Cranberry oatcakes

Great for a snack with cheese or at the end of an special dinner with port. These lovely little oatcakes would make a great last minute christmas present, may be given along with a piece of cheese.

Ingredients

225g oatmeal, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt

25g dried, sweetened cranberry, roughly chopped

1 tbsp unsalted butter

Method

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the oatmeal, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl and mix well. Stir in the cranberries. Heat the butter and 150ml water in a small pan until the butter melts.

Make a well in the centre of the oatmeal mix, pour in the liquid and use a palette knife to mix everything together. The mixture will initially seem a bit wet, but the oatmeal will gradually absorb all the liquid to give a soft dough.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with oatmeal. Tip out the dough, then roll out to about 5mm thick. Use a small round or star-shaped cutter to stamp out the oatcakes, or use your favourite Christmas shapes. Re-roll any trimmings and continue to cut out biscuits. Cut biscuits can be frozen uncooked, for up to a month. Freeze flat before packing into bags or boxes.

Or an alternative is

Walnut & raisin oatcakes

Ingredients

¼ tsp baking powder

4 tbsp milk

175g soft butter

100g caster sugar

300g rolled oats

140g wholemeal flour

50g raisins, roughly chopped

50g walnut, finely chopped

oil, for greasing

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dissolve the baking powder in the milk. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy, then mix in the oats, flour, raisins, walnuts and milk to make a stiff dough.

Tip the dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out until about 1cm thick. Cut into circles with a 5cm pastry cutter, place on an oiled baking sheet, then bake for 15 mins until lightly golden. Leave to cool, then serve with cheese. Can be baked up to 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container until serving.