Scottish Perkins Biscuits Recipe

Perkins Biscuits, like many Scottish recipes, are as simple as they are delicious. Also, like many Scottish recipes, they can go under at least two different names.

But whether you remember your family eating Perkins or Parkins biscuits, this recipe will take you back in time with each bite.

What are Perkins Biscuits?

During this recipe, we’ll call our biscuits Perkins biscuits for a reason we’ll explain shortly. Perkins biscuits are tasty treats made from a mix of oats, flour, sugar, and syrup flavoured gently with cinnamon and ginger decorated with a blanched almond. The taste is subtle but moreish, and these little biscuits are perfect with a cup of tea.

They are not to be confused with the Yorkshire Parkin, which is more like a ginger cake but also comes as a “Parkin biscuit”, but they often are, and we’ve seen them called both names. In fact, when you search for them, both types of biscuits pop up.

Even when we asked our family about them, the same person called them both names in different messages!

Where do Perkins Biscuits come from?

There are two answers to this. The first is that Scottish Perkins biscuits seemed to be inspired by another recipe. Parkin is actually a ginger-based cake from the north of England, particularly Yorkshire. The cake is fantastic and worth a try; it is made with oatmeal and treacle.

It must be good because it was first mentioned in a publication in 1728 when Anne Whittaker was accused of sealing oatmeal to make Parkin. 

A heinous crime indeed! 

Parkin was popular wherever oats were the diet of the lower classes rather than wheat. Here, we start to see how it became popular in Scotland, where oats can be seen used throughout the traditional recipes we’ve made, such as Oatcakes, Cranachan, and Porridge. 

So, that’s Parkin cake… but how did Perkins biscuits come about? That’s a good question, but like all good flavour combinations, people like to experiment, especially when items need to last longer.

Biscuits seem like the next logical step, and that’s the jump we’ve had to make. Depending on your location, there are various versions of Parkin and Perkins as the recipe changes from area to area.

Yorkshire Parkin Biscuits are a stiffer, more gingery biscuit than the Scottish Perkins biscuit, which is a touch softer, has an almond for decoration and has a more oaty texture. Much more our cup of tea. 

It may also be that because the names Perkins and Parkin are very similar they’ve just been confused for each other a lot!

Our Family Perkins Biscuit Recipe

The second answer to where Perkins Biscuits come from is family.

Perkins Biscuits are one of those biscuits for which Scottish families have a recipe on a scrap of paper in a drawer. It’ll be written neatly with spidery handwriting in a matter-of-fact manner.

This well-loved recipe from the relative in the family that bakes will have been passed down, adapted and adhered to as ingredients are available.

Our recipe is from Phil’s Step-mum’s Grandmother, Elizabeth Garland. A terrific baker in her own right, she lived in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, in a home where visitors could be welcomed with a variety of cakes and biscuits.

The smell of Perkins baking still brings a wonderful feeling of comfort to everyone who remembers it, and we’re very honoured to have been shown her handwritten recipe. It’s a recipe that has meant our wee boys still enjoy Perkins biscuits today without us ever knowing their relevance and the memories they stir up.

You will note that Elizabeth’s recipe looks like it calls her biscuits Parkins. We won’t hold it against her! 

With permission, we’ve recreated Elizabeth’s recipe and adapted it to suit the ingredients we commonly use. But here’s the original if you’d like to try it.  

Things you’ll need to make our Perkins Biscuits recipe

• Wooden Spoon
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Rolling pin
• Flour Sifter
• Baking Tray
• Parchment / Baking Paper
• Cooling Rack

Ingredients for our Perkins Biscuits recipe

• 120g plain flour (1 cup)
• 120g porridge oats or variant (just over 1 cup)
• 60g butter (1/4 cup)
• 60g caster sugar (1/4 cup)
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 egg
• Blanched almonds to decorate

How to make Perkins Biscuits – Step-by-step method

Pre-heat the oven to 160C

Melt the butter and golden syrup together and set aside to cool. Sift the flour into a large bowl.

Add the bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon, oats, and sugar.

Add the melted butter and sugar, and a beaten egg.

Mix together until well combined.

Roll mixture into large marble-sized balls (around 1.5inch) and place on a baking tray, or two.

You’ll need room for them to spread in the oven.

Press an almond lightly down onto the centre of each. If you want larger biscuits you can press down more.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through the centre. This will depend on how much you have pressed them flat and your oven.

Allow to cool slightly on the tray as they will still be soft, then move onto a rack to fully cool once they can be handled.

Try Some Other Tasty Biscuit and Traybakes Recipes

• Abernethy Biscuits
• Chocolate Tiffin
• Fruity Flapjack
• Almond Slice
• Mars Bar Slice
• Empire Biscuits

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