Skip to content

Side Β· Breakfast

Campfire Bannock (Skillet or Stick)

A simple flatbread of flour, baking powder, fat and water, cooked in a skillet or wrapped around a stick over the coals. A camp staple for centuries.

⏱ 30 min (10 min prep, 20 min cooking) 🍽 Serves 6 · 1 wedge budgetmake aheadkid friendlyquick vegetarianvegandairy free
πŸ“… Add to my plan

ContainsWheat. Check the labels on what you buy; brands differ.

Ingredients

Make 6 servings
  • 2 cup All-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp Baking powder
  • 1 tbsp Granulated sugar
  • Β½ tsp Table salt
  • 3 tbsp Vegetable shortening, or lard or butter
  • ΒΎ cup Water, about
  • 1 tbsp Vegetable oil (soybean), for the skillet

Nutrition

Nutrition coming: the USDA numbers for these ingredients are being added.

Steps

You’ll need: mixing bowl or a sturdy zip-top bag, cast-iron skillet, spatula, clean green sticks or metal roasting sticks (optional).

  1. At home, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and rub in the shortening with your fingers until it looks like coarse crumbs. Pack it in a zip-top bag; it keeps 2 weeks.
  2. At camp, add the water a little at a time, squeezing the bag or stirring in a bowl, until it makes a soft dough that isn’t sticky. Knead it a few times.
  3. Skillet: pat the dough into a round about ΒΎ inch thick. Heat the oil in the skillet over low coals or a low stove flame and cook 8 to 10 minutes per side, until golden and it sounds hollow when tapped. Keep the heat low so the middle cooks before the outside burns.
  4. On a stick: roll pieces of dough into ropes and wind them around clean sticks. Hold them over glowing coals, turning, 8 to 10 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Don’t eat raw dough (FDA).
  5. Cut into wedges and eat warm, with butter, jam or the chili.
Make aheadThe dry mix with the fat rubbed in keeps 2 weeks in a cool place.
β†Ί LeftoversWrap leftover bannock and eat it within 2 days.
πŸ§’ With kidsKids can mix the dough in the bag and wind it on sticks. Supervise them near the fire.
Sweet swapAdd a handful of raisins or berries and a pinch of cinnamon.
Traditional swapLard is the traditional fat in many families; butter works too.

Goes well with

Good to know

An original Teddy Rook Book recipe, written for our Camping and campfire cooking collection; safety steps follow USDA. Nutrition is estimated from USDA FoodData Central and changes with brands and portions.