Bannock Bread

Revised 2-10-2018

Bannock is a perfect survival or back-packing bread using very simple ingredients that can be baked in a fry pan or pot over a campfire or even wrap the dough around a green branch and bake it over the campfire on the stick. With bannock, you can have fresh bread every day even in the wilderness. Bannock can be made from virtually any kind of flour and any kind of fat available (oil, lard, or bacon grease).

Most believe that bannock is a traditional native food that was adopted by European fur traders. In fact, it's the other way around. In many parts of North America, Native people had no access to flour prior to the arrival of European traders, although some flour substitutes existed like wild turnips or corn that was dried and ground to a powder.

Bannock has its roots in Scotland. The Scots originated this simple bread. Because bannock could be quickly prepared from readily available ingredients and because these ingredients lasted a long time without spoiling, bannock became a staple of the European fur traders and subsequently the native people also.

The Basic Bannock Recipe:
2 cups flour [240 grams]
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar (optional but adds calories and taste)
1 tbs baking powder (Double Acting)
2 oz of oil, or lard, or shortening or bacon grease [56 grams]
3 oz water [105 grams]

I make four dough balls then flatten them down into an English Muffin like shape about a ½ inch thick and fried in a pan with shortening or oil. After frying, they grow to about an inch thick.

Bannock prepared in a frying pan under medium heat (about 320f) takes about 3-4 minutes a side to cook.