How to Make "Bannock Bread" (Naan Bread, Fry Bread, etc) without a Recipe or Yeast

I've been making "bannock bread" for the last year and I always end up tweaking a recipe. I'd try to use the leftover dry ingredients and add a couple of things. Eventually I found myself making a bannock bread without a recipe, and it always turns out exactly as I want it to. I'm going to explain how to *actually* get the hang of making this. ## Step 1: The base I've started using two cups of flour these days. If you're new, use one cup. ## Step 2: The "Wet" I've experimented with a few kinds of wet ingredients, but I always come back to a large egg. Not sure what it is about it, but it always gives you the right consistency. ## Step 3: The Fat I've used oil and butter. I always come back to butter. It's the only thing that gives the bread this buttery taste that's always delicious. ## Step 4: The "Dry" The dry ingredients are all about flavor. Some people just use salt. I use a light amount of salt, perhaps a pinch or two, but I always want to add a little rub of cumin or oregano. If you want a more authentic bannock bread, you can use baking powder/baking soda. I've never enjoyed the taste of baking soda and find that baking powder makes the bread a little too dense. ## Step 5: Mixing I start by whisking the egg a little bit, and then I add the melted butter and whisk until it's light yellow. I add my salt and any other rubs I want, and two cups of flour. Sometimes I'll grab a fork and start mixing it, but your best bet is to use your hands. It takes a little bit of effort, but you want to knead until the mix is just combined. You'll be able to feel the flour still. That's ok. I then add salt or rubs as I go along. This is going to help find the flavor that you want (replace with yeast to do away with a yeast starter or rising process). ## Step 6: Finishing it You want to knead until it's just combined. You should still be able to feel the flour. That's okay. I don't use a rolling pin. I just flatten it out to the size that I want. If you're new, make it thick. It's much easier to flip. If you're a veteran, you can make it thin. I now always make a thin bannock. ## Step 7: Cooking Heat a generous amount of oil in a pan at medium-high heat. This is where all the fat is supposed to come from. If you're not using this step, there's no possible way that your bannock is turning out right. I don't use a thermometer, but I would guess that it's about 400 degrees F when I fry it. You can tell from the bubbles and the remnants of flour in the oil. Fry for about 45 seconds to one minute per side. You'll want to flip it twice. How it works: This is how this works: I have created a bannock that has a large amount of fat, even though I don't use a lot of oil. When I fry it, it creates a crispy outside and a slightly crispy inside. When I flip it two times, it gets all the fat in the middle of the bread, creating the crispy inside and outside and then the buttery inside. If I flip it one time, it will be crispy on both the outside (because it's been fried) and inside (because it's been fried and then cooked). You can *not* make a bread with a light amount of fat. If you try, it's going to be dry and not delicious. You can try rubs of flour, or more egg, or even adding oil/butter/milk to the dry ingredients, but nothing works. The only thing that works is adding cumin or oregano and then frying it. The rubs will give is the flavor you want and the frying gives you the fat that you need. You can *not* make a bannock without frying it. If you do, you'll have no fat in the bread (you can try adding a lot of butter or oil, but nothing works as well) and there's no fat to get inside of the bread. I've tried frying it and then baking it, and it doesn't taste the same. I've tried all sorts of combinations of wet ingredients, but I've always come back to the large egg. If you really want to try something different, try a large egg yolk. Otherwise, it's not worth the effort. I've tried all sorts of combinations of fat, and I've always come back to melted butter. Otherwise, it's not worth the effort. *When I refer to "bannock bread", I'm referring to the many types of bannock that people have adapted into their own "bannock" recipe. A traditional bannock is a scone-like bread that was used to feed the dogs during the gold rush. There's many adaptations of it. One uses yeast, one uses baking soda, one uses baking powder, and so on.*

How to Make "Bannock Bread" (Naan Bread, Fry Bread, etc) without a Recipe or Yeast

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