AuSable River Skillet Flapjacks
Thick fried pancakes from flour, powdered egg, and water. Camp breakfast that scales to a whole tent site.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 116
- protein
- 11 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 220 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
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Powdered whole egg | 6 tbsp | stands in for 3 fresh eggs, no cooler needed |
| Water | 3/4 to 1 cup | added at camp |
| Vegetable oil | 1 cup | for frying; a shallow pool, not a coating |
| Dried blueberries | 1/3 cup | optional |
| Maple syrup or sugar | to serve |
Method
- Set a cast iron skillet over the coals or a grill grate and pour in oil about a half inch deep. Let it heat while you mix.
- Stir the flour, baking powder, salt, and egg powder together in a pot or bag.
- Add water a little at a time until the batter pours thick off a spoon. Too thin and it spreads into the oil instead of rising.
- Stir in the dried blueberries if you brought them.
- Test the oil with a drop of batter. It should sizzle right away, not smoke.
- Ladle in rounds with room between them. Fry until the edges brown, flip once, and pull them when both sides are set and crisp.
- Drain on a plate and serve with syrup or a shake of sugar. Let the oil cool fully before you deal with it.
These are fried, not griddled, which is the whole point. Batter dropped into hot oil puffs hard against the baking powder and sets with a crisp shell, so you get something closer to a fritter than a breakfast pancake. That also means the oil depth matters more than the recipe does: shallow oil gives you a greasy flat disc.
Fresh eggs do not belong in a pack, so powdered whole egg does the binding here. It rehydrates fine in the batter and you never notice. Dried blueberries replace fresh for the same reason, and they soften in the oil. Frying takes real fuel and a heavy pan, so this is a car-camping or basecamp breakfast, not a backpacking one.
Packing
Flour, baking powder, salt, and egg powder go in one bag at home; blueberries in another so they do not get crushed into dust. Oil rides in a leakproof bottle, bagged.
Variations
- Swap half the flour for cornmeal for a coarser, sturdier cake.
- Cut the oil to a thin film and cook them like normal pancakes if you would rather not carry a cup of oil.
- A spoon of powdered milk in the dry mix gives a softer crumb.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/ausable-river-flap-jacks