Cranberry White Chocolate Trail Cookies
Butter-and-egg cookies rebuilt to bake in a dutch oven at camp, with powdered egg and shelf-stable fat.
- calories
- 190
- weight
- 1.4 oz
- cal / oz
- 136
- protein
- 2 g
- serves
- 12, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 27 min
- water
- 30 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.
- Dessert
- Snack
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 1 1/4 cups | whole wheat works, the cookies come out denser |
|---|---|---|
| Cornstarch | 1 tsp | do not skip, this is what keeps them chewy |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | coconut or turbinado sugar both work |
| Powdered whole egg | 2 tbsp | equals one egg, rehydrated with 3 tbsp water |
| Butter | 1/2 cup | a stick keeps a couple of days out of a cooler in cool weather; ghee or shortening if it is hot |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | a small dropper bottle |
| White chocolate chips | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried cranberries | 1/2 cup |
Method
- Bank a bed of coals. You want roughly 8 on the lid and 8 underneath a 10-inch dutch oven, which is a moderate oven, not a hot one.
- Stir 3 tbsp of cold water into the powdered egg in a cup and set it aside to hydrate while you work.
- Cream the butter and sugar in the bottom of your largest pot with a spoon. Soft butter matters here; set it near the fire for a few minutes if it is stiff.
- Beat in the egg mixture and the vanilla until it looks smooth.
- Add the dry bag and stir until no flour is left loose. Fold in the chips and cranberries last.
- Line the dutch oven with foil or parchment. Drop tablespoon-sized mounds with a couple of inches between them.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes with coals top and bottom. Rotate the lid a quarter turn halfway. Pull them when the edges set and the centers still look underdone.
- Let them sit five minutes off the heat before moving them or they will fall apart.
Camp cookies fail in two predictable places: the egg and the oven. Powdered whole egg solves the first, since it rehydrates in a cup and travels in a bag instead of a shell. The second is a heat problem, not a recipe problem. A dutch oven with coals split roughly evenly top and bottom runs around a moderate oven, and the bottom scorches long before the tops color if you pile them all underneath.
The cornstarch and the pull time are what make these chewy rather than crisp. A teaspoon of starch softens the flour’s structure, and taking them off the coals while the middles still look wet lets carryover heat finish them. White chocolate is fragile in a pack, so keep it in the coldest part and expect some clumping; it melts into the dough either way. Cranberries are dry going in and stay dry, which is the point, since they draw a little moisture out of the crumb and keep the cookies from going gummy overnight.
Packing
Flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and sugar go into one bag at home, shaken together. Powdered egg in its own small bag. Chips and cranberries in a third, since they will melt into the dry mix if they get warm together.
Variations
- Swap the white chocolate for dark chips, which survive heat in a pack much better.
- Add 1/4 cup chopped macadamias or pecans if nuts are not a problem in your group.
- No dutch oven: press the dough into a greased skillet, cover with foil, and bake it as one pan cookie over low coals for about 20 minutes.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/cranberry-white-chocolate-chip-cookies