Dutch Oven Fruit Cobbler Pie
Biscuit mix, canned fruit, and coals. A pie you build in the pot you bake it in.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 72
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 240 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
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dry biscuit mix | 3 cups | Bisquick or any self-rising blend |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 1/4 cup plus 1 cup water | stands in for 1 cup fresh milk |
| Sugar | 4 tbsp | |
| Canned fruit | 1 can, 15 oz | peaches or blueberries in syrup, not water-packed |
| Oil or shortening | 1 tbsp | for greasing the oven |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want roughly 300°F in a 10-inch dutch oven: about 10 coals under, 17 on the lid.
- Open the can and drain the syrup into a cup. Keep it.
- Whisk the milk powder into 1 cup of cold water. Stir it into 2 1/2 cups of the biscuit mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms, adding the rest of the mix a spoonful at a time until it stops sticking to your hands.
- Split the dough into two pieces, one slightly bigger. Grease the oven and press the bigger piece across the bottom and half an inch up the sides.
- Scatter 2 tbsp sugar over the base, then spread the drained fruit on top.
- Flatten the smaller piece into a thin round, lay it over the fruit, and crimp the edges into the bottom crust with a fork.
- Spoon the reserved syrup over the top crust and sprinkle on the last 2 tbsp sugar. Poke a few vent holes.
- Bake 30 minutes with coals under and on the lid. Rotate the oven a third turn every 10 minutes, lid the opposite way, so no one spot scorches.
Biscuit mix is the whole reason this works in a camp kitchen. The leavening and fat are already in the powder, so the only wet ingredient is milk, and powdered milk covers that with no cooler. Reserve a half cup of the mix instead of dumping all three in at once. Humidity changes how much liquid the dough wants, and dry dough you can fix is easier than wet dough you cannot.
The canned syrup is not a garnish. Poured over the top crust it soaks in and browns, which is what keeps a plain biscuit lid from baking into a cracker. Coal placement matters more than time here. Most of the heat belongs on the lid, or the bottom crust burns before the top sets.
Packing
Measure the biscuit mix, milk powder, and sugar into one bag at home and label the sugar split. The can is the heavy part, so this is a first-night dessert.
Variations
- Skip the top crust, drop the dough over the fruit in spoonfuls, and you have a cobbler that bakes more evenly.
- A pinch of cinnamon in the sugar works with peaches. Lemon zest, dried, works with blueberries.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/easy_pie-2379.asp