Dearest reader, at this point you can be assured that the Outlander Kitchen cookbook, written by the formidable Theresa Carle-Sanders, has been well and thoroughly vetted for you by The Bread Maiden.  This is recipe six that I’ve made in the past six days.  I’m a little tired.

All the recipes haven’t been home runs, but they’ve all been at least good.  And that’s actually saying a lot, because most general cookbooks that deign to include bread recipes do it as a way to  add variety, not make good bread.

It is clear that Carle-Sanders sees bread differently.  She sees that bread was fundamental in 18th century Scotland, and strives to create recipes that both are historically accurate and accessible to home cooks.

To make these, you will need:

3/4 cup ground oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar (or 1/2 cup white sugar with one teaspoon of molasses mixed together)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup cold butter

2 tablespoons (I ended up adding 4 tablespoons for everything to come together)

85g milk or dark chocolate (I used semi-sweet)

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, and baking powder.  

Grate in the butter and mix with your hand to make sure the butter is well-coated.

Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a stiff ball.  Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and let rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

After 15 minutes, take the dough out and place it on a floured surface.  Roll it into a large circle of 1/4 inch depth.  

Use a cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out 10-18 rounds and transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake 12-15 minutes until the edges are just golden brown.  Let them cool completely before topping with melted chocolate.

I didn’t read the instructions for melting the chocolate so it got burnt and didn’t look nice and smooth when I spread it 😦

They were really good though.  The cookies were not too sweet, and I used semisweet chocolate so the icing wasn’t too sweet either.

I really liked these and will probably make them again.  They are just sweet enough, and I’d like to work some more on the chocolate icing.