Camp Skillet Rolls
Yeast dough mixed in a bag, risen in the sun, baked in a covered pot over coals.
- calories
- 210
- weight
- 2.4 oz
- cal / oz
- 88
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 12, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 240 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.
- Dinner
- 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 | measure at home into the premix bag |
|---|---|---|
| Active dry yeast | 2 1/4 tsp | one packet; instant works at the same amount and skips the proof |
| Sugar | 1/4 cup | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Powdered whole egg | 2 tbsp | stands in for 1 egg, plus 3 tbsp water |
| Warm water | 1 cup | about 240 ml, wrist temperature |
| Butter | 4 tbsp | ghee if it will be warm out |
Method
- Stir the yeast and sugar into 1 cup of water that is warm, not hot. Water off a rolling boil will kill it. Wait five minutes for foam.
- Add the powdered egg with its 3 tbsp water, 2 tbsp of the butter melted, and the flour-salt premix. Knead in the bag or on a clean lid until the dough stops sticking to your hands, about five minutes.
- Cover and leave it somewhere warm until roughly doubled. An hour in sun, longer in cold. Set the pot near the fire if the air is under 60F.
- Pinch off twelve pieces, roll each into a ball, and crowd them into a greased dutch oven so the sides touch.
- Let them puff a second time, about 30 minutes, while the fire burns down to coals.
- Bake with coals underneath and on the lid, roughly a third below and two thirds above, for 20 to 25 minutes. Rotate the pot and the lid a quarter turn every 10 minutes so nothing scorches.
- Pull when the tops are brown. Brush with the last of the butter.
This is a home dinner-roll dough with the refrigerator taken out of it. Powdered egg and butter replace the fresh egg and dairy, and the whole dry side gets measured into one bag at home so camp work is water, kneading, and waiting. It is a car-camping or basecamp recipe, not a backpacking one, because two rises take two hours you will not want on a walking day.
The two things that go wrong are heat. Water hot enough to feel hot kills the yeast, and coals piled under the pot burn the bottoms before the tops set. Keep most of the coals on the lid, and turn the pot against the lid so no hot spot sits in one place.
Packing
Flour, sugar, salt, and powdered egg go in one gallon bag at home. Yeast rides in its sealed packet, not in the flour, or it wakes up early in a humid pack. Butter in a screw-top tub.
Variations
- Skip the egg powder entirely for a plainer, chewier roll. The dough still works.
- A quarter cup of powdered milk in the premix gives a softer crumb.
- No dutch oven: bake the balls in a foil-lined skillet with a foil lid and a ring of coals, and check twice as often.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/best-homemade-dinner-roll-recipe