Dutch Oven Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding
Stale croissants, chopped chocolate, and a custard mixed from powder. Baked in coals at the picnic table.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 116
- protein
- 9 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 75 min
- water
- 350 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
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Croissants | 8 to 10 | day-old or older, torn into bite-size pieces |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole eggs | 6 tbsp | equals 3 large eggs |
| Powdered whole milk | 3/4 cup | mixed rich, this stands in for half and half |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| Chopped milk or white chocolate | 1/2 cup | chopped bar beats chips, it melts into the bread |
| Butter or ghee | 1/4 cup | melted and cooled |
| Ground cinnamon | 1/2 tsp | |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | or a shake of vanilla powder |
| Salt | a pinch | |
| Water | 350 ml | cold, for the powdered milk and eggs |
Method
- Start a fire early. You want a bed of coals about 45 minutes before you plan to eat.
- Tear the croissants into the dutch oven and scatter the chopped chocolate through them.
- In a bowl or a wide-mouth bottle, whisk the powdered milk and egg powder into 350 ml of cold water until no dry lumps remain. Add the sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and whisk again.
- Pour the custard over the bread. Press the top pieces down so everything is wet. Let it sit 20 minutes with the lid on.
- Set the oven on about 8 coals and put 14 or 15 on the lid. That is roughly 325F in a 12-inch oven.
- Bake 35 minutes. Lift the lid, keeping ash off the food. If the top is still pale and the middle jiggles, add a few coals to the lid and give it 10 more minutes.
- Pull it off the coals and let it stand until it is warm rather than hot. It sets as it cools.
Bread pudding is a good camp dessert because it wants stale bread and it forgives bad temperature control. The original called for eggs and half and half out of a cooler. Powdered whole egg and milk powder mixed rich do the same job with no fridge, and they let you build the custard in a bottle instead of hauling a mixing bowl.
The soak matters more than the bake. Twenty minutes gives the croissant layers time to pull the liquid in; skip it and you get wet bread sitting in scrambled custard. Coals on the lid are what brown the top, so keep more heat above than below or the bottom scorches before the middle sets.
Packing
Combine the milk powder, egg powder, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in one bag at home so camp is one pour and one whisk. Chocolate and croissants ride in separate bags, both of them crushable.
Variations
- Powdered coconut milk in place of the dairy powder, and oil in place of the butter.
- A shot of instant coffee in the custard cuts the sweetness.
- No croissants: any stale enriched bread works. Brioche or leftover hot dog buns.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/dutch-oven-chocolate-crossaint-bread-pudding