How to make delicious Air Fryer Fat Rascals. If you love Betty’s tearooms and want to recreate the fat rascal at home, then this is for you.
We have made the fat rascal nut free, made it cook faster and easier in the air fryer, yet kept that delicious fat rascal taste that we all know and love.
Fat Rascal
I remember it like it was yesterday, the very first time I stepped into a Betty’s Tearooms. I lined up outside with my mum (the queues are HUGE) and was told that it was like the best large scone that I will ever try.
And that they also made the best ever Welsh rarebit too.
Well, by the time we got to the front of the queue at the Betty’s Tearooms in York I could smell all these amazing baked goods and I was just so excited.
We sat down, were served by staff in amazing uniforms and I had my first fat rascal with butter and jam. It was AMAZING and that started my love affair with the fat rascal.
That day was my 12th birthday and even now in my 40s I love a fat rascal and a trip to Betty’s.
We are lucky enough to live just 40 minutes away from York City Centre and whenever we head into York we will always stop at Betty’s and if in a rush there will be plenty of Betty’s fat rascals making it home to reheat in the air fryer.
Today, I wanted to share with you how to reheat your fat rascals in the air fryer as well as making your own nut free version of fat rascals in the air fryer for when you can’t get to Betty’s.
Baking With Grandma Kitty
This week on Recipe This is dedicated to what recipes my grandma taught me when I was young.
It would have been her birthday this week and I want to celebrate the amazing old school classic recipes she taught me, that still today feel like they should be cooked in the air fryer.
Her nickname was Kitty to many, and she loved the classic bero little cookbooks that you can still buy today. (Here is one of them for sale)
We also have many readers over 80 at Recipe This that love old school baking, and this is dedicated to anyone that would love to bake in the air fryer with classic recipes that never go out of fashion.
You can follow the full series below:
- Air Fryer Fruit Scones
- Air Fryer Rock Cakes
- Air Fryer Fat Rascals (what you are reading now)
- Air Fryer Egg & Bacon Pie
Are You New To The Air Fryer?
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What Is A Fat Rascal?
A fat rascal is also known as a turf cake and is an old fashioned scone that goes back many, many years.
A fat rascal is also much bigger than a scone and I can never finish a fat rascal in one sitting, and it will take me a couple of days to finish one.
Whilst the fat rascal has been around for centuries, it has become more and more popular in Yorkshire thanks to Betty’s Tearooms.
I visit Betty’s whenever I am in the area and queuing in the shop you get to hear what people order and its rare if someone doesn’t ask for a fat rascal.
Is A Fat Rascal A Rock Cake?
The recipe for fat rascals is often compared to rock cakes. Whilst a rock cake has similar ingredients what is most interesting is that whilst a rock cake is 100% self raising flour, a fat rascal is 50% self raising and 50% plain flour.
I also think of the rock cake as a simple version of a fat rascal because the fat rascal recipe has a lot more ingredients to add in.
How Long Do Fat Rascals Last?
Bettys fat rascal lasts about a day between me and Jorge. The hubby and Sofia hate raisins, so it means more fat rascal for me and my boy!
Because it is like bread, the sooner you eat the fat rascal the better as it will become stale and won’t be as nice. But you can freeze your fat rascal for another time and that’s what I do.
I even remember my mum freezing fat rascals in her motorhome and delivering them to me in Portugal!
When I went to Betty’s I also grabbed a special offer on a mix of mini ones in different flavours and then froze the mini box and the paper bag from Betty’s with two fat rascals in it.
Then when I wanted them, grabbed them from the freezer, defrosted and then reheated in the air fryer.
They were perfect and we did:
- Mini rascals = 3 minutes at 160c/320f
- Fat rascals = 5 minutes at 160c/320f
Then they were warmed through and ready for serving and a great treat!
How Do You Eat A Fat Rascal?
The popular way to enjoy Betty’s fat rascals is to serve them warm with some butter and then either cheese or jam. Though you can have them like our air fryer scones with cream and jam.
Fat Rascal Recipe Ingredients
Flour – I recommend using a strong quality flour like Bero and you will need self raising flour and plain flour. Because the tradition of Yorkshire fat rascals is that they are half self raising and half plain flour.
Butter – We used M&S unsalted butter, but you can swap this for margarine if you prefer as it can make the fat rascal recipe much cheaper to make.
Sugar – Then for sugar we used caster sugar. You don’t need a lot in rascals because you have a lot of other ingredients going in.
