Rustic Scottish Bannock Recipe - Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking (2024)

FAQs

Why is my bannock hard? ›

This is the part where you don't want to knead the dough too much because if you do… your bannock will become real hard. So make sure that you knead the dough only about 3-4 times, it should not take too long to do. Place it on a baking tray, then take a fork and start poking holes in the flat kneaded dough.

Bannock is a type of fry bread, which originates from Scotland but was eventually adopted by the Indigenous peoples of Canada, particularly the Métis of western Canada. Bannock stems from the Gaelic word bannach, which means “morsel,” a short and sweet but accurate description.

According to Cameron, a bannock was the whole circular quick bread or cake, while a scone was the individual piece cut, like a pie slice, from a bannock. It dawned on me that this old distinction is reflected in the way my Scottish mother-in-law made her cheese scones. From my mother-in-law's recipe collection.

Bannock can be baked in a pan or on a stone (camping), shallow pan-fried, or deep-fried. You can enjoy it with stews or just jam and butter.

Adding water is the tricky part! If you add too much, it becomes a gooey mess. Too little and the powdered ingredients don't become dough. Also, you do not have to knead bannock dough like for other breads.

The name Bannock seems to originate from the Old Celtic English “bannuc”, derived from the Latin “panicium” for “bread” or meaning “anything baked”. Made simply from oatmeal and flour, the first citing of a bannock or bannuc recipe in Scotland was in the 8th Century.

Selkirk bannock is made from wheat flour and contains fruit. The word bannock derives from the Latin panicum, denoting an edible milletlike grain. Special bannocks were once made for holidays and religious feasts, such as Beltane bannocks on the first of May and Lammas bannocks on the first day of autumn.

Bannock is usually unleavened, oval-shaped and flat. The version that we know today came from Scotland. In its most rudimentary form, it is made of flour, water, and fat or lard.

In Scotland and Ulster, savoury varieties of scone include soda scones, also known as soda farls, sour dough scones known as soor dook scones made with sour milk, and potato scones, normally known as tattie scones, which resemble small, thin savoury pancakes made with potato flour.

A Biscuit (U.S.) Is a Scone (U.K.)

The closest British equivalent to those buttery miracles is a scone, which ain't too bad either. Both baked goodies use flour, fat, liquid and a leavening agent.

Do Scots eat scones? ›

Scones are popular throughout the United Kingdom, but Scotland as a distinctive version known as tattie scones (“tattie” is Scottish for potato).

Classic bannock has a smoky, almost nutty flavour blended with a buttery taste, while dessert bannock can have flavours resembling a donut or shortbread. Making bannock is an art that takes years to perfect.

Bannock (British and Irish food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle served mainly in Scotland but consumed throughout the British Isles. Bannock (Indigenous American food), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying also known as a native delicacy.

Baking powder is made of baking soda plus cream of tartar and cornstarch. Baking powder can be substituted for baking soda by tripling the amount of baking powder. Baking soda can be substituted for baking powder by dividing the amount of baking powder needed by 4 and adding twice that amount of cream of tartar.

If your dough is slightly hard and not dry, you can try to soften it by kneading the dough between your fingers or rolling it between your hands (clean of course, to avoid mixing dust or dirt with the dough).

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

REVIVING A LOAF FOR FRESH EATING

Splash some water over the top of your bread, just enough to become slightly damp. Place the loaf in a 250°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Watch it closely and remove it when warm. Too long in the oven and you'll get dried-out toast.

Overworking the dough. Particularly if you are using a machine to knead, if you knead it for too long, that will over-develop the gluten strands, which can cause the dough to be a bit more tough. If you think this might be the case, try kneading for a minute less and see if the result is better. Not enough rising time.