Traditional Cookie of Cape Breton the Oat Cake, Delicious with Tea for Your Afternoon Break.

                                 Cape Breton Oat Cakes

Ingredents

•2 cups rolled oats/traditional oatmeal (not quick cooking, not instant)

•1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour

•3/4 cup brown sugar

•1 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

•1/4 teaspoon baking soda

•3/4 cup shortening or butter

•1/4 cup very hot or boiling water

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: About 16 oatcakes

Preparation

1. Preheat an oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the shortening or butter and use two knives, a large fork, or your fingers to work the fat into the dry ingredients.

2. Pour in the hot water and stir until everything comes together into a thick, sticky dough.

3. You can roll the dough out on a well-floured surface and cut it into shapes, and set them on a large baking sheet. Or, keep things simple and simply press the dough into an even 1/4-inch layer on a baking sheet. Score this large "cake" into smaller pieces: use a knife to cut the dough into squares or rectangles or whatever shapes you like, but don't bother to separate the pieces; the pieces will bake back together, but be easy to cut or break along that original cut-line. 

4. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. You can take them out now for chewier oatcakes or reduce the oven to 325°F and bake until lightly browned, about 10 more minutes, for crisper oat cakes.

5. When they have finished baking, if you've cut them into shapes, let them cool; if you've scored them, cut them apart while warm so they cool into squares (or rectangle or triangle or whatever you've cut them into!).

6. Keep the oatcakes stored in an airtight container up to a week or even two, depending on the heat and humidity in your kitchen. They also freeze well (although they're so easy to make there's not a lot gained by freezing them