Ayla’s preschool has a theme each month, and the theme for September was nutrition and food. They celebrated the completion of their nutrition-themed by having a multicultural potluck. Each child brought a “heritage dish” – something that represents a family tradition or heritage. It took me a while to think of what I could bring. There’s such a mix of cultural backgrounds in Ayla’s family, with relatives from Portugal, South Africa, England, Newfoundland, Scotland, and Wales, to name a few. I decided on Wales, where my father’s family originated, and made Welsh Cakes.
I don’t think I’ve actually ever made Welsh Cakes before, although I’ve eaten them many times at church teas and bake sales. They remind me of a cross between a pancake and a tea biscuit. They’re made with a sweet biscuit dough that you roll out and cut into circles, but instead of baking the biscuits, you cook them on a griddle like a pancake.
The kids were intrigued. They eyed the welsh cakes cooling on the rack and asked to try them right away while they were still hot. Ayla called them “pancake cookies” – I love that term! They really are like a pancake in soft cookie form.
It was a good thing I made a big batch, otherwise we wouldn’t have had enough Welsh Cakes for the preschool party with the way my family was devouring them. The recipe makes a lot of Welsh Cakes, but I think if I was making them just for our family, I would freeze half of them to use for packing in lunches as snacks. These are fantastic for school lunches – a perfect portable snack. Cole has even grabbed them on his way out the door in the morning. He’s never hungry when he first wakes up and tends to leave breakfast until the very last possible minute.
I used the recipe from All Recipes with a few alterations, like cutting out some of the sugar and adding a touch of nutmeg. I also didn’t have lard to I used all butter. They were delicious, and I’d definitely make them again…and again!
Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 24
Welsh Cakes are a traditional tea-time treat in Wales. We like to call them pancake cookies. They make a great portable snack for kids.
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup salted butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/4 tsp Poudre Douce (or nutmeg)
- 2 cups raisins or currants
- 4 eggs
- 8 tbsp. milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together flour and baking powder.
- Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter or your fingers, until the flour resembles course crumbs.
- Mix in sugar, spices, and raisins.
- Lightly beat eggs, and stir into the flour mixture.
- Add the milk slowly while stirring, until the mixture becomes a firm dough.
- Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
- On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4″ thickness.
- Cut with 3″ round cookie cutters.
- Bake on a hot greased griddle of low heat until golden brown. Flip and brown the other side.
- Cool on a wire rack.