Dutch Oven Apple Crisp
Sliced apples, yellow cake mix, and butter under a lid of coals. Three ingredients, one pot.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 95
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 50 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.
- Dessert
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Apples | 6 medium | Granny Smith or another tart apple holds its shape |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow cake mix | 1 box (about 15 oz) | dry, straight from the box |
| Butter, melted | 1/2 cup | stick butter keeps a week out of a cooler in cool weather |
| Sugar | 1/4 cup | |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp | |
| Lemon juice | 1 tbsp | optional, keeps the slices from browning while you work |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want steady coals, not flames.
- Core and slice the apples. Toss them with the sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice, and spread them across the bottom of a 12-inch Dutch oven.
- Pour the dry cake mix over the apples in an even layer. Do not stir it in.
- Drizzle the melted butter over the top, edge to edge. Any dry patches stay powdery, so cover the whole surface.
- Lid on. Put about 8 coals underneath and 16 on the lid. Rotate the oven a third turn every 10 minutes and the lid the other way.
- Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is browned and the apples bubble at the edges. Let it sit 10 minutes before serving.
This is the cake-mix crisp trick, moved to a Dutch oven. Dry cake mix over fruit does what an oat topping does: the butter and the fruit’s own juice wet it from both sides, and it sets into a crust without anyone measuring flour at a picnic table.
Heat placement is the only part that takes attention. Most of the coals go on the lid so the top browns while the bottom just simmers the apples. Too many underneath and the fruit scorches before the topping is done. Rotating the oven and lid in opposite directions evens out the hot spots your fire will inevitably have.
Packing
Cake mix stays in its box or a gallon bag. Butter and sugar-cinnamon mix ride in the cooler-adjacent food bin. Apples pack fine loose in a crate if nothing heavy sits on them.
Variations
- Swap in a spice cake mix and drop the cinnamon.
- Canned apple pie filling replaces the fresh apples and the prep entirely: two cans, no slicing.
- Dried apple slices work if you soak them in a cup of water for 20 minutes first.
https://thesurvivalmom.com/31-delicious-apple-recipes-for-every-day-of-the-month