Apple Pie Skillet Muffin
Freeze-dried apples and cinnamon batter baked in a foil-lined pan over coals.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 105
- protein
- 8 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dessert
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| All purpose flour | 2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 3/4 cup | |
| Baking powder | 2 tsp | |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cinnamon | 2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/3 cup | stands in for the yogurt |
| Powdered eggs | 3 tbsp | equals two eggs |
| Butter powder | 1/3 cup | or 4 tbsp real butter if you have a cooler |
| Vanilla powder | 1 tsp | extract leaks, powder does not |
| Freeze-dried apple slices | 1 1/2 cups | crushed to thumbnail pieces |
| Cold water | 180 ml |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down. You want coals, not flames.
- Line the dutch oven or a deep pan with foil. Grease the foil if you carried oil.
- Dump the dry mix into a pot and pour in 180 ml of cold water. Stir until it just comes together, maybe twenty strokes. Lumps are fine, gluten is not.
- Fold in the crushed apples last so they stay in pieces.
- Spread the batter in the pan, lid on, and set it on a thin bed of coals. Pile more coals on the lid so most of the heat comes from above.
- Twenty to twenty-five minutes. A twig poked into the middle should come out clean.
- Rotate the pot a quarter turn every five minutes if you notice one side scorching.
The original is a home muffin recipe with butter, yogurt, and eggs from a fridge. All three are replaceable with powder, and the swaps do the same jobs: milk powder plus water gives the acid-free liquid, egg powder binds, butter powder carries the fat. Freeze-dried apples were already in the source recipe, which is what makes it worth adapting at all. They rehydrate off the batter’s moisture during the bake instead of dumping water into it the way fresh apple would.
Heat management is the whole game in a dutch oven. Most of your coals belong on the lid. Coals underneath scorch the bottom long before the center sets, and a quick-bread batter this thick needs the full twenty-plus minutes. Stir the batter as little as you can stand.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag at home: flour, sugar, leaveners, cinnamon, salt, milk powder, egg powder, butter powder, vanilla powder. Apples ride in a separate bag because they crush into dust under pack weight. Bring foil.
Variations
- Skip the pan and spoon the batter into a greased foil packet for individual portions on a grill grate.
- Freeze-dried strawberries or blueberries work the same way. Add a bit more sugar for tart fruit.
- A tablespoon of brown sugar and cinnamon scattered on top before the lid goes on gives you a crust.
https://homeandkind.com/blogs/food-recipes/apple-pie-muffins-recipe-with-thrive-life-food-storage