Overnight Cinnamon Roll Bake
Yeast dough mixed at the trailhead table, risen overnight in the pot, baked in coals with a sugar glaze.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 93
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 60 min
- water
- 240 ml boiled
- 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
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Active dry yeast | 2 1/4 tsp | one packet |
|---|---|---|
| Warm water | 1 cup | wrist temperature, not hot |
| All-purpose flour | 4 cups | swap up to half for whole wheat or spelt |
| Powdered whole egg | 4 tbsp | reconstitutes to 2 eggs; real eggs work if you have a cooler |
| Coconut or palm sugar | 1/2 cup | split between dough and filling |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Butter | 6 tbsp | softened; keeps a few days out of direct sun |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 2 tbsp | |
| Confectioners sugar | 3/4 cup | for the glaze |
| Powdered milk | 2 tbsp | plus a splash of water |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp |
Method
- Stir the yeast into 1 cup of warm water and let it sit until it foams, about ten minutes. If nothing happens, the yeast is dead and so is breakfast.
- Whisk in 1/2 cup of the flour, cover the pot, and leave it somewhere warm for half an hour.
- Add the egg powder, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the salt, 3 tbsp of the butter, and the rest of the flour. Knead in the pot until the dough stops sticking to your hands, about eight minutes.
- Press the dough into a rectangle on a clean pack towel or cutting board. Spread the remaining 3 tbsp butter over it, then scatter the rest of the sugar, the molasses, and the cinnamon.
- Roll it up the long way, cut into eight rounds with dental floss, and set them cut side up in a greased dutch oven. Lid on, leave it overnight somewhere cool and animal-proof.
- In the morning, burn a fire down to coals. Put 8 coals under the oven and 16 on the lid for a 12-inch. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, rotating oven and lid a quarter turn every ten minutes so nothing scorches.
- Stir the confectioners sugar, powdered milk, vanilla, and a spoonful of water into a thin glaze. Pour it over while the rolls are hot.
This is a home recipe moved outdoors mostly intact, because the overnight rise is what makes it work in camp. You do the messy part after dinner while the fire is already going, then wake up to a pot that only needs coals. The cold night air slows the second rise, which is fine — a slow rise builds more flavor than a fast one.
Two swaps make it travel. Powdered egg replaces fresh, since two eggs in a pack is a gamble nobody wins, and powdered milk plus water handles the glaze without a carton in the cooler. Butter stays real; there is no honest substitute, and it lasts several days out of the sun. Coal placement matters more than time here: more heat on top than underneath, or you get burnt bottoms and raw centers.
Packing
Premeasure flour, sugar, salt, egg powder, and yeast into separate bags at home. Cinnamon and molasses ride in a small jar. Butter goes in the cooler; the glaze powders go in one bag and only need water.
Variations
- No dutch oven: bake the rounds in a foil pan set on a grill grate over low coals, tented with foil.
- Skip the glaze and eat them plain with coffee. They are sweet enough.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/christmas-day-brunch-plus-recipe-overnight-cinnamon-rolls