Trapline Bannock- Recipe

One of my family's favourite things to eat when we are on the trapline ( an occasionally at home at the Little Shack ) is bannock.  For anyone unfamiliar with bannock, it has a very interesting history.  It is originally from Scotland, brought to Canada by early Scottish Fur Traders and is mentioned in early journals dating back to the 1900's. It was adopted by the Aboriginal people and became a traditional Native food.
Originally bannock was made from flour, water and fat. Flour was not always easy to come by in the early days, so other ingredients were used to substitute. Things like ground dried moss and cattails. Sounds yummy, right?
The bannock we use is not nearly so exotic.  I have been using this recipe for many years and have experimented with various addition.  It is the kind of thing you can change up depending on what your preference is.
Making bannock is one of the many things I love about cooking on the trapline. Living out in the middle of nowhere makes it difficult to get to a store. Bread is not an easy thing to transport on ATV or snow machine without it getting squashed! I do make my own bread in my wood cookstove out there, and at home at the Little Shack, but bannock is easy and fast and has a wonderful taste all it's own. It is great with stew, chili, soup, or slathered with butter hot from the pan!  I make extra so we can use them in sandwiches as well. I have added cinnamon, raisons and sugar to the basic recipe for a wonderful 'dessert' type bannock. Grated cheese with oregano or child powder is good too.
Let me teach you how to make Bannock and you can start experimenting yourself! I use a cast iron frying pan for making bannock, but if you do not have one, try what you have, but watch the temperature carefully. A thinner pan will require a lower heat.

BANNOCK

printable recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

water

cooking oil for frying pan

Begin preheating your frying pan, with a heavy coating of oil in the bottom, to a medium heat.

Measure all the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.  Add water a bit at a time, mixing after each addition.  You want a sticky dough in the end.

When you have this,  you have 2 choices. You can make a huge bannock or smaller bannock 'biscuits'.  A huge bannock covers the entire frying pan bottom, and is cut into wedges when done. The biscuit size are easier to handle and not so difficult to flip over.  Whichever you decide, now is the time to cook your bannock.
Spoon the dough into your hot frying pan, being careful not to splatter the hot oil onto yourself.  I find it easiest to accomplish this with a fork that has been dipped in oil to keep the dough from sticking to it. Flatten the dough to about 1 inch in thickness, shaping the biscuit sized into whatever size and shape you like. The huge one will just cover the pan and be round!

The bannock now has to fry/bake. You will need to judge for yourself the heat you use. You do not want it to bake too quickly as the inside won't bake through. It should take about 5 minutes to do a side. It should be golden brown and a bit crispy. When that happens, flip it over to do the other side. If you are attempting a huge bannock, try 2 flippers to flip it, or lift it onto a plate and then flip it back into the frying pan. Add more oil to the pan if it has all been absorbed. You can check for doneness by cutting into the centre and checking for any gooey dough still there.  Once the 2nd side has browned and it is done in the centre, remove to a plate and it's ready to enjoy!

You can make a bigger batch by doubling all the ingredients, or do as I do, and make a double batch, fill the frying pan, and then add cinnamon, raisons and sugar to the rest of the dough for a sweet version.  2 for the work of 1!