Campfire Bannocks

Posted in: Autumn, Spring, Summer, Winter

Bannock twists are fun and easy to cook over the campfire. They’re great as an after-school snack, or add a pan of soup and that’s dinner sorted! Despite being a terrible cook and disastrous with any sort of baking, I actually managed to master the art of bannock making – testimony to just how simple it is….

What is a bannock twist?

Put simply, bannocks are campfire bread. The ‘twist’ element is that the dough is rolled out and twisted around a stick. The bannock can then be cooked by toasting it over the fire… just like a marshmallow. They need very few ingredients and are easy to make… that’s my kind of cooking

Making a campfire

To cook bannocks you’ll need a campfire. I’d recommend using a fire pit, BBQ, or a metal pan (dustbin lid, hubcap or even an old wok). To avoid scorching the ground, put the pan on rock or wooden legs. If you have permission to make a fire on the ground, clear away any leaf litter, turf, or anything that could risk spreading the fire. We make a stone circle to contain our fire.

There’s a great article here by the Ordnance Survey about lighting a safe outdoor fire

lighting a fire with flint and steel — Lighting a fire using a flint and steel

Bannock Ingredients

2 cups of plain flour (literally cups, I used 2 x mugs. Roughly 250g)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
About 175 ml water (preferably warm)
Ours were extra fancy as we added some wild herbs (garlic, chervil and garlic mustard) but this isn’t a necessity….

Kit List

Ingredients as above
Mixing bowl
Flat, clean surface such as a chopping board
Whittling knife for the bannock sticks

Method

Light your campfire
Find your bannock sticks – this should be a green stick of non-toxic wood, such as birch. As a rough guide, the stick should be about thumb width. If possible, shave off the bark using a knife.
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly make a dough by adding the water little by little until you have a smooth, fairly dry dough. Warm water is best but cold water will work too.
You may not need all the water. After much umming and ahhing, I took a guess at having the right consistency and it seemed to work so don’t worry too much.
Add the herbs if using
Knead the dough a little, just to bring it together.
Divide the dough into 4 and then roll each out into a sausage shape – about thumb thickness.
Twist the dough like a spiral around the stick

Cooking bannock breads

Either hold your bannock over the campfire to cook, or skewer it into the ground, tilting the bannock over the fire so you’re hands-free cooking!
Rotate the stick as necessary to cook the dough evenly.
Serve with butter and jam, chocolate spread or with soup if this is a campfire supper! We had ours with a campfire wild garlic and nettle soup….