Dutch Oven Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
Dough rolled and chilled at home, baked over coals at the campsite.
- calories
- 380
- weight
- 3 oz
- cal / oz
- 127
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 7, scales
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 14 min
- total time
- 39 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
- Snack
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Bread flour | 1 1/2 cups | spooned and leveled; the extra protein keeps the cookies chewy |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Baking soda | 1/4 tsp | |
| Cream of tartar | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | |
| Unsalted butter | 1/2 cup (113 g) | room temperature when you mix at home |
| Granulated sugar | 3/4 cup (150 g) | |
| Egg | 1 large | room temperature |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | |
| Sprinkles | 1/2 cup (80 g) | plus a spoonful for pressing on top |
| Granulated sugar for rolling | 1/4 cup |
Method
- At home: whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt together.
- Beat the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until pale, about a minute. Add the egg and vanilla and beat another minute.
- Stir in the dry mix on low until it just comes together, then fold in the sprinkles. The dough will be stiff and tacky.
- Scoop 2 tablespoons at a time, roll into balls, roll each in the rolling sugar, and freeze them solid on a tray. Transfer to a bag and pack them in the cooler.
- At camp: burn a fire down to coals. You want roughly 17 on the lid and 8 underneath for a 12-inch oven, which is about 350°F.
- Line the dutch oven with parchment or a round of foil. Set four or five dough balls in with three inches between them. They spread.
- Lid on, coals on top, and check at 11 minutes. Pull them when the edges color and the middles still look underdone.
- Let them sit in the oven off the heat for 5 minutes before you move them. Reload with a fresh set of dough balls and repeat.
Sugar cookie dough does not want to be made outdoors. Creaming butter takes a mixer, and the dough has to chill for hours before it will hold its shape. So all of that happens in your kitchen, and the campsite only handles the last fifteen minutes.
Freezing the balls instead of just chilling them does double duty: it controls the spread over uneven coal heat, and it keeps the egg and butter cold in the cooler. Bread flour is the one substitution worth keeping from the original. It gives the dough enough structure to survive a hot spot in the dutch oven without going tough.
Packing
Dough balls go in a zip bag with parchment squares between the layers so they do not weld together. Keep them frozen in the cooler until an hour before baking. Bring parchment or heavy foil for the oven and a lid lifter.
Variations
- Swap the sprinkles for chopped dried cherries if you want less sugar on top of sugar.
- No dutch oven: flatten the balls slightly and bake them in a covered skillet over low coals, watching the bottoms.
- Bake the whole batch at home and carry them in a hard container. They keep a week at room temperature.
https://mealswithmaria.site/sprinkle-sugar-cookies