Pinnebrød is my new favorite thing to throw on the BBQ this summer. This simple bonfire bread traditionally is enjoyed during Sankthansaften (Midsummer Eve), but is a trendy food to cook all throughout the summer months in Scandinavia.
I wanted to try making some variations of this earlier in the week after testing out a recipe a few weeks ago that was so enjoyable I had to share it with you all!
What is pinnebrød?
Pinnebrød simply translates to ‘bread on a stick’ and is a popular and easy food to make outdoors during the summer. Much more fun than grilled flatbread or pizza, pinnebrød is a dough you shape into a sausage link that is wrapped around a stick and grilled over an open fire.
In Denmark pinnebrød is equally popular, but it is called snobrød, “sno” means to twist, so it translates to twisted bread. Whether Norwegian or Danish, this bread becomes crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with a delicious grilled flavor. It’s a magic thing!
Norwegians and Scandinavians in general love to spend as much time as possible outdoors in the summer, which is very short in northern Europe. While enjoying nature, we love swimming, hiking, boating, going for walks, and of course… cooking! It only makes sense we love cooking over an open fire, optimizing our time outdoors.
Pinnebrød is often referred to as turmat – a Norwegian term for food you bring along when hiking or camping. The dough is made at home, then wrapped and placed in a to-go container and put in a backpack. When your destination is reached, you only have to twist it around a stick and start grilling! 🙂
How to make?
Pinnebrød is a simple dough, with flour, water, salt, yeast and oil, although I see many recipes using baking powder. I prefer a yeasted dough as it is much more flavorful. I chose to use vegan butter in my dough instead of oil which imparted a slightly softer and silkier texture.
I also used a mixture of spelt and all-purpose flour, making the dough a little more rustic and nuttier in taste.
Traditionally, a stick from either birch, hazel or willow trees is used to twist the bread around, which imparts additional woody flavor to the dough.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any on hand so I just used thick BBQ bamboo skewers that measure about 16 inches in length. Make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes- 1 hour before you threat the dough on, otherwise, the sticks will burn on the live fire.
If you are grilling your pinnebrød over a life fire, make sure the fire has burned down so that there are only glowing pieces of wood left, with almost no flames. Too strong a flame will leave the dough raw inside and too charred on the outside.
As the weather has been unpredictable with storms and rain this summer, I opted for cooking my pinnebrød on our gas grill instead of the charcoal grill – it still worked beautifully and I got some excellent grill marks on the bread!
Variations
You can also fill this doughy deliciousness with a myriad of things – this time around I did four different versions of pinnebrød:
- Filled with sautêed onions, garlic, ground Beyond Meat, onions, garlic and tomatoes spiced with taco seasoning. A funner way to eat pizza! 🙂
- Filled with homemade basil and kale pesto and meltable cashew cheese… Dreamy!
- Brushed with an herbed compound butter using herbs from my garden (taste of summer!)
- A sweet version brushed with a butter-cinnamon-sugar mixture (yum!)
Pinnebrød is also enjoyed simply with some jam or just some sugar and butter. Kids enjoy them just drizzled with ketchup (no judgment 🙂
Pinnebrød is highly satisfying both in flavor and ease of making – I hope you are tempted to try grilling some this summer!
PINNEBRØD
Makes 12-15 pieces
2 cups (5 dl) spelt flour
2 cups (5 dl) all-purpose flour
1 heaping tablespoon Norwegian sea salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
1 ¼ cup *3 dl water)
3 tablespoons Just Eggs (can be eliminated)
90 grams (6 ½ tablespoons) butter, diced
Combine all the ingredients except the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead on medium speed for about 10 minutes, then slowly add in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Knead for another 10 minutes until you have a shiny and fairly firm dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 1 hour until doubled in size.
If using bamboo sticks, soak them in water while the dough rises.
Preheat your grill or light your bonfire.
When ready to cook the pinnebrød, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 12 pieces (or a few more, depending on how big you want them). Roll them out to sausage links about 10 inches. If you want to fill the pinnebrød, add a few spoonfuls of your filling into your dough before cutting them into pieces and rolling them out.
Twist each link around individual sticks, place on a sheet tray and continue until you have all the sticks wrapped.
Brush with a little oil and place over the fire or on your grill, keep turning the bread to make sure they are evenly cooked all around. I usually leave the pinnebrød for about 1 minute before turning them and repeat until you have a nice golden exterior (a little char is nice!).
The bread is done when it gives off a hollow sound when lightly tapped and easily glides off the stick.
Repeat with the remaining sticks, and enjoy outdoors!
PINNEBRØD
Ingredients
- 2 cups (5 dl) spelt flour
- 2 cups (5 dl) all-purpose flour
- 1 heaping tablespoon Norwegian sea salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 1 ¼ cup (3 dl) water
- 3 tablespoons Just Eggs can be eliminated
- 90 grams (6 ½ tablespoons) butter, diced
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients except the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead on medium speed for about 10 minutes, then slowly add in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Knead for another 10 minutes until you have a shiny and fairly firm dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 1 hour until doubled in size.
- If using bamboo sticks, soak them in water while the dough rises.
- Preheat your grill or light your bonfire.
- When ready to cook the pinnebrød, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 12 pieces (or a few more, depending on how big you want them). Roll them out to sausage links about 10 inches. If you want to fill the pinnebrød, add a few spoonfuls of your filling into your dough before cutting them into pieces and rolling them out.
- Twist each link around individual sticks, place on a sheet tray and continue until you have all the sticks wrapped.
- Brush with a little oil and place over the fire or on your grill, keep turning the bread to make sure they are evenly cooked all around. I usually leave the pinnebrød for about 1 minute before turning them and repeat until you have a nice golden exterior (a little char is nice!). The bread is done when it gives off a hollow sound when lightly tapped and easily glides off the stick.
- Repeat with the remaining sticks, and enjoy outdoors!
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