Yule Bannock, recipe 1#

2 cups oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3/4 cup unsalted sweet butter
1/2 cup boiling water
1. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Cut into butter with knife until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Add the water to the mixture.
4. Mix to a dough.
5. Roll out until quite thin and then cut into rounds (about the size of a jam lid).
6. Cook at 392 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

Yule Bannock, recipe 2#

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/8 cup confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup finely minced candied fruit
1/4 cup finely minced toasted almonds
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces and slightly softened
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

To prepare by hand: On a cool work surface, combine flour, salt and sugar; stir to blend. Add fruit and almonds, tossing to coat fruit with flour mixture. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles fine crumbs. To prepare in a food processor: In work bowl of food processor, combine flour, salt and confectioners' sugar. Pulse briefly until just blended. Add fruit, almonds and butter. Pulse several times until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press dough into 8-inch-square baking pan; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until lightly browned (about 30 minutes). Immediately cut into 1-inch squares. Leave in pan 10 minutes, then place cubes on wire rack to cool. Makes 64 cookies.

Yule Bannock was divided into farls or quarters by the sign of the cross. Traditionally, Yule bannocks were baked before dawn on the morning of December 25, and one given to each member of the family. If it could be kept intact until the evening meal, this augered good fortune for the coming year. If broken, or nibbled, good fortune would be broken too. Doubtless this tradition relates to the time when the Christian observance of the birth of the Savior was a day of fasting. Any treat would have to be saved until after sundown. (And the treat would probably have to be made before sunrise.)

This round shaped bannock has an earlier origin, probably linked to the sun.

Yuletide or Christmas has never been celebrated in Scotland to the same extent as Hogmanay. The Scottish Celts did not orginally celebrate the December Solstice. Some Traditions seem to have been absorbed from Scandinavian traditions involving the midwinter celebration of Jul. The holiday was sometimes known as "Yultide." Later there were a number of influences from the Protestant Reformation in Scotland on how the Christian midwinter holiday was observed.

Thus, the Scottish "Old Christmas" was comprised of three days of solemn Tribune: church services, fasting, and daily labor with hard work. There were church services on Christmas Eve (December 24) and Christmas Day (December 25), followed by a day of Christian charity on the Feast of Stephen (December 26), now known as Boxing Day. Then Hogmanay celebrations, which are associated with the New Year celebration, began sometime after December 26.

In Scotland, December 25 was often known as Nollaig Beag (the Little Nativity). Another of the names for the midwinter holidays was Oidche Choinnle (Night of Candles). Candles were placed in every window to light the way for visitors.

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