Maple Pecan Skillet Buns
Yeasted cinnamon rolls baked in a Dutch oven over coals, flipped onto a plate so the maple pecan layer lands on top.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 12
- prep
- 150 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 185 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.
- Breakfast
- Dessert
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 3 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Instant yeast | 2 1/2 tsp | instant, not active dry, so it goes straight into the flour |
| Sugar | 3 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 1/4 tsp | plus 1/4 tsp for the topping and a pinch for the filling |
| Dried potato flakes | 3/4 cup | or 1/4 cup potato flour |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/4 cup | reconstituted with 1 cup water, no cooler needed |
| Powdered whole egg | 2 tbsp | plus 2 tbsp water, stands in for 1 large egg |
| Butter | 8 tbsp total | 3 for the dough, 3 for the topping, 2 melted for the filling |
| Maple syrup | 1/2 cup | |
| Maple sugar | 3/4 cup total | 1/2 cup topping, 1/4 cup filling |
| Brown sugar | 3/4 cup total | 1/2 cup topping, 1/4 cup filling |
| Diced pecans | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Cinnamon | 2 tsp | |
| Bourbon | 1 tbsp | optional, goes in the topping |
Method
- Whisk the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and potato flakes together in a pot. Stir the milk powder into 1 cup of cool water and the egg powder into 2 tbsp of water.
- Add the milk, egg, and 3 tbsp of softened butter to the dry mix. Work it into a shaggy dough, then knead on a clean cutting board for about 6 minutes until it is smooth and stretches without tearing.
- Cover the pot and let the dough rise until doubled, 1 to 2 hours. Cold camp mornings are slow; set it near the fire ring, not in it.
- Melt 3 tbsp butter in the Dutch oven, then stir in the maple syrup, maple sugar, brown sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, the pecans, and the bourbon. Spread it flat and take the pot off the heat.
- Roll the dough into a rough 12 by 16 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 tbsp melted butter and scatter the filling: maple sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, a pinch of salt.
- Roll it up the long way, cut 12 rounds with a length of dental floss, and set them cut side up on the topping. Cover and let them rise 45 minutes.
- Bake with 8 coals under the oven and 17 on the lid, about 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pot and lid a quarter turn every 10 minutes. They are done when the centers feel firm.
- Rest 5 minutes, then invert onto a sheet pan or plate. Any topping left behind gets scraped back on.
This is a real yeasted dough, so the clock matters more than the technique. Two rises and a bake put it around three hours from the first stir, which makes it a layover-morning project rather than a break-camp one. Start the dough the night before and hold it somewhere cool if you want to shorten the morning.
The potato flakes are in the dough on purpose. They hold moisture and keep the crumb soft through an uneven coal bake, which forgives the hot spots a Dutch oven always has. Fresh milk and a shell egg are the two things that will not survive a camp box, so both come as powder rehydrated at the same ratio. The topping goes in the bottom of the pot and ends up on top after the flip, which is the whole trick: sugar that would burn against direct heat instead cooks under the buns and turns to sauce.
Packing
Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and potato flakes in one bag at home, and the two filling sugars with the cinnamon in another. Butter and pecans travel fine unrefrigerated for a few days. Bring a roll of floss for cutting.
Variations
- No maple sugar in the pantry: use all brown sugar and add another 2 tbsp of syrup to the topping.
- Walnuts work in place of pecans.
- Skip the bourbon and nothing breaks; it only sharpens the syrup.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/maple-pecan-sticky-buns