Seasonings – Unlike making rock cakes, in a fat rascal recipe you add cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice and vanilla essence.
Egg – Unlike rock cakes you only need egg for the egg wash, there is no actual egg in the batter.
Mix – Then for the currant mix we used raisins, mixed peel, lemon zest, and orange zest. Plus lets not forget about the cherries that are used for decoration.
Milk – You don’t need a lot of milk just enough to bind together your fat rasals mix and to create a dough that is similar to scones.
Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in fat rascal recipe it has just been our Philips air fryer. We have this one and its wonderful for many types of air fryer recipes.
Plus, we recommend you head over to our air fryer recipes category as we have more than 500 tried and tested air fryer recipes and have been air frying for 10 years.
How To Make A Fat Rascal?
- Rub. Start by loading into a bowl your flour, seasonings and sugar and then mixing the fat in, until it resembles brown breadcrumbs.
- Add. Next add in raisins, mixed peel, citrus zest, and enough milk to make into a dough. Though keep mixing with your hands as you add a little milk at a time.
- Make. Use weighing scales and measure out your dough, then divide that number by four and weigh four equal sizes. Then make into large scone shapes and decorate the tops with extra peel and cherries and raisins to make a smiley face.
- Cook. Load into the air fryer and air fry your betty fat rascal for 8 minutes at 180c/360f followed by a further 3 minutes at 160c/320f.
And I am sure you can see now how easy it is making fat rascals bettys in air fryer and how you can be doing the same.
Nut Free Bettys Fat Rascal Recipe
Recipe This if you have not noticed is a 100% nut free food blog. Our eldest son Kyle is allergic to nuts and I also have an intolerance to them. I get excited sometimes for a recipe and then notice the nuts going into the ingredients list.
One complaint among my fellow Yorkshire nut free followers, is that Betty’s fat rascals contain almonds, so rest assured our version today is nut free.
More Old Fashioned Baking In The Air Fryer
I love old school baking. It feels like it never goes out of fashion. I’m aged 40 and the first thing I learnt at school was how to cook scones and now I love air fryer scones.
The same can be said for the following timeless baking recipes that are perfect for the air fryer:
- Air Fryer Cheese Flan
- Air Fryer Cheese Whirls
- Air Fryer Sponge Cake
- Air Fryer Sausage Rolls
- Air Fryer Butterfly Cakes
- Air Fryer Cornish Pasties
- Air Fryer Suet Dumplings
Your Bettys rascals recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.
Though before you do, don’t forget to subscribe, and grab your FREE VIP Pass to Recipe This. You will get access to our latest recipes first, you will be able to request recipes, you will have access to free mini courses, free air fryer ebooks and useful air fryer cook time charts and so much more.
Air Fryer Fat Rascals
Ingredients
- 120 g Self Raising Flour
- 120 g Plain Flour
- 100 g Unsalted Butter
- 40 g Caster Sugar
- 60 g Currants
- 60 g Mixed Peel
- 1 Medium Orange zest only
- 1 Medium Lemon zest only
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla Essence
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Mixed Spice
- Pinch Nutmeg
- 1 Small Egg beaten
- 2 Tbsp Skimmed Milk
- Glace Cherries for decoration
Kitchen Gadgets
Instructions
- Load into a bowl the flour, seasonings, and the sugar and then add in the butter chopped into chunks.
- Mix the fat into the flour, seasonings, and sugar until you have a bowl of coarse brown coloured breadcrumbs.
- Then add in the currants, peel, and the zest, along with the vanilla essence and mix well.
- Next add enough milk to make a soft scone style dough.
- Then measure out your mix and then divide by four. Then weigh out your dough to make 4 equal sized dough balls. Then make into scone shapes.
- Decorate the tops with glace cherry halves for eyes, mixed peel for nose and then raisins for a smile.
- Brush the tops of the rascals with egg wash using a pastry brush.
- Load into the air fryer and air fry for 8 minutes at 180c/360f followed by 3 minutes at 160c/320f.
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then save it for later!
I have just tried the fat rascals recipe using an air fryer lid on top of my instant pot. Although it looked very brown, the inside wasn’t cooked enough so I had to put it back in for a bit longer. I substituted the currants with flame raisins as I don’t like currants.
I love baking and trying out new things. I have tried these from Betty’s bakers and thought these are a real good alternative and if like me love to try things yourself. Your instructions are so helpful and really gave me confidence thanks.