Damper
A rustic Australian bush bread with a crisp, floury crust and a soft, dense crumb, mixed and baked with almost nothing but flour, milk and butter — no yeast, no proving, ready inside half an hour.
About this dish
Damper was the bread of stockmen, shearers and swagmen travelling the Australian outback in the 19th century, made from whatever flour, water and a little fat they carried, with no time or means for yeast or a proper oven. Traditionally it was baked directly in the coals of a campfire, the dough sometimes wrapped around a stick and turned over the flames, rather than in the loaf tin most home versions use today. It's less a precise recipe than a technique for turning flour into something edible fast, which is exactly why it survives in Australian cooking as a symbol of bush self-sufficiency rather than as everyday bread.
- Vegetarian
- Not vegan because of Unsalted butter, Whole milk
- Contains gluten because of Self-raising flour
- Contains dairy because of Unsalted butter, Whole milk
Ingredients
- 450gSelf-raising flour
- 6gFine sea salt
- 50gUnsalted butter
- 200mlWhole milk
- 80mlWater
Instructions
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, then rub in the butter with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
5 minTip: Keep the butter cold and work quickly — warm, melting butter coats the flour instead of staying in small flecks, and those flecks are what gives damper its short, crumbly texture.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk and water, mixing with a knife until it just comes together into a soft, slightly sticky dough.
3 minTip: Stop mixing the moment it comes together — overworking a damper dough develops gluten and turns the loaf tough and chewy instead of tender.
Turn onto a floured surface, shape into a round about 4cm thick, and dust the top with a little extra flour. Score a deep cross into the top.
2 minTip: The cross isn't decoration — it helps the thick loaf cook through evenly and is traditionally said to let the spirits out, a bit of bush folklore that's stuck around.
Bake at 220°C for 25–30 minutes until golden and it sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Serve warm with plenty of butter.
30 minTip: Damper is best eaten the day it's baked, ideally still warm — it dries out fast and has none of the preservatives or fat that keep a shop loaf soft for days.