Friday Feast | Bread for a Viking Table
Welcome to a Viking Friday Feast! With much cooler temps and cleaner skies, I can now share my own version of Viking bread. I first made this over a year ago, along with a hearty Split Pea and Bacon soup. It became a favorite last autumn.
It was customary for the Vikings to eat two meals per day—one in the morning and one in the evening. They ate with their fingers from flat wooden trenchers, or used wooden bowls for porridge, soups, and stews. The Vikings also used antlers and bones that were fashioned into spoons.
A bit of trivia about the antlers they used...
Since they didn’t have baking soda, baking powder, or yeast, they did have another leavening agent—reindeer antler salt. The oil is distilled from the antlers and from there salt was created.
This dense bread is super easy to make and delicious warm from the oven with butter and/or honey spread thickly over a slice.
Skål (Cheers)
Viking Bread
Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups water
3/4 cup rolled oats
3 tablespoons rolled oats (to sprinkle on top)
Honey and butter
Instructions
Whisk all dry ingredients together and then add the water.
Stir everything with a wooden spoon until it comes partially together.
Knead the dough with damp hands.
Form the dough into a round disk (approximately 8 inches across). Place bread on baking stone or a greased baking sheet.
Lightly brush the top with water and sprinkle the reserved oats on the top. Put into a cold oven.
Turn on oven to 375 degrees for 1 hour.
Cool slightly and then spread with butter and/or honey.
