Scottish Fatty Cutties

Traditional Scottish Fatty Cutties come from Orkney and I first tried them from a company up there. My kids loved them and I knew I would have to find a recipe for them. This recipe is based on a traditional recipe from Orkney and has been kept as close to the original as possible. They are very similiar to Scottish shortbread but less sweet.

They are very similiar to a shortbread and have the addition of little currants which I think makes them the perfect biscuit to have with a cup of tea. Traditionally they were cooked and flipped on the girdle but I have baked my ones in the oven. I like them this way but you can try cooking them in a cast iron pan if you like.

The biscuits that I tried from J and P foods in Orkney were rectangular in shape and a bit thinner. I found this particular recipe worked really well as a thicker biscuit and my kids like them in round shape but feel free to make them rectangular if you like and a little thinner.

If you like these biscuits you may also enjoy some of my other Traditional Scottish recipes on this website and on my Youtube channel. If you enjoy a sweet recipe the Orange Chocolate Brownie will go down really well or the Scottish Wartime Orange Cake.

Tips for making this recipe:

The dough can be quite crumbly so if yours is particularly dry then I would recommend adding in a splash of milk into your dough mixture when forming the dough. This just helps it to stick together a little easier. I didn’t personally add in milk but you might need a splash. Use your hands and a rolling pin.
In the video I made an error in the recipe card and forgot to include the butter and baking powder. I have included the correct recipe ingredients in the recipe below. Apologies I don’t have the time to update the video at the moment but all the visuals in the video above are correct.
You could maybe try swapping out the currants for equal weight chocolate chips or dried citrus peel. Some white chocolate chips would work really well in here too or maybe some tablet crumbles would be delicious too.
Traditionally these biscuits are baked in a flat cast iron gridle and flipped over but I like to bake my biscuits in the oven. I like them this way but they are delicious flipped in the frying pan too. I do find them a little crumbly for flipping though so if you want to keep their shape then the oven is best for them.
I have used a circular cutter for these biscuits but a rectangular shape also works really well and the original ones I tasted in Orkney were of triangular shape.

Fatty Cutties Recipe

360g plain flour
50g caster sugar
120g currants
pinch of salt
225g butter
1tsp baking powder
a little milk

Recipe Instructions:

Preheat oven to 160oc and grease a baking sheet.
Add the flour, caster sugar, currants, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Mix through with a wooden spoon to ensure it is all mixed together.
Melt all the butter in a pan and pour into the bowl with the flour mixture.
Mould together in your hands to form into a dough. It is a little crumbly but please add in a splash of milk if it is too crumbly for you.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into rounds. Use your hands to mould the dough flat if it is sticking to the rolling pin.
Add the fatty cutties rounds onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until baked through. Keep a close eye on them.
Lay them out to cool on a drying rack and serve with a nice cup of tea.