Friday, June 12, 2009
Bannock
The Catholics, among whom I count myself, have a vast number of feast days commemorating special events as well as a coterie of Saints and holy people. Very often, there are special foods made and enjoyed on those days, a great number of which happen to be desserts. June 9, on the old calendar, celebrates St. Columba of Iona. In honor of his Irish heritage, on this make Bannock (although this is not the recipe I used).
What is a bannock? Well, there seem to be a variety of forms. The one I chose was the top result after a quick google search and I would characterize this treat as the Irish version of a sopapilla.
Bannock
From The Canadian Crafter
Ingredients
I used the dough hook on my kitchenaid mixer and let it do the work of kneading my dough. I really eyed the water and overdid it a little but added maybe 1/4 cup of flour after the fact so it wasn't so sticky.
What I especially liked about this recipe was that you don't need a vat of oil to deep fry in. I just coated the bottom of my pan generously (not really even 1/4" deep) and it was enough to do the job. There was very little oil to throw away when I was done. I had to watch the heat on the oil, of course. My first bannock didn't puff up because it wasn't hot enough. Once properly heated, these simple treats cook up in under 3 minutes.
The result: an easy to make treat that really isn't all that sinful. The cinnamon sugar sweetens the plain dough just right. You could experiment with other sweet topings like lemon sugar, vanillar sugar, shaved chocolate...etc.
What is a bannock? Well, there seem to be a variety of forms. The one I chose was the top result after a quick google search and I would characterize this treat as the Irish version of a sopapilla.
Bannock
From The Canadian Crafter
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 tablespoons oil
- About 1 1/2 cups water
- cinnamon sugar for dusting cooked bannock
- Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
- Add water, enough to make an elastic dough
- Knead 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in the mixer
- Break off small pieces and roll to 1/4" rounds
- In a frying pan heat 1/4" oil to medium-high
- Place dough and fry on one side until golden brown, flip and cook on the other side
- Remove from pan, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar while still warm.
- Enjoy!
I used the dough hook on my kitchenaid mixer and let it do the work of kneading my dough. I really eyed the water and overdid it a little but added maybe 1/4 cup of flour after the fact so it wasn't so sticky.
What I especially liked about this recipe was that you don't need a vat of oil to deep fry in. I just coated the bottom of my pan generously (not really even 1/4" deep) and it was enough to do the job. There was very little oil to throw away when I was done. I had to watch the heat on the oil, of course. My first bannock didn't puff up because it wasn't hot enough. Once properly heated, these simple treats cook up in under 3 minutes.
The result: an easy to make treat that really isn't all that sinful. The cinnamon sugar sweetens the plain dough just right. You could experiment with other sweet topings like lemon sugar, vanillar sugar, shaved chocolate...etc.
# posted by Baking Fool @ 2:41 PM 
