Dark Chocolate and Maple Caramel Oatcakes

This recipe is featured in Nova Scotia Cookery, Then & Now – a cookbook  showcasing modern interpretations of heritage Nova Scotia recipes.

“I absolutely love oatcakes and I try them any chance I get. I grew up in Cape Breton and now live on the South Shore, and the oatcakes are radically different in each place. They are such a staple in Nova Scotia – the energy bars from ‘back in the day.’ The original is a simple recipe using what was available. This is exactly why your great-grandmothers recipe never turns out the way you remember; their spoonfuls and pinches are impossible to replicate. This recipe represents everything I love in an oatcake – a good crunch on the outside, loads of nutrients inside, and that salty-sweet flavour.”

– Vanessa MacDonald, Fireside Kitchen 

Ingredients

1/4 cup (60 ml) + 1 tbsp (15 ml) coconut oil
1/4 cup (60 ml) + 1 tbsp (15 ml) butter
1/3 cup (75 ml) Acadian Maple syrup
1/4 cup (60 ml) natural Greek yogurt
1 cup (250 ml) rolled oats
1/2 cup (125 ml) steel cut oats
1/2 cup (125 ml) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (125 ml) Kamut flour
2 tbsp (30 ml) Valley Flaxflour golden flax flour
2 tbsp (30 ml) shredded unsweetened coconut (optional)
1/2 tsp (2 ml) baking soda
1 tsp (5 ml)
salt

For Maple Caramel Sauce

1 cup (250 ml) white sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) Acadian Maple syrup
1 tbsp (15 ml) water
3 tbsp (45 ml) butter
2/3 cup (160 ml) cream

For Chocolate Drizzle 

1/2 cup (125 ml) Just Us dark chocolate
garnish coarse sea salt

Directions

  1. Cream together coconut oil, butter, maple syrup, and yogurt. In mixing bowl combine oats, flours, coconut, baking soda, and salt. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, mix together by hand.
  2. Roll out between 2 sheets parchment paper to 10-inch (25-cm) square or 9-inch (23-cm) square for softer oatcakes. Cut into squares or triangles with pizza cutter and transfer to lined baking sheet.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) 12 to 15 minutes.
  4. Prepare caramel sauce by boiling sugar, maple syrup, and water 5 minutes. Then add butter and cream, stir well. In separate pot, melt chocolate.
  5. Allow oatcakes to cool 5 minutes on pan before transferring to cooling rack. Drizzle with caramel and melted chocolate, sprinkle sea salt.

Local Source Guide

Local flour: Valley FlaxFlour
Local maple syrup: Acadian Maple Products or Sugar Moon Farm
Local chocolate: Just Us, Gourmandises Avenue Chocolaterie, Sugah!

 

Recipe provided by: Vanessa MacDonald, Fireside Kitchen
For more heritage recipes: Nova Scotia Public Archives Recipe Collection
Nova Scotia Cookery, Then & Now is  presented by: Select Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Public Archives

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