Camp Griddle Sourdough Muffins
Dough mixed at home the night before, cut and griddled over the fire in the morning.
- calories
- 210
- weight
- 3.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 66
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 12, scales
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- none
- 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
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Sourdough starter | 100 g | active, fed the day before you leave |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 350 g | |
| Whole wheat flour | 500 g | hard white wheat, spelt, or half all-purpose all work |
| Salt | 10 g | about 1 3/4 tsp |
| Baking soda | 1 tsp | |
| Honey | 2 tbsp | carried in a small squeeze bottle |
| Cornmeal | 2 tbsp | for dusting the tray and the pan |
Method
- The night before, stir the starter, water, and flour together in a lidded container until no dry flour is left. Cover and leave it out overnight, roughly eight hours. It does not need to be warm, only above freezing.
- In the morning, add the salt, baking soda, and honey. Work them in by hand for about five minutes, folding and pressing until the dough is uniform and pulls away from your fingers. Add flour a spoonful at a time if it stays soupy.
- Dust a cutting board with flour and pat the dough out to about 3/4 inch thick. Cut rounds with a wide-mouth jar lid or a cup rim, dipping the edge in flour between cuts.
- Set the rounds on a cornmeal-dusted board or plate and let them rise an hour and a half while you do camp chores.
- Get a dry skillet over steady medium heat: a grate above coals that have burned down, or a stove at a low setting. Cook the muffins about five minutes a side until browned and no longer doughy in the center. Move them around if your fire has hot spots.
- Split them with a knife and eat warm.
This is a long recipe with almost no work in it. The overnight ferment does the rising, so the only thing camp has to supply is a flat pan and heat you can hold steady for ten minutes. Skip the fridge entirely: the dough is supposed to sit at room temperature overnight, which is exactly what a cooler lid or a shaded bear box gives you.
The baking soda matters more here than at home. It reacts with the acid the starter built overnight and gives lift fast, which covers for a griddle that never holds one temperature. Cornmeal under the rounds keeps them from gluing themselves to whatever you set them on while they rise. Coals, not flame — direct fire scorches the outside before the middle sets.
Packing
Mix the starter, water, and flour into a screw-top container at home and haul it in the cooler. Salt, soda, and cornmeal go in one small bag; honey in a squeeze bottle. The dough travels as one container, not five ingredients.
Variations
- Swap half the whole wheat for all-purpose if you want a lighter crumb.
- Cook them in a dutch oven lid over coals if you have one along.
https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/whole-wheat-sourdough-english-muffins