Bannocks - My Grandmother's Recipe (modified)

Now I can't claim to be any sort of marvelous cook but I do have a creative personality.

Not ALL of my experiments turn out well, but some do.

During the course of my research I found bannocks and I like the concept - not necessarily the fancy schmancy rounds they make into scones, mind you, but more along the line of a tasty nutritious cake that's easy to make.

And I figure bannocks and a creative mind ought to get along just fine.

In truth (I'm INFJ remember and allowing a misconception to develop goes against my grain) I found bannocks years ago.

Short on supplies but long on wanting something tasty to snack on, I used what I had on hand and baked up a nice little round cake. My then-young daughters loved it and asked me what it was. I just said, 'I don't know.' From then on that I don't know was a favorite, especially of mine. See, it was made of whatever was handy to use. If you had a recipe or knew ahead of time what you were going to put into it, it didn't really count as I don't know. 

When I found on line a 'recipe' for bannocks I had a twinge of disappointment. They're basically what I had been making all along.

*sigh*

Still, the thing is that creativity (and a working knowledge of what goes into cake and cookie making) is great!

This time I took my grandmother's old oatmeal cookie recipe and modified it, trying out an experiment. In my head, oatmeal and Scots go together - and I write books about Scotland's long time ago times. And my grandmother was a Gibson before she married a Branson.

Anyway, I made some awesome round flattish cakes out of the recipe.

Here's what I used:

one cup butter

one cup brown sugar (recipe called for half white, half brown - if I were going to be a stickler I'd have had to use something like maple sugar but I'm not THAT much of a stickler)

one cup flour (called for one and a quarter but I only used a scant cup and I didn't sift it, and should probably have used rye or oat or barley flour but didn't have any so phooey on that!)

one cup buttermilk (you can also use plain milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar but I DID  use buttermilk since our little store actually had some)

one teaspoon soda

one teaspoon cinnamon (yes Kalann could have gotten cinnamon if he wanted it, in trade)

three cups oatmeal (called for one and a half but I wanted some substance to my experiment)

mixed it all up, sugar and butter first of course, and used a pie tin to cook it in (but not all the way to the edge of the tin), forming it into a nice round flat (about 1/2 inch thick in the center) cake - used a fork (tines flat) to firm the edges into a bit of a ridge around the outside of the round and make the center a little more shallow (because the outsides always cook faster than the center you know)

cooked it for 20-25 minutes (instead of the ten the recipe called for) in an oven at 350 instead of 375 degrees

And no I didn't forget the eggs. The recipe doesn't call for any.

And out came the most wonderful things ever!

The kids loved them (my niece's daughters this time instead of mine!) so I'll be making more tomorrow.

We cut them into wedges and lo and behold our bannock became eight scones.

Amazing transformation, that.

They aren't fancy but they're very VERY tasty!

I might make some to snack on this coming weekend while I'm doing the Book Launch at our County Fair, and share the recipe with anyone who wants it! 

So ... the jury came back with a positive verdict for THIS experiment! My grandmother would be happy and proud, and so would whoever SHE got the recipe from.

Basic and beautifully simple - and good for you to boot!