One of life's greatest simple pleasures... Fluffy, delicious bread baked over a campfire. This no knead bread on a stick is so fun to make, and even more to eat!
The Tradition of Bread on a Stick
Making bread over a campfire is one of the rites of passage that everyone should experience. Scouts and forest school children are often taught how to make stickbread. It's a great way to learn about outdoor skills, and a great reward to enjoy! In England bread cooked on a stick is known as damper. In Denmark Snobrød is associated with the concept of hygge - a feeling of coziness, contentment and everyday togetherness. It really is such a good feeling to enjoy fresh bread you have made yourself whilst enjoying the beauty and power of nature! And it's a great activity for everyone to enjoy together. Food for the soul!
How to make the dough
The dough is a yeast based dough, so this recipe requires a little patience - but good things come to those that wait! You can make the dough first, and then start gathering wood for your campfire. By the time the you have a campfire with good embers to cook over, your dough will have risen.
The mix is really easy, just combine flour, yeast, sugar, water, oil and salt. There's no need to knead it, just mix until combined. Our recipe uses cups so it's easy for you to measure when you are out camping. No scales needed!
Choosing your stickbread sticks
The best sticks for cooking over a campfire are long enough that you can hold them a comforatble distance from the fire. Around 1.5m is good. You can also prop them up using a rock for easier cooking.
Freshly cut greenwood is good because it's moister and won't burn so easily. Strip the bark using a sharp knife, pointed away from you. This is always a good task to give to a child keen to work on their whittling skills!
As the wood comes into contact with food, it's a good idea to choose a stick from a non poisonous tree species. Try fruit woods e.g. Apple, Pear, Plum, or Beech, Oak, Sycamore. "Dogwood, ash, maple and elm make good marshmallow sticks; safe but plain" Paul Hetzler on Choosing the Right Stick For Marshmallows.
We like to put our stick in the flame for a bit to sterilise it, and preheat it a little.
Cooking your bread on a stick
Once you've got your sticks, dough and fire ready... Empty the dough from the bowl onto a well floured board. Using floured hands, knock the air out out of it, and bring it into a ball, and divide into the number of bread on a sticks that you want to make. 8 is a good number for this amount of dough.
Stretch out your divided pieces of dough, and then gently roll into long sausage shapes.
Twist around your the end of your sticks, and pinch the end together to secure the strip if necessary.
The best part of the fire to cook over is hot embers. Flames are tempting, but often too hot and likely to burn. You want a nice even heat so your bread is light and fluffy on the inside, and browned and crusty on the outside. YUM!
Keep rotating the bread so you cook all sides evenly.
Quick, your stickbread is ready!
When your bread is browned on all sides, it's ready to enjoy. You can have a little competition over who found the best spot to bake their bread on a stick!
You can eat the bread straight off the stick.... Tear open, unravel and admire the beautifully fluffy inside!
You can also slide the bread off the stick when it has cooled a little, And then fill up the hole with jam. We use our fave Apricot Jam. Oh yes!
We hope you enjoy making your bread on a stick! More great fun vegan camping recipes here:
Campfire Brownie
Wild Blueberry Pancakes
Campfire Dessert Calzone
Happy baking!
Sophie and Paul
Campfire bread on a stick
Ingredients
- 1 tsp dried yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 ½ cups (300 g) flour
- ⅞ cup (200 ml) warm water
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Dough
- In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients into a moist dough. No need to knead!
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size - about 1 hour.
- With floured hands, briefly 'knock back' the dough by making it into a ball.
- Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 8 pieces.
Shaping your stickbreads
- Start by stretching the dough into a strip and then roll it into a long sausage shape.
- Twist a strip around the end of your sticks. Pinch the dough together to secure the end if necessary.
Cooking over a campfire
- Either hold or prop up your stick over the fire.
- Choose a spot over hot embers for best results.
- Keep rotating until all sides are browned.
- Enjoy your freshly baked bread!
