Camp Brioche Rolls
Egg-and-butter dough baked in a dutch oven. Rich enough that breakfast is one roll.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 3.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 103
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 55 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
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 3 1/2 cups | bread flour works, whole wheat does not |
|---|---|---|
| Whole milk powder | 1/3 cup | stands in for the 3/4 cup warm milk |
| Active dry yeast | 2 1/4 tsp | one packet |
| Sugar | 1/4 cup | |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Whole egg powder | 6 tbsp | equals 3 eggs; rehydrates with 6 tbsp water |
| Butter | 6 tbsp | softened; ghee keeps longer in heat |
| Water | about 3/4 cup | warm, not hot |
Method
- Stir the yeast and a spoonful of the sugar into 3/4 cup water warmed to about body temperature. Wait five minutes for it to foam. No foam means dead yeast and no bread.
- Add the premixed dry bag and the egg powder. Stir to a shaggy mass, then knead in the pot or on a clean lid for eight to ten minutes.
- Work the butter in a tablespoon at a time. The dough will come apart and look wrong before it comes back together. Keep going.
- Cover and let it rise somewhere warm for 45 minutes, or until it holds a dent when poked.
- Divide into eight balls, arrange in a greased 10-inch dutch oven, and rise again for 20 minutes.
- Bake with about 8 coals underneath and 16 on the lid, roughly 30 minutes. Rotate the oven and the lid a quarter turn every ten minutes so nothing scorches.
- Done when the tops are deep gold and a roll sounds hollow tapped on the bottom.
Brioche is a bread problem solved with fat. The eggs and butter coat the gluten strands, which is why the crumb comes out tender and slightly flaky instead of chewy. It is also why the dough resists kneading and takes longer to rise than a lean loaf.
The home version wants fresh milk and whole eggs. Neither survives a weekend in a pack, so this uses whole milk powder and egg powder mixed into the dry blend and hydrated with plain water. The dough behaves the same. Butter is the one thing worth carrying cold, and ghee is the honest swap when the cooler stays home. This is a basecamp recipe: two rises and a bed of coals mean you need a morning with nothing else scheduled.
Packing
Flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, and egg powder go in one gallon bag at home. Yeast stays in its own sealed packet, away from the salt. Butter travels in a screw-top tub; ghee if the cooler is not going.
Variations
- Brush the tops with melted butter and cinnamon sugar in the last five minutes.
- Press a square of chocolate into each ball before the second rise.
- No dutch oven: bake the balls in a covered skillet over very low coals, turning them once.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/easy-brioche-bread-recipe