Staffordshire oatcakes are a regional specialty from the North Staffordshire (Midlands region in England). These healthy oats pancakes are made from a yeast-risen batter of ground oats. Oat is good for you, so these oats pancake is incredibly good for you. You can eat them anytime you want, not only for breakfast, goes well with both sweet and savory toppings, and freeze well.
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Staffordshire Oatcakes; a regional specialty
To my surprise, my English friends didn’t know about Staffordshire Oatcakes until I shared them with my Staffordshire Oatcakes. So, it seems Staffordshire Oatcakes is specifically regional to North Staffordshire. Interestingly, you will find a similar type of pancakes all around the world made from a fermented batter with a variety of ingredients with a regional twist. In that sense, these oats pancakes are the British version of Ethiopian Injera, Indian Dosa, Yemeni Lahooh, Somalian Anjeero, or Sri Lankan Those.
what is Staffordshire Oatcakes
These Staffordshire Oatcakes are soft oats pancakes with a bubbly texture, around 12 to 15 cm diameter. The batter is made with ground oatmeal (plus wheat flour) and then raised with yeast until frothy. The holes on top of pancakes are their unique feature. The leavening creates bubbles as they cook and produce these holes.
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Making Staffordshire Oatcakes;
useful info + tips
Why oats are good for you?
Oats are one of the healthiest grains we should frequently eat, a whole-grain, vegan-friendly, gluten-free, nutritious food packed with proteins, important vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Thanks to many health benefits, it has become a mainstay of nutritious breakfasts and foods. As oat is very filling so it can be considered as a weight-loss-friendly food.
Oats, oatmeal vs quick oats
You may be wondering about the differences between oats, rolled oats, oatmeal, and instant/quick oats. Oats refer to whole grain oats (the whole form of oats) and are in raw and unprocessed form, so it takes a long time to cook. For this reason, most people prefer a common type of oatmeal cereal known as oatmeal or rolled oats.
In this case, whole oat grains are steamed and then rolled to produce flat oat flakes. As a result, oatmeal/rolled oats take less time to cook, about 5 minutes. Rolled oats are also known as old-fashioned oats/oatmeal, flaked oats/oatmeal, oat flakes, or rolled oatmeal.
Instant (quick) oats are the most highly processed variety, but you can cook them in a short time. In this recipe, I have used oatmeal/rolled oats to make ground oats/oat flour.
How to make ground oat flour?
These oats pancakes are made with homemade ground oat flour adding some wheat flour. Making oat flour is easy and cheaper. All you need to do is just grind oatmeal/rolled oats in a grinder/food processor/blender, in no time you will have ground oat flour. It doesn’t have to be a fine powder. I like to grind them fairly coarse as it gives the pancakes a nice texture.
Whole wheat flour vs white wheat flour
I frequently make these oats pancakes. So, I have tried a few versions of pancakes using different ratios of oat flour, whole wheat flour, and white wheat flour. I love the rustic taste of the oats pancakes made with whole wheat flour.
You can also replace half of the whole wheat flour with white wheat flour or use white wheat flour instead of whole wheat flour. In this recipe, as I wanted to introduce a basic recipe, I used oat flour and wheat flour in a 1:1 ratio. Just feel free to experiment with the flour and make your version of oats pancakes.
Instant vs Active dry yeast
In this recipe, we use yeast to raise our batter. There are two types of yeast in the market, instant and active dry yeast that easy to use. If you use instant yeast, just mix with dry ingredients, no need to activate. If you use active dry yeast, you need to activate the yeast first. Make sure to use warm water (around 100°F /37°C) because hot water kills the yeast while cold water will not activate the yeast. You can comfortably hold your finger in warm water.
Fermentation
These oats pancakes have a unique bubbly texture. It takes bit practice to get the perfect spongy texture with a nice bubbly surface. Cover the batter with a towel and leave for fermentation for about 1 hour to 2 hours in a warm place until the batter is bubbly and frothy. Remember, the time for fermentation will depend on the warmness and the activity of yeast you use. You can keep the bowl with the batter in a warm water bath or in an oven that has been briefly heated.
Useful Tips
- Warm gently milk and water before adding to the flour mixture as it helps to create a good condition for the yeast, keep it around 38°C. You can comfortably hold your finger in warm water. (You can use only water if you desired but the texture will be not the same.)
- Add less or more milk and water as needed to make a thin batter as desired.
- It would take around 1 hour to 2 hours to rise the batter, remember, it depends on the warmness and the activity of the yeast you use. If you find that it doesn’t rise enough, give it more time to rise.
- The consistency of the batter should be a bit thicker than the crepe batter that easily spreadable. If your batter seems too thick, add some warm water a little at a time and whisk gently and then leave it again for about 5 minutes before you make pancakes.
- Make them in a nonstick frying pan or use a crepe pan if you have one. Try to use a thick-bottom frying pan, as it will help to keep the heat constant that is something best for making nicely bubbled oatcakes.
- Grease your pan (very) lightly with some oil (preferably coconut oil), make sure to wipe off any excess oil.
- Make them as small or large as you desire.
How to Serve
Serve your oats pancakes with any toppings you like with both sweet and savory fillings and toppings. Stuff them with cheese and sauteed mushrooms as a savory meal or with butter & jam, honey & butter as a sweet snack. You can use them just as a wrapper and then fill/top them with whatever you like.
How about topping them with cheese, fried bacon & sausage, fried egg? Just simply microwave it for about a minute or place under the grill until cheese melt or just do this in a frying pan. When bubbling, add some sauce and just roll up. You can serve them immediately or make a lot of pancakes and then freeze some of them for later use as they freeze well.
more breakfast recipes
Looking for some new breakfast ideas to make mornings more exciting?
Here are some great recipes around the world you might like to try.
Italian Potato Frittata
Spanish Omelette with less oil
Indian Adai Dosa (Mixed Lentil Dosa)
Staffordshire (UK) Oatcakes (Healthy Oats Pancakes)
Indian Crispy Dosa
Caramelized Apple Pancake
Sri Lankan Coconut Roti (Pol Roti)
Sri Lankan-style dosa (those, තෝසේ)
Moroccan Semolina Pancakes (Baghrir)
Staffordshire Oatcakes (Oats Pancakes) Recipe
Staffordshire Oatcakes (Oats Pancakes)
Ingredients
- 150 g oat flour
- 150 g plain flour
- 300 ml milk warm
- 350 ml water warm, divided
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt to taste
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- oil for cooking
Instructions
- Mix milk and water and then warm. (not hot)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, yeast, sugar, and salt.
- Now gradually add wet into dry, stirring constantly, until you have a smooth batter with no lumps.
- Cover and leave for about one hour to two hours in a warm place to rise until the batter becomes bubbly. (It depends on the warmness and activity of yeast)
- Dissolve baking soda in little water. Add and mix well. Add the rest of the water and mix gently. Cover and rest for 15 min in a warm place.
- Heat a pan over medium heat. Brush lightly with oil as needed.
- Gently stir your oatcake batter and pour a ladleful of batter. Gently tilt the pan to thinly coat the bottom.
- Cook until the bottom is slightly browned, and the top is dry about 2 minutes.
- The surface of the pancake will be covered in holes as it cooks.
- Flip and cook for another minute until the surface is slightly browned.
- When done, slide out of the pancake onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can eat them fresh or freeze for later use.
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Great recipe Staffordshire Oatcakes, love it. Thank you
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