Skillet Bannock Grilled Cheese
Pan bread from four dry ingredients, split hot and filled with cheese.
- calories
- 690
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 125
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 120 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.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Backpacking
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 1 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Water | about 1/2 cup | cold, added at camp |
| Hard cheese | 2 oz | aged cheddar or gouda; no refrigeration needed for a few days |
| Olive oil or ghee | 2 tbsp | for the pan |
Method
- Dump the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl or the mixing bag. Add water a splash at a time until it holds together as a soft dough. Do not keep working it.
- Press the dough into a flat round about half an inch thick.
- Heat half the oil in a skillet over low coals or a stove on its lowest setting. Lay the round in.
- Cook 6 to 8 minutes per side. Low heat matters here. A hot pan gives you a black crust over raw dough.
- Slide the bannock out and split it edgewise with a knife. Lay the cheese on the cut face.
- Add the rest of the oil to the pan, close the bannock, and press it back down for 2 minutes a side until the cheese runs.
The source version starts with sliced bread, which is dead weight and dead volume in a pack. Bannock solves that. Flour, baking powder, salt, and water is the whole bread, it weighs a fraction of a loaf, and it does not crush.
The two constraints are heat and hydration. Add water slowly, because dough that gets too wet cannot be fixed with more flour in the field. Cook it slow, off direct flame, on the edge of the coals. Aged hard cheese holds several days out of a fridge; soft cheese does not, so do not substitute it.
Packing
Flour, baking powder, and salt premixed in one zip bag. Oil in a leakproof dropper bottle. Cheese wrapped separately in wax paper, not plastic, so it does not sweat.
Variations
- Stir a spoon of milk powder into the dry mix for a softer crumb.
- Dried onion flakes or a shake of chili powder in the dough carries the sandwich without any condiment.
- Cook the round directly on a stick over coals if you have no pan, then split and fill it off the fire.
https://www.outdoorsy.com/blog/campfire-cooking-4-twists-to-take-your-grilled-cheese-to-the-next-level