These high altitude tested Scottish bannocks (oatmeal scones or oatmeal biscuits) are made with all purpose flour and oatmeal for a soft, tender and fluffy texture and buttery flavor.
You might also love these recipes for classic almond shortbread cookies, millionaire’s shortbread, and cinnamon apple pecan scones.
This site contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links. This in no way affects my opinion of those products and services. All opinions expressed on this site are my own.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Super Soft and Fluffy. The bannocks that our Scottish friends from Outlander might have made 300 years ago were likely much more dense and crumbly, made mainly from ground oats or barley. But for my modern take on Scottish bannocks, I’ve combined ground oats with all purpose flour and corn starch, which makes them supremely soft and tender. Butter, whole milk and sour cream adds fat and richness, and these scones are a wonderful accompaniment to any meal. These would be especially fun for an Outlander party, served with plenty of butter and an assortment of honey and jam, or with thick slices of ham or bacon and good whole grain mustard.
So Easy to Make. The scone dough is very similar to how I make my favorite baking powder biscuits, by simply cutting cold butter into dry ingredients and then adding milk for a sticky, shaggy dough.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Oats. You’ll need old-fashioned “rolled” oats, not steel cut oats. You’ll be grinding the oats first (easily done with a food processor) to make a coarse oat flour.
- Corn Starch. Known in the UK as corn flour, corn starch lowers the percentage of protein and makes biscuits and scones super light and soft.
- All Purpose Flour.
- Baking Powder.
- Salt.
- Butter, Milk and Sour Cream. Be sure all of your dairy ingredients are super cold when you make scones and biscuits, which creates flaky layers in the dough.
- Allspice and Sugar. A tiny bit of sugar is optional, as is the allspice, but it adds just a hint of warm flavor.
Instructions
- With a small food processor or Ninja, grind the oats into finely chopped bits.
- In a bowl, combine the ground oats, flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt, sugar and allspice. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until crumbly.
- Whisk together the milk and sour cream, then stir it into the dry ingredients to make a sticky, shaggy dough.
- Scrape the dough out onto a well floured surface. Use floured hands to gently press the dough out to 1 inch thick, using a little more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
- Cut the dough into nine pieces with a bench scraper, stack the pieces, and press the dough out again to about 1 inch thick.
- Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, trying to cut as many bannocks as you can the first time. Do not twist the cutter, just cut straight down and lift it straight back up. Gather up the scraps, press them together and cut those as well. You should be able to cut around 12 bannocks.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the bannocks close together, about 1/2-1 inch apart. Freeze the cut bannocks for 30 minutes.
- While the bannocks are freezing, preheat the oven to 450 F and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the bannocks until risen, fluffy and light golden brown on top, about 15 minutes.
- Cool bannocks for 5 minutes, then serve hot with softened butter, jam or honey.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Bannocks, biscuits and scones are best served fresh, on the morning they’re made. But leftovers are still great, and the best way to reheat them is to lightly toast them in a convection oven until warm, or to microwave them briefly at 50% power.
Unbaked scones or biscuits can be frozen for up to 3-6 months. You can bake them straight from the freezer, and just add about 4-5 minutes to the baking time.
You Might Also Love
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
Scottish Bannocks (Oatmeal Scones)
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Rolling Pin, Bench Scraper & 2 1/2 inch Biscuit Cutter
- Food Processor or Ninja
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled (plus extra for cutting the dough)
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar, optional
- ¼ tsp allspice, optional
- 12 tbsp (3/4 cup) very cold, unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- 1 cup very cold whole milk
- ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
- With a small food processor or Ninja, grind the oats into finely chopped bits.
- In a bowl, combine the ground oats, flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt, sugar and allspice. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until crumbly.
- Whisk together the milk and sour cream, then stir it into the dry ingredients to make a sticky, shaggy dough.
- Scrape the dough out onto a well floured surface. Use floured hands to gently press the dough out to 1 inch thick, using a little more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
- Cut the dough into nine pieces with a bench scraper, stack the pieces, and press the dough out again to about 1 inch thick.
- Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, trying to cut as many bannocks as you can the first time. Do not twist the cutter, just cut straight down and lift it straight back up. Gather up the scraps, press them together and cut those as well. You should be able to cut around 12 bannocks.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the bannocks close together, about 1/2-1 inch apart. Freeze the cut bannocks for 30 minutes.
- While the bannocks are freezing, preheat the oven to 450 F and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the bannocks until risen, fluffy and light golden brown on top, about 15 minutes.
- Cool bannocks for 5 minutes, then serve hot with softened butter, jam or honey.
Notes
- Bannocks, biscuits and scones are best served fresh, on the morning they’re made. But leftovers are still great, and the best way to reheat them is to lightly toast them in a convection oven until warm, or to microwave them briefly at 50% power.
- Unbaked bannocks can be frozen for up to 3-6 months. You can bake them straight from the freezer, and just add about 4-5 minutes to the baking time.
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/
I am a Canadian Scottish lass (both birth parents), and have made hundreds of scones over the years. These are in a class of their own! The dough was lovely to work with (keep flour close by), and they rose beautifully. I transferred the frozen scones to a stoneware sheet pan, since 450 is too hot for my brand of parchment. I recommend the TBSP sugar and the allspice for just a hint of sweetness. We ate them with butter and peach jam for dessert. The texture is amazing! I have elderly friends who’ve known me since I was 5 (55 years), who are in their 90s and he is Scottish; whenever we visit he makes fresh hot scones with jam. I told my husband I’d be proud to serve these to them, they’re so excellent! Thank you Heather ~ I’m always talking about your recipes! So glad I found you.
Margo, this is such a lovely comment, and you’ve completely made my day!
Well, your scones have made my day as well. Your recipes have been a bright spot in an otherwise quite difficult past year… I love to bake and your site has been so inspiring and helpful, living at higher altitude. Always looking forward to what you’re coming up with!