Foil Packet Apple Crisp
Sliced apples and an oat crumble sealed in foil, cooked in coals until the fruit gives up.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 8 oz
- cal / oz
- 65
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 35 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
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Honeycrisp apples | 4 cups | peeled and sliced thin; Granny Smith or Gala work too |
|---|---|---|
| White sugar | 1/4 cup | |
| Cinnamon | 2 tsp | |
| Butter | 1/2 cup | melted; keep it cool until you mix |
| Brown sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| All-purpose flour | 1/2 cup | |
| Quick oats | 1/2 cup | |
| Baking powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Canned whipped topping | to taste | the shelf-stable aerosol kind |
Method
- Tear four sheets of foil about 12 inches square. Pile a quarter of the apple slices in the middle of each.
- Toss the white sugar and cinnamon through the apples so every slice is coated.
- Stir the brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking powder together, then work in the melted butter until it clumps. Spoon it over the four apple piles.
- Fold each packet shut and crimp the seams tight. Juice that escapes ends up in the fire instead of the fruit.
- Set the packets on a grate over medium coals, or directly on hot coals raked flat. Twenty minutes, give or take.
- Pull them off and wait a couple of minutes before opening. The steam inside is hotter than the foil.
- Open, top with whipped topping, eat out of the foil.
Foil packets are the right vehicle for a crisp in camp because the pan is disposable and the portioning happens up front. Each person gets a sealed packet, the apples steam in their own juice, and nothing needs scrubbing afterward. The crimp on the seam matters more than the heat does. A loose fold leaks sugar into the coals and leaves you with dry fruit.
The flour and baking powder in the topping are what keep it from turning into wet oatmeal. Butter binds the crumble into clumps that brown against the foil instead of dissolving. Everything except the butter and apples travels dry, so the whole dessert is one freezer bag plus whatever is already in the cooler.
Packing
Mix the crumble topping at home and carry it in one freezer bag. Slice the apples at home too and toss them with a squeeze of lemon so they do not brown. Both ride in the cooler. Butter goes in the cooler separately and gets melted at camp.
Variations
- Canned apple pie filling swaps in for the fresh apples and cuts prep to nothing.
- Chocolate chips scattered over the apples before the topping goes on.
- Swap the butter for coconut oil and skip the whipped topping to make it dairy-free.
https://campfirefoodie.com/apple-crisp-foil-packet-recipe