Damper Recipe (Australian 3 Ingredient Bread)

This damper recipe is a celebrated Australian bread. It’s effortless, can be made in an oven or over a coal-fired camp. The outside is golden and crunchy with a filling inside. It's a wonderful 3 ingredients bread. 

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Jump to:

• 😋Why you’ll love this recipe
• ✔️What You’ll Need
• 🥘Ingredient Notes
• 🔪Step by step guide
• 🍳Variations
• 💡What to serve with?
• 💭Pro Tips
• ❓FAQ
• 🥘Related recipes
• Damper Recipe (Australian 3 Ingredient Bread)

Damper bread was the first bread I learnt.

I think I was in year four or five, and I loved playing with this easy-to-make dough and then turning it into bread. The classroom smelt divine with baked bread.

It was part of learning our Australian history, learning about how the early settlers came to Australia with little to live on.

Making bread from two ingredients; plain flour and water to make damper, which they cooked over a campfire and carried around in a swag.

Once a jolly swagman… now that song is in my head.

Damper is one of our iconic foods, just like a meat pie, sausage roll and vegemite on toast.

Nowadays, the damper is a little bit fancier, with the addition of milk, and flavourings.

This damper bread recipe is a basic one, which you can vary, see variations below.

😋Why you’ll love this recipe

• Damper is yeast-free and requires no leavening.
• It’s a quick - simple mix, quick knead and then bake
• It’s inexpensive, it’s a 3 ingredients bread (not counting the salt)

✔️What You’ll Need

🥘Ingredient Notes

Self-raising flour - is the easiest to use, however, if you prefer to use plain flour use a couple of teaspoons of baking powder with it to help create a lighter bread.

Butter - I used a vegan butter to keep this a vegan bread, use your preferred brand

Milk - I used almond milk, however, use your preferred milk or water can be used instead

🔪Step by step guide

Step 1 - In a large mixing bowl, add flour and plant-based butter, massage with your fingers until it resembles a sandy mixture.

Step 2 - Create a well and add milk, use a fork to mix together until you need to use your hands to knead the dough.

Dust your hands with flour and need for 1 minute. Create a disk with the dough.

Step 3 - Grease cast iron dutch oven (affiliate link) and place dough into it, score dough into 8 pieces, cover with a lid and bake in a preheated oven of 200C (392F) for 35-40 minutes.

Step 4 - Once golden brown and hollow, allow resting for 5 minutes before serving.

🍳Variations

Making damper savoury

Add fresh herbs and black cracked pepper - I love using fresh rosemary

For a cheesy flavour - add some nutritional yeast

Add some chopped olives

Mix in some Vegemite into the dough

Crushed garlic is a huge hit with our family

Add in a spoonful of zaatar

Making damper sweet

Add chopped dried fruit such as sultanas or apricot pieces with a teaspoon of maple syrup

Damper with golden syrup - this is an Aussie favourite. Add a smear or drizzle of golden syrup to buttered damper bread.

💡What to serve with?

I love making damper whenever I make soup, as my family loves to dunk this Australian bread into it.

Try damper with velvety vegan broccoli soup, creamy spicy cauliflower soup, easy carrot and celery soup, creamy vegan asparagus soup or my delicious Try my vegan beet soup.

Damper is also great for brekky, as this is a vegan damper recipe, enjoy it with a vegan egg scramble.

Or try it with dinner with any of these vegan roast recipes.

For a sweet damper, try it with my refined sugar-free plum jam.

💭Pro Tips

If you don’t have a cast iron dutch oven (affiliate link), simply mould the dough into a disc and place it onto a baking tray and bake. 

To know when damper is ready, simply knock on the bottom of the bread if it sounds hollow then it is ready.

Make smaller individual damper rolls by making portioned balls and placing them onto a baking tray

Keep your loaf of damper enclosed in the dutch oven*, it will stay soft. If you like the crunchy exterior, sit it out during serving.

❓FAQ

🥘Related recipes

Dunk this bread into some luscious gluten free tomato soup or creamy pumpkin soup without cream

Did you enjoy making this vegan damper recipe? I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment below and give me a rating. This will help me sustain Plant Based Folk. 

Alternatively, did you happen to take a damper bread? Tag me @plantbasedfolk on Instagram to be featured via stories.

Janelle x