Chef Thomas
A Bloomer
A proper British bloomer, slashed deep and baked until the cuts open wide and the crust turns deep, glossy gold. The kind of loaf that makes the rest of the day feel deliberate.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Scottish Bannocks
Created by Chef Thomas
An old Highland griddle bread of oats and salt, cooked dry on a hot pan until the edges curl and the underside speckles. Dense, honest, and made to be torn warm with butter.
Breads
British
Weeknight
Quick Meal
15 min
Active Time
15 min cook•30 min total
Yield4 bannocks (8 farls)
There's a kind of November afternoon when the light gives up by half past three and the only sensible thing is to put the kettle on. The girdle goes on the hob. A bowl of oatmeal sits on the counter. We're only making dinner, or rather, we're making the kind of bread that asks nothing of the day except half an hour of attention.
Bannocks belong to the Highlands, not to my corner of England, and I cook them with the respect owed to a tradition I haven't lived. But they've earned a place in my kitchen because they do something no other bread does: they go from bowl to table in less than an hour, no oven, no proving, no mystery. Oats, salt, a little flour to help things along, and a hot dry pan. That's the whole list.
They cook on the girdle until the edges curl up and the underside speckles brown, smelling of toasted oats and warmth. Tear them open while they're still hot and the inside is soft and slightly nutty. Butter goes straight in and disappears. I wrote it down in the notebook last winter: 'Bannocks. Friday. Wind in the chimney.' Some meals don't need more explanation than that.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
medium oatmeal
Quantity
200g
plus extra for dusting
plain flour
Quantity
50g
bicarbonate of soda
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
unsalted butter
Quantity
25g
melted, or bacon dripping if you have it
hot water
Quantity
100-120ml
cold butter
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium oatmealplus extra for dusting | 200g |
| plain flour | 50g |
| bicarbonate of soda | 1/2 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| unsalted buttermelted, or bacon dripping if you have it | 25g |
| hot water | 100-120ml |
| cold butter | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy cast-iron frying pan or girdle
- •Mixing bowl
- •Wooden spoon
- •Palette knife or fish slice
- •Wire cooling rack
Instructions
- 1
Mix the dry ingredients
Tip the oatmeal, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl and stir them together with your hand. Make a well in the middle. This is a bread of four ingredients, so the small things matter: don't skip the salt, and don't be tempted to use rolled porridge oats instead of proper medium oatmeal. They aren't the same thing.
If you can only find rolled oats, pulse them briefly in a food processor until they look like coarse, sandy meal. Not flour. You want texture. - 2
Bring it together
Pour the melted butter into the well, then add the hot water a little at a time, drawing the dry ingredients in with a wooden spoon. Stop when it comes together into a stiff, slightly tacky dough. You may not need all the water. Oatmeal varies, and so does the weather. Trust your hands.
- 3
Shape and cut
Dust a board generously with extra oatmeal. Tip the dough out and knead it for thirty seconds, no more. This is a bread that doesn't want to be worked. Pat or gently roll it into a round about a centimetre thick. Cut it into four wedges, what the Scots call farls. The edges will be a bit ragged. Good.
Keep the board well-dusted with oatmeal as you go. The dough is sticky and the oatmeal is what stops it sticking, but it also bakes onto the underside in the pan and gives that lovely speckled crust. - 4
Heat the girdle
Set a heavy, dry frying pan or cast-iron girdle over a medium heat. No oil. No butter. The pan needs to be properly hot before the bannocks go in, but not screaming. When you hold your hand a few inches above the surface and feel real warmth coming off it, you're ready.
- 5
Cook the first side
Lay the wedges in the pan and leave them alone for six or seven minutes. Don't fiddle. The edges will start to dry and curl, the underside will speckle to a deep golden brown, and the kitchen will fill with the smell of toasted oats. Trust your nose. It knows before you do.
- 6
Flip and finish
Turn them over carefully with a palette knife or fish slice. Cook the second side for another four or five minutes, until that side is speckled too and the bannocks feel firm in the middle when you press them with a fingertip. Lift them onto a wire rack for a minute or two, just to let the bottoms breathe. Then tear them open while they're still warm and put them on the table with cold butter, a pot of jam, or a bit of crumbly cheese. Hot tea alongside is not optional.
Chef Tips
- •Use medium oatmeal, not rolled porridge oats. They're different things, and the bannock depends on it. A good Scottish brand will be labelled 'medium' or 'pinhead pinned to medium.' If you're stuck, pulse rolled oats briefly in a food processor until they look like coarse sand, but the real thing is worth seeking out.
- •The pan must be dry. No oil, no butter, nothing. The whole point is that the bannock cooks against the bare iron and picks up that speckled, slightly scorched crust that no greased pan will ever give you. A heavy cast-iron skillet is ideal. A thin pan will burn the underside before the inside has caught up.
- •Eat them the day they're made. Bannocks don't keep well, they go from soft to leathery faster than a proper loaf, so make as many as you'll eat that evening. If you have leftovers, split and toast them on the girdle the next morning with butter and marmalade. Almost as good as the first night, which is high praise.
Advance Preparation
- •Best eaten the day they're made, ideally within a couple of hours of coming off the girdle. The dough does not benefit from sitting around.
- •Day-old bannocks can be split horizontally and toasted on the dry girdle until warm and slightly crisp at the edges. Eat with butter and marmalade for breakfast.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 85g)
Calories
280 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
14 mg
Sodium
460 mg
Total Carbohydrates
43 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
8 g
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