Camp Damper Bread
Flour, baking powder, and raisins baked in a dutch oven over coals. No yeast, no waiting.
- calories
- 390
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 87
- protein
- 8 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 240 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.
- Dinner
- Breakfast
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 3 cups | plus a small handful for dusting |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 3 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Butter or shortening | 3 tbsp | shortening keeps without a cooler |
| Raisins | 7 oz | |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | reconstituted, replaces the fresh milk |
| Water | 1 cup |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want steady heat, not flame.
- Whisk the powdered milk into 1 cup of cold water and set it aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in the dutch oven or a bag. Work the butter in with your fingers until the mix looks like coarse sand.
- Stir in the raisins, then pour in the milk all at once. Mix with a spoon until it just holds together. Overworking it makes it tough.
- Knead four or five turns on a floured lid or board, then press into a round about six inches across.
- Grease the dutch oven, set the round inside, and cut a deep cross in the top so the center cooks through.
- Bake with coals under and on the lid, roughly 10 minutes hot, then pull coals off the bottom and go another 15 to 20. It is done when a stick comes out clean.
Damper is a chemically leavened bread, so nothing has to rise and nothing has to stay alive in your pack. Baking powder does all the lifting the moment liquid hits it, which means the clock starts when you mix and the dough should go on the heat immediately.
The original called for fresh milk, which is a non-starter without a cooler. Powdered whole milk and water gets you the same fat and sugars for browning, and it keeps in the dry mix all trip. The cross cut in the top is not decoration — a six-inch round is thick enough that the middle stays raw unless you open a path for heat.
Packing
Premix flour, baking powder, salt, and milk powder into one bag at home. Raisins and fat ride separately so the dry mix stays dry.
Variations
- Skip the raisins and add shredded hard cheese and dried onion for a savory loaf.
- Wrap fist-sized pieces of dough around green sticks and cook them over coals if you have no dutch oven.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/australian-damper