What is a Scottish Bap?

A Scottish bap is a Scottish yeast bread roll. It is usually round in most areas of Scotland, but it can be made in other shapes. Scottish baps are not as tall or as small as American bread rolls and are not sweet like Irish bread rolls. They have a little indentation in the center and are flour-dusted. The Scottish bap is a food staple that may be eaten at any time of day in Scotland.

A traditional way to serve a Scottish bap is to butter it and then fill it with meat and eat it like a sandwich. Lorne sausage, which is very similar to American meatloaf, is a popular bap filling. Ground pork, ground beef, seasonings and fine bread crumbs are mixed together and then baked in a pan. The meat is sliced and can be frozen in small portions so that slices of Lorne sausage can be defrosted and fried up anytime to enjoy hot on a soft, floury Scottish bap.

Scottish baps can also be turned into bacon rolls, known in Scotland as bacon batties. The bap is buttered first and some people like to use unsalted butter. Then, freshly fried bacon is piled into the Scottish bap and often a brown sauce such as HP sauce is added. Some Scottish eateries feature additions to their bacon batties such as cheese, egg or spinach.

Baps are also served alongside Lincolnshire sausages and caramelized onions in many Scottish pubs. Lincolnshire sausages are coarse pork and sage linked sausages. Fritter rolls are yet another way to eat Scottish baps. A few potato fritters are placed inside the bap and brown sauce such as HP sauce, or salt and vinegar may be added to the fritter roll.

A Scottish bap should always be soft and floury. Scottish baps are made from a dough of flour, butter, salt, yeast, water and milk. The bap dough is often kneaded and left to rise several times before being formed into rounds and baked. The center of the bap is pinched with the fingers to let air escape and the bap is dusted with flour before baking