Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
Dessert built from powdered pumpkin and a shelf-stable premix, baked over coals in one pan.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 3 oz
- cal / oz
- 140
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 90 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.
- Dessert
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Whole grain flour | 1 1/2 cups | einkorn or whole wheat pastry |
|---|---|---|
| Coconut sugar | 3/4 cup | |
| Pumpkin powder | 1/3 cup | dehydrated puree, rehydrates with the water |
| Baking powder | 1 tsp | |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cinnamon | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Ginger | 1/2 tsp | |
| Nutmeg | 1/4 tsp | |
| Ground clove | 1/8 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Ghee or coconut oil | 1/2 cup | both hold at summer temperatures |
| Dark chocolate chips | 3/4 cup | |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | in a dropper bottle |
Method
- Build a fire early and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame.
- Melt the fat in the pan over low heat, then pull the pan off and let it cool for a minute.
- Pour in 90 ml of cold water and the vanilla, then stir in the dry premix until no flour is dry. The batter will be stiff.
- Add the chocolate chips, then press the dough flat across the bottom of the pan.
- Cover. Set the pan on a bed of coals and shovel more coals onto the lid, weighted toward the top.
- Bake 18 to 22 minutes. Rotate the pan a quarter turn every five minutes or one side burns.
- Pull it when the edges are set and the middle is still soft. It keeps cooking in the hot pan.
- Let it sit ten minutes before you cut it, or it comes out as pudding.
Real pumpkin puree is a can of water you carry for no reason, and it needs a fridge once opened. Pumpkin powder does the same job at a fifth of the weight, and you add the water back at camp. No eggs are involved, which is the other thing that makes this trip-friendly: the powder plus the water gives enough moisture, and the two leaveners handle the lift.
Ghee or coconut oil stand in for butter because neither cares about a warm bear canister. Coals over and under is the whole technique. Bottom heat alone scorches the base long before the center sets, so most of the coals belong on the lid.
Packing
Flour, sugar, pumpkin powder, spices, salt, and leaveners go into one bag at home, shaken to combine. Chocolate chips travel in their own bag so they do not weld to the flour in the heat. Fat rides in a screw-top jar.
Variations
- Pumpkin pie spice at 2 1/2 tsp replaces the four separate spices and one bag.
- No pumpkin powder: skip it, add two more tablespoons of water, and you have a plain chocolate chip skillet cookie.
- Drop-cook it as thick discs on a greased foil sheet over the grate if you have no lid.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies