Pumpkin Spice Fry Bread
Camp donut dough fried in a pot, dunked in glaze mixed in the bag.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 116
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 180 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
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 4 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 4 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Pumpkin pie spice | 2 tsp | |
| White sugar | 1 cup | |
| Powdered buttermilk | 1/3 cup | replaces 5/6 cup liquid buttermilk |
| Powdered whole egg | 4 tbsp | stands in for 2 eggs |
| Pumpkin puree | 1 cup | one small shelf-stable can or a foil pouch |
| Canola oil | 2 cups | for frying, plus 2 tbsp in the dough |
| Vanilla extract | 2 1/2 tsp | divided; a small dropper bottle |
| Powdered sugar | 2 cups | for the glaze |
| Cold water | about 3/4 cup | for reconstituting and thinning |
Method
- At camp, dump the dry mix (flour, baking powder, salt, spice, sugar, buttermilk powder, egg powder) into a pot. Add the pumpkin, 2 tbsp oil, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, and cold water a splash at a time until it comes together as a soft dough.
- Knead it in the pot for a minute. Let it sit ten minutes while the oil heats.
- Pour about an inch of oil into a second pot and bring it to a slow shimmer over a low flame. A pinch of dough should sizzle and rise, not sink or scorch.
- Pinch off golf-ball pieces, flatten them to a finger's thickness, and poke a hole through the middle so the center cooks.
- Fry two or three at a time, roughly ninety seconds a side, until deep brown. Lift them out onto a bandana or a plate.
- Shake the powdered sugar, the rest of the vanilla, and a few tablespoons of water in a freezer bag until smooth. Dunk each ring while still hot.
- Let the frying oil cool completely, then pour it back into its bottle and pack it out.
This started as a home donut recipe, which means fresh eggs, buttermilk, and a fridge. All three are gone here. Powdered buttermilk and powdered egg rehydrate in the dough and behave close enough, and the pumpkin puree comes from a can or pouch that sits in a pack for a month without complaint.
The hole in the middle is not decoration. Dough this thick will brown outside and stay raw at the center over a camp stove, where the flame is small and the oil temperature swings. Keep the flame low, fry in small batches, and let the oil recover between them. Frying oil is heavy and has to be packed out, which is why this belongs at a car camp or a basecamp and not in a thru-hike food bag.
Packing
Combine every dry ingredient at home in one gallon bag. Powdered sugar rides in its own quart bag, which doubles as the glaze bowl. Oil in a leakproof bottle inside a second bag.
Variations
- No pumpkin? Use a 4 oz pouch of applesauce and double the spice.
- Skip the glaze and shake the hot rings in cinnamon sugar instead. Less mess, less weight.
- Cook them on a grill grate as flat cakes in a greased pan if you would rather not carry frying oil.
https://homeandkind.com/blogs/food-recipes/glazed-pumpkin-donuts