Scottish Oatmeal Bannock

This is a soft, sweet little bread, a little like a scone. It's often cooked or fried in a frying pan, but this recipe uses an oven. In the future, I'm going to try the pan-frying method.

Apparently, Scottish fur traders brought the recipe to the Native Americans of Eastern Canada in the 18th Century, and eventually the recipe morphed into a kind of frybread.

Scottish Oatmeal Bannock Recipe
Modified From Kathy Cutler's The Festive Bread Book Yields 1 8-inch round loaf

1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup milk
4 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1/4 cup currants or raisins

Combine the yeast with the warm water and set aside to proof for about 5 minutes, or until foamy.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt and oats in a large mixing bowl.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and butter until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm but not too hot to touch. Mix into the yeast mixture, then add all of it to the oat-flour mixture. Mix thoroughly and beat in the egg.

Mix in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth – about 10 minutes.

Let rise in a covered, greased bowl until doubled in bulk – about 1 hour.

Punch down and knead in the currants or raisins. Roll into an 8-inch circle and place in a greased 8-inch cake pan. Cut into 8 wedges, cover, and let rise until double again – about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and bake about 25 minutes.