Scottish Bannocks (Oatmeal Scones)

These Scottish bannocks are made with all purpose flour and oatmeal for a soft, tender and fluffy texture and buttery flavor.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 2 votes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Freeze Time 30

Total Time 1 5

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Scottish

Servings12 biscuits

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

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.

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.

Keyword Bannocks, Biscuits, High Altitude, Oatmeal, Scones