German Chocolate Thumbprint Bars
Cake mix, coconut, and pecans baked in a dutch oven, then cut into bars that survive a pack.
- calories
- 390
- weight
- 3 oz
- cal / oz
- 130
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 12, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 40 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
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| German chocolate cake mix | 1 box (about 15 oz) | dry mix only, ignore the box directions |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 10 tbsp | melted; ghee or shortening if it will be hot for days |
| Evaporated milk | 1 can (5 oz) | shelf-stable, split between dough and filling |
| Sweetened flaked coconut | 1 1/3 cups | |
| Chopped pecans | 1 cup | |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup |
Method
- Build a bed of coals. You want roughly 8 briquettes under a 12-inch dutch oven and 16 on the lid, or an equivalent shovel of hardwood coals split the same way.
- In a bowl or a gallon bag, work the dry cake mix together with 6 tbsp of the melted butter and 3 tbsp of the evaporated milk until it clumps into a stiff dough.
- Line the oven with foil or grease it well. Press about two thirds of the dough across the bottom in an even layer.
- Stir the sugar, the rest of the evaporated milk, and the remaining 4 tbsp butter in a small pot over the coals until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Pull it off and mix in the coconut and pecans.
- Spread the coconut filling over the base. Crumble the reserved dough over the top in rough lumps, leaving gaps.
- Cover and bake 25 minutes, rotating the oven a quarter turn and the lid the other way every 8 minutes so it does not scorch on one side.
- Let it cool all the way before cutting. Warm bars fall apart.
This started as a home cookie and got flattened into a bar because thumbprints do not survive a food box. The cake mix is doing the job of flour, sugar, cocoa, and leavening in one measured bag, which is the whole reason it belongs at a campsite. Cut the liquid down to a few tablespoons and the mix behaves like a press-in shortbread dough instead of a batter.
Evaporated milk is the substitution that matters. It is shelf-stable, it carries the sugar into a filling that sets, and nothing in the recipe needs a fridge until the can is open. Coal placement is the only real skill here: most of the heat goes on the lid, or the bottom burns while the top is still raw.
Packing
Measure the cake mix, sugar, coconut, and pecans into one gallon bag at home and label it. Butter and the can of evaporated milk ride in the cooler or the food box. Cut bars go back in the same bag with parchment between the layers.
Variations
- No dutch oven: press the whole thing into a foil pan, cover tightly with foil, and set it on a grill grate over low coals for about 30 minutes.
- Swap the pecans for sunflower seeds if someone in camp has a nut allergy.
- A handful of chocolate chips over the filling makes it richer and helps the top layer hold together.
https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/cookbook-review-the-cookie-party-cookbook