Oatcakes: Better than storebought

I made some oatcakes this morning. They were quite satisfying – both to make and to eat. Before today, I had never even heard of oatcakes, until I read this post by Molly Wizenberg of Orangette.

Oatcakes, as it turns out, aren't really cakes. In fact, they are a slightly sweet cracker, hailing from Scotland. Like most things Scottish, they are straightforward, sturdy and good to have around. I made them today in hopes of serving them with my second batch of pimento cheese. Turns out, using them for a foundation for pimento cheese is a waste of a perfectly good homemade cracker. The cheese overwhelms the oatcake – better to go back to a store-bought cracker – and save the oatcakes for serving plain or dressed up with a smear of honey, perhaps a bit of brie cheese. They are perfect when you want a little something to snack on in the afternoon, maybe with a cup of tea. They remind me a bit of Carr's whole wheat crackers, which always taste to me like grown-up graham crackers.

I'm getting a kick out of making things from scratch that most other people buy readymade. I like knowing what goes into the things that go into my mouth. Better than store bought, that's what I'm aiming for.