Nairn's Gluten Free Oaties: the oat biscuit that works with cheese

Oaties are a biscuit that happens to suit cheese. Oats bring a sweetness of their own, so the recipe can keep added sugar modest and still taste complete, which leaves room for cheddar, butter or a light cup of tea.

Oats, and not much else

Gluten free wholegrain oats make up 68% of the biscuit according to the published ingredient list, followed by palm fruit oil, sugar, golden syrup, tapioca starch, a raising agent and sea salt. There is no coating, no chocolate and no fruit. What you taste is toasted oat, warm and nutty, nearer to baked porridge than to a plain wheat biscuit, with a gentle sweetness underneath.

The bite is short and sandy. Without gluten there is no elastic network holding the crumb together, so the biscuit breaks cleanly instead of bending, and it crumbles if handled roughly. Pick them up from underneath rather than by an edge. Oaties are not a wheat recipe with something taken out; the oat texture, flavour and restrained sweetness are the design, not a compromise.

Where Oaties sit in the Nairn's range

To our mind, Oaties fall between the plain savoury oatcake and the sweeter oat biscuits: more biscuit than an oatcake, less sweet than the chocolate chip lines. The Biscuit Breaks in the gluten free range, with fruit, chocolate chip or ginger, add something through the bake, while Oaties keep it plain. That plainness is what lets this biscuit cross over to the cheeseboard.

The pack sits in the gluten free range, which Nairn's keeps separate from its main range; the brand says only the gluten free lines suit coeliacs. The allergen statement lists gluten free oats and says the biscuits may contain milk, and it notes that oats contain avenin, a protein some people with coeliac disease also react to. For a medical diet, read the current pack every time.

Cheese, butter and the teapot

Their restrained sweetness and toasted oat flavour stand up to a sharp cheddar or a blue cheese rather than clashing with it, which a sweet biscuit cannot manage. The other classic is simpler still: salted butter and nothing else. Either way, keep the tea beside the plate, because with no gluten to bind it a wet Oatie falls apart almost at once.

Oaties are gentle enough not to swamp a lighter tea, which few biscuits manage, and have enough flavour for an everyday brew with milk. A rooibos suits the evening. Store an open pack cool, dark and airtight: oats carry more natural fat than wheat flour, and when that fat goes flat the biscuit tastes papery rather than simply soft, which is the sign to finish the pack.

The packs we stock

• Nairn's Gluten Free Oaties Biscuits, 160g (barcode 612322001131)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Nairn's Gluten Free Oaties Biscuits, 160g (barcode 612322001131) says it contains gluten-free oats, and it may contain milk. Oats contain avenin, a protein some people with coeliac disease also react to. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: Gluten Free Wholegrain Oats (68%). Sustainable Palm Fruit Oil, Sugar, Partially Inverted Refiners Syrup; Lyle's Golden Syrup, Tapioca Starch, Raising Agent: Sodium Carbonates, Sea Salt.

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to drink with it

• Yorkshire Tea Original Loose Leaf Tea, 250g: a proper pot of everyday black tea for Oaties and a slice of sharp cheddar.
• Tetley Redbush Pure, 40 Tea Bags 100g: a mild rooibos for the evening that lets the toasted oat come through.
• Clipper Fairtrade Everyday Tea, 80 Pack 232g: a straightforward everyday tea bag, with milk, for Oaties and butter at the kitchen table.
• Yorkshire Tea Caramelised Biscuit Brew, 40 Tea Bags 112g: a caramelised biscuit flavoured black tea, for anyone who likes the cup to carry the dessert note the Oaties hold back.

Elsewhere in the Nairn's range

• Nairn's Caramelised biscuit moments, 170g
• Nairn's Dark Chocolate Chip Oat Biscuit, 200g
• Nairn's Decadent Dark Chocolate & Real Orange Oat Biscuits, 200g
• Nairn's Gluten Free Biscuit Breaks - Oats & Chocolate Chip, 160g

The full range is on the Nairn's brand page.

FAQ

What do Nairn's Gluten Free Oaties taste like? Mostly toasted oat, warm and nutty, with a gentle sweetness. They sit nearer an oatcake than a sweet biscuit.

Can you dunk Oaties? No. With no gluten to hold the crumb, they break up in hot tea almost immediately. Keep the cup beside them.

Do oat biscuits go with cheese? These do, better than most sweet biscuits. A sharp cheddar or a blue works, and salted butter alone is a good alternative.

Why does an old pack of Oaties taste papery? Oats carry more natural fat than wheat flour, and as that fat dulls the biscuit loses flavour as well as crispness. Store them cool, dark and airtight.

Do Oaties contain milk? Milk does not appear in the published ingredient list, but the allergen statement says they may contain milk.

Curator's note: A slice of mature cheddar on an Oatie with a pot of everyday tea is one of the quiet pleasures of a Scottish kitchen. Nobody at the table needs to know it is gluten free. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Nairn's Gluten Free Oaties: the oat biscuit that works with cheese

More from the tea wiki

• Tea and Biscuits
• Biscuit Dunking Physics: The Real Science
• Tea Pairing Principles: Reason, Don't Memorise
• Tea With Cake: The Pairing That Never Fails (If You Get It Right)
• Tea and Food Pairing: The Five Principles
• Scottish Biscuits and Tea: What Pairs With What
• Allergens in tea: how to read the label

Download as PDF