Four-Ingredient Trail Bannock
Flour, baking powder, salt, fat. Bread you mix in the pan and fry in ten minutes.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 18 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 150 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Snack
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp | double-acting, still in date |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp | optional, helps it brown |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | stands in for the buttermilk a home recipe would use |
| Olive or canola oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle, plus a little more for the pan |
| Cold water | about 150 ml |
Method
- Dump the dry mix into your pan or a freezer bag. Add the oil and about half the water.
- Stir with a spoon, then work it with your hand. Add water a splash at a time until it holds together and stops sticking to your fingers. Stop there. Overworked dough goes tough.
- Press it into a flat round about a finger thick. Thicker than that and the middle stays raw.
- Film the pan with oil and set it over low heat. Low. High heat burns the outside in two minutes and leaves paste inside.
- Cover it with a lid or a piece of foil. Five to six minutes a side, until both faces are brown and the edges look dry.
- Poke a stick or fork through the middle. If it comes out clean, it is done. Tear it apart and eat it hot.
Bread is one of the cheapest things to make from scratch and one of the few that survives being made without a kitchen. Flour, baking powder, salt, and fat is the whole system. Baking powder does the lifting, so there is no yeast to keep alive and no rise to wait through — you mix and you cook.
The home version of this leans on buttermilk and an oven. Neither travels, so powdered milk carries the dairy and a covered pan over low heat does the oven’s job: the lid traps enough steam to cook the middle before the crust gives up. Keep the round thin and the flame low and it works every time.
Packing
Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and milk powder at home into one bag. The oil rides separately in a bottle. Squeeze the air out of the flour bag or it takes up half your food sack.
Variations
- Push a handful of dried fruit and cinnamon into the dough for a breakfast version.
- Cut the round into strips and wrap them around a green stick over coals if your pan is busy.
- Swap the milk powder for a spoon of powdered cheese and eat it alongside soup.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/best-foods-make-from-scratch