Bake Viking Flatbread

Archaeologists have found flatbread loaves in Viking graves at Birka in Sweden. You can make some Viking bread using our recipe. It is based on an old recipe from Normandy in France. It is believed to be as near to an old Viking flatbread as is possible.

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Adult supervision is required.

Type of Activity : Cooking

How many people required (minimum) : 1+

Safety Measures : Get your parent to use the oven for you

Ages : All Ages

Time Required: 1.5 hours (including the cooking time)

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas Mark 7)

Step 2

Put the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a hole in the middle and pour in the beaten egg.

Step 3

Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the flour and egg mixture.

Step 4

Time to get your hands in! Knead the mixture until you have a smooth dough. Leave the dough to stand for about 30 minutes.

Step 5

Roll out the dough so that it is quite thin. Use some flour on your rolling pin and work surface to stop the dough sticking.

Step 6

Fold it over on itself four times. Roll out the dough again and repeat the folding over.

Step 7

Make the dough into a ball and leave it to stand for 15 minutes covered with a clean tea towel.

Step 8

Roll the dough out to a round shape about the thickness of your finger and put it onto a baking sheet. Your flatbread is now ready to cook!

Step 9

Bake in your preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the flatbread is golden brown. Ask an adult to help you take your bread out of the oven. Of course Vikings didn’t have ovens! They would have probably cooked their bread on hot stones over an open fire.

Step 10

Enjoy eating your flatbread! To make the flatbread sweeter, you can add a little bit of honey. Chopped nuts make the flatbread extra yummy!

Step 11

The Viking bread found in the graves at Birka was made with a mixture of barley and wheat flour. Some Viking breads also used spelt flour or oats. You could try experimenting with different types of flour.