This is the best part of any Danish bonfire. Forget marshmallows — snobrød is what Danes actually gather around a fire for. You twist dough onto a stick, hold it over the embers, then yap and drink a cold one until it’s golden and hollow-sounding when you tap it. Low effort, high reward, and somehow always the highlight of the night.
I lived in Denmark for nine years and enjoyed this a number of times — at Kristi himmelfart bonfires in May, on camping trips, at beautiful Friday-night bål in Christiania with friends. Kids especially love it, because twisting dough onto a stick and cooking it yourself over fire is, frankly, just really fun.
My favourite move: skip the plain stick and wrap the dough spiral-style around a just-cooked sausage instead. It bakes right onto the casing, soaking up all the juices — basically a Danish hot dog, but leveled-up!
Snobrød
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups / 140g oat flour
- 1 ½ cups / 160g spelt flour
- ⅔ cup / 150ml water
- ½ tsp. / 2g instant yeast
- ¾ tsp. / 5g fine sea salt
- Sesame seeds for garnish if desired
Directions
- In a large bowl, stir together the water (lukewarm) and the instant yeast until the yeast dissolves. Add the oat flour, spelt flour, and salt. Mix by hand or with a wooden spoon, then your hands, and knead for 10 minutes, until the dough comes together and feels smooth and elastic.
- Cover the bowl with a cloth and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours at room temperature. For deeper flavour, let it rise slowly overnight in the fridge instead, then bring to room temperature before shaping.
- Find a green, sturdy stick and whittle one end to a smooth point (or use a metal skewer).
- Divide the dough roughly into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope about 1.5cm thick, then wind it spiral-style around the stick, pinching the ends to seal. For a sausage version, wrap the rope around a just-cooked sausage instead, leaving a little space between coils so the bread can puff. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoons sesame seeds, for garnish (optional) if using.
- Bake over the fire: Hold the dough-wrapped stick over glowing embers (not open flame, which will burn the outside before the inside cooks), turning slowly and evenly. It’s done when deeply golden and hollow-sounding when tapped, about 10 minutes.
- Once the bread is fully cooked, let cool for a minute, then twist gently to slide the bread off the stick. Serve warm, plain or with butter and jam for a sweet finish, or as-is around the sausage for a Danish take on a hot dog with mustard and onions.
Notes
