrical apprenticeship on the Potteries. Loved my Wrights pies and Oatcakes. My Dad (or I when I was >12 or so) used to walk down to the local ‘Oatcake Shop’ in Fegg Hayes on a Sunday morning. Have lived in Canada for the last 34 years (have worked from Southern Canada to the Arctic and in every province from East to West). My wife is Canadian and is a fabulous cook, 20 years ago she made me ‘steak and kidney pudding’ but couldn’t get over the ‘suet’ in he recipe. My sister bought oatcakes for me about 5 years ago on a visit but my ‘Canuck Missus’ is convinced thay are bad for me ‘it’s bleedin’ oats…how bad can it be’ Thanks for the recipe im going to get my ‘Missus’ to make them for me.
I was born in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent in 1944 at the end of the war.
We really enjoyed the oatcakes from the local oatcake shop also they sold picklets. We would smell them cooking and relish them for breakfast some Sunday mornings. I went to live in Australia in 1968 and went back to visit in 2003 and there is no sign of oatcake shops now. Have been wanting to find the recipe…thanks for sharing. Planning to share with my kids on Saturday morning with eggs and bacon. mmmmm
@trevor fenton: Hi Trevor…I am also from Longton and living in Australia
@dawn: Hi I am from Longton and now live in Australia. Great connecting with people from way back.
@Jacky Hall: Wow…brings back memories. I lived in Bentilee from when I was 8 years old. That would have been in 1952. I now live in Australia and saw this website and recipe for Staffordshire Oatcakes…. I am going to make then this Saturday to eat with my daughter and granchildren.
Hi I live in New Zealand. My mum and Dad came from the potteries as they used to call it. We lived in Scarborough and my Auntie used to post us oatcakes once a week. My Mum managed to get hold of the recipe from a great Aunt who used to go round the housing estates in Stoke selling oatcakes from a cart. So we could then save on postage. That must be 60 years ago. I have continued to make oatcakes over the years and given the recipe to lots of greatful people. Been reading all the feedback and I can never understand how Oaties have never made the world food scene, but then we all know they’re priceless.
regards jan king
I thought these wouldn’t be as good as the ones in Burslem – but was wrong – they’re great! Now I only need them to transport PVFC down south and I’m a happy man.
I live in Tennessee and had quite a search for fine grain oatmeal flour. Finally discovered it being sold as BABY FOOD !
I loved the taste of oatcakes which I tried for the first time at a market in La Marina on the Costa Blanca. The chap said that they were made wholly of oats so I bought some for my sister who is a celiac and cannot take any wheat or gluten. I was so disappointed to see that the oats are combined with wheat flour and yeast which she is not allowed. How about using only the fine oat flour and missing out the other ingredients?????
Just made 1st batch to your recipe, not had oatcakes for 10years. My late mother was a Stokie and introduced us to them early in life, now my oldest daughter loves them. By the way the recipe is very good, thank you.
John from Scotland.
ps support an oatcake day
I made these as a savoury meal and added chopped chives to the mixture and served with a mixed green salad on the side to add some variety and it was fantastic. Have also made it with finely chopped spring onions in the mixture and it was delicious.