Scotch Teas

Five ingredients and one saucepan. That’s all it takes to make these old-fashioned oat bars. Butter and brown sugar melt together on the stove, get stirred into rolled oats with salt and baking powder, then bake until golden.

The brown sugar and butter combination creates a toffee-like flavor that coats every oat. These bars come out of the oven looking soft and underdone. Don’t panic. That’s exactly right. They firm up as they cool into chewy, almost candy-like bars with crispy edges.

No eggs, no flour, no vanilla. The simplicity is the point. Every bite tastes like buttery, caramelized oats with a faint molasses note from the brown sugar.

Kitchen Tips

• Don’t overbake. Pull them at 25 minutes even if they look soft. Overbaking turns these from chewy to rock-hard once they cool.
• Pack the brown sugar firmly when measuring. Loosely packed sugar gives you bars that are dry and crumbly instead of chewy and rich.
• Let them cool completely in the pan before cutting. Warm Scotch Teas crumble. Cold ones slice cleanly.
• Grease the pan well. The sugar caramelizes on the bottom and will stick ferociously to an ungreased pan.

Variations

• Drizzle melted chocolate over the cooled bars for a chocolate-oat flapjack.
• Stir in a handful of dried cranberries or raisins with the oats for a fruited version.
• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the butter-sugar mixture for a warm, spiced twist.