Cinnamon Damper Bread on a Stick

Cinnamon damper bread is a sweet and moreish twist on plain damper bread. Damper bread can be very bland if you use only the basic ingredients of flour, salt, and water. But add just a couple of extra ingredients, and suddenly that boring bread becomes a whole lot more exciting.

Damper bread is what Australians call the simple bread that bushmen would (and do) cook in the embers of their campfires. Here in the UK, damper bread is most often cooked twisted around a stick, and is regular activity at forest schools. I cook it often at the sessions I run, and of all the variations, this is the absolute favourite.

What’s great about damper bread is that it uses only a few (vegan) ingredients, none of which need refrigerating, so it’s great for camping and outdoor adventures. You can also easily add other ingredients to create a variety of flavours. This version uses cinnamon powder and brown sugar to create a sweet taste, but you could also add herbs or spices, dried fruit or vegetables, cheese or nuts and grains.

Cinnamon Damper Bread Recipe

Ingredients

800g self raising flour
2-3 tablespoons soft brown sugar
2 teaspoons sweet cinnamon powder (or cinnamon powder)
Pinch of salt
1 – 2 mugfuls of water

Directions

1. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt) together in a bowl.
2. Next, add water to form a stiff dough. Add the water gradually as you may not need it all. 
3. Once formed into a dough, remove it from the bowl and knead for about 5 – 10 minutes, until it is pliable, soft, and not sticky. The more you knead, the better!
4. Divide the dough into small balls roughly the size of a walnut or a ping pong ball. This is about the right amount for one damper bread spiral, as if you make it too thick, you’ll end up with burnt bread on the outside but raw dough in the middle.
5. The dough can be covered and stored somewhere cool and dry for a day or two. When ready to cook, take a dough ball and roll it between your hands to make a long dough snake, roughly a centimetre/half an inch thick and about 15 – 20cm (6 – 8 inches) long. If your dough snake is too thick, it will not cook evenly and you may end up with a burnt exterior but a raw middle!
6. Wrap the dough snake around the end of a long stick (freshly cut is best) in a spiral shape. The dough will expand as it cooks, so spread out the loops of your spiral if you want them to remain separate.
7. Hold the dough end of the stick over an open fire to cook, turning frequently.
8. The bread will be cooked once the outside has turned golden brown and is firm and crisp to the touch, but light on the inside.

Damper bread dip…

Once cooked, just slide your bread off the stick to eat. And then to make this an extra decadent treat, try mixing up some icing sugar and water to make a simple but sweet dipping sauce. Yum!!

Looking for more fun things to make and do with the kids? Check out these other campfire activities from Rhubarb and Wren.

Pin this cinnamon damper bread recipe for later!

Want to bookmark this post for later? Save it to Pinterest!