Dutch Oven Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie
A two-ingredient press-in crust and a canned pumpkin filling, baked over coals.
- calories
- 340
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 68
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 55 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
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Gingersnap crumbs | 2 cups | crush about 45 small cookies at home |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 6 tbsp | melted; travels fine unrefrigerated for a few days |
| Canned pumpkin | 1 can (15 oz) | plain pumpkin, not pie filling |
| Sweetened condensed milk | 1/2 cup | |
| Brown sugar | 3/4 cup | |
| Cornstarch | 2 tbsp | replaces the egg |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals well before you want dessert. You need about 20 briquette-sized embers, not flames.
- Melt the butter in the dutch oven, then pull it off the heat. Dump in the gingersnap crumbs and stir until every crumb is dark. Press the mix up the sides and across the bottom with the back of a spoon.
- In a separate pot or a gallon bag, mix the pumpkin, condensed milk, brown sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, and salt until it is one color with no dry streaks.
- Pour the filling over the crust. Lid on. Set the oven on 6 or 7 coals and put the other 14 or so on the lid, spread out toward the rim.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Rotate the oven a third of a turn every 10 minutes, and the lid the other way, or one side scorches. It is done when the center barely moves.
- Take the oven off the coals, sweep the lid clean before opening it, and let the pie sit at least an hour. It sets as it cools.
The crust is the reason this works in a dutch oven. There is no dough to roll, chill, transfer, or crimp, which are all things that go badly on a picnic table. Crumbs and melted butter pressed into the pot with a spoon is the whole technique, and cast iron holds heat evenly enough that the edges set before the middle burns.
The original filling leans on a separated egg, whipped white folded in for lift. Eggs are a poor bet away from a fridge and whipping one by hand over a fire is not worth the arm, so cornstarch does the setting instead. You lose some airiness and gain a denser, custard-like slice that holds up to being cut with a camp knife. Give it the full hour of cooling. Cut it hot and you are serving pumpkin soup in a bowl of crumbs.
Packing
Crush the cookies at home and carry the crumbs in a bag with the air pushed out; whole cookies turn to gravel in the cooler anyway. Premeasure the brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt into one bag. Cans and butter go in the food bin.
Variations
- Cinnamon graham cracker crumbs work the same way if ginger is not your thing.
- No coals? A 350 F home oven for 40 minutes bakes it in a 9-inch cast iron pan.
- Half a teaspoon of black pepper in the filling sharpens the ginger.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/easy-pumpkin-pie