camp meals

Camp Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Yeast dough, a triple hit of spice, and a Dutch oven buried in coals. Plan the whole afternoon around it.

calories
540
weight
4.5 oz
cal / oz
120
protein
8 g
serves
12
prep
30 min
cook
35 min
total time
65 min
water
300 ml boiled
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
  • Vegetarian
  • Nut free
  • Real dishes
  • Pre-mix at home
  • Needs a cooler
  • Actual cooking

Ingredients

All-purpose flour 5 cups 640 g, plus a handful for the board
Instant yeast 1 tbsp instant, not active dry, so it needs no proofing step
Granulated sugar 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp divided
Whole milk powder 1/3 cup reconstitutes into 1 cup of milk
Powdered whole egg 1/4 cup stands in for 2 eggs; carry real eggs in the cooler if you prefer
Kosher salt 1 1/2 tsp plus 1/4 tsp for the frosting
Unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups 3 sticks: dough, filling, frosting
Vanilla extract 1 tbsp plus 2 tsp small dropper bottle
Brown sugar 1 cup light or dark
Ground cinnamon 2 tbsp
Ground ginger and cardamom 1 tsp each the other two spices
Cream cheese 16 oz two blocks, softened
Confectioners sugar 4 cups

Method

  1. Start a fire early. You want a deep bed of coals, not flames, and that takes an hour.
  2. Boil 300 ml of water, stir in the milk powder, and let it cool to warm. Hot liquid kills yeast.
  3. In a large bowl mix the flour, yeast, 1/2 cup sugar, egg powder, and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Pour in the warm milk and one melted stick of butter. Stir, then knead on a floured cutting board until it stops sticking to your hands, about 8 minutes.
  4. Cover the bowl and set it somewhere warm, near the fire but not in it. Ninety minutes, or until it has doubled.
  5. Melt a second stick of butter. Mix the brown sugar, remaining 2 tbsp granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom in a cup.
  6. Roll or press the dough into a rough rectangle, brush the butter over it, scatter the spice mix, roll it up long side first, and cut 12 rolls with dental floss or a knife.
  7. Grease a 10-inch Dutch oven, set the rolls in it, cover, and let them puff for 30 minutes.
  8. Bake with coals under and on top, roughly 8 below and 16 on the lid, for 30 to 35 minutes. Rotate the oven and the lid a quarter turn every 10 minutes so nothing scorches.
  9. For the frosting, brown the last stick of butter in a small pan until it smells nutty and the flecks go brown, then let it cool. Beat it with the cream cheese, confectioners sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, and 1/4 tsp salt.
  10. Frost while the rolls are warm but not hot, or the frosting slides off and pools.

This is a home recipe that survives the move outdoors because the hard parts are chemistry, not equipment. Yeast wants warmth and time, and a campsite with a fire going has both. Cast iron holds heat steadily enough to bake in, which is the whole reason the Dutch oven exists.

The substitutions are for the cooler, not the stove. Milk powder and powdered egg mean the dough ingredients ride in one bag and do not spoil if the ice runs low; butter and cream cheese still need to stay cold, so this is a car-camping recipe and not a backpacking one. Coal placement matters more than time. Most of the heat goes on the lid, or the bottoms burn before the tops set.

Packing

Measure the flour, yeast, sugar, egg powder, milk powder, and salt into one gallon bag at home. Spice mix into a second small bag. Butter and cream cheese go in the cooler; confectioners sugar in its own bag or it drifts everywhere.

Variations

  • Skip the brown butter step and just beat softened butter into the frosting. It costs you flavor and saves you a pan.
  • No Dutch oven: bake in a foil pan inside a covered kettle grill with the coals banked to one side.

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/triple-spice-cinnamon-rolls-with-brown-butter-cream-cheese-frosting

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