Pumpkin Spice Skillet Bread
Canned pumpkin and pantry flour, baked in a covered pan over coals instead of an oven.
- calories
- 290
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 83
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 55 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.
- Breakfast
- Dessert
- Snack
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 2 cups | whole wheat works, expect a denser loaf |
|---|---|---|
| Baking soda | 1 tsp | |
| Baking powder | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 2 tsp | |
| Ground nutmeg | 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground cloves | 1/4 tsp | |
| Canned pumpkin puree | 1 can (15 oz) | puree, not pie filling |
| Butter | 1/2 cup | softened; shortening if the cooler is short on room |
| Honey | 1/2 cup | |
| Maple syrup | 1/2 cup | |
| Eggs | 2 | or 2 tbsp powdered egg plus 1/4 cup water |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals well before you want to bake. You need a bed of them, not flames.
- Mix the flour, soda, powder, salt, and spices in one bowl. If you premixed at home, this step is opening a bag.
- In the Dutch oven, work the butter into the honey and syrup until it is more or less smooth. Beat in the eggs, then the whole can of pumpkin.
- Add the dry mix and stir until the streaks disappear. Stop there. More stirring makes it tough.
- Scrape the sides down, lid on. Set the oven on a shallow bed of coals and put roughly twice as many coals on the lid, spread around the rim.
- Bake 40 to 50 minutes. Check at 35 by lifting the lid straight up so ash does not fall in. A twig pushed into the center should come out clean.
- Pull it off the coals and let it sit ten minutes with the lid off before you cut it.
Quick breads are the easiest thing to bake over a fire because there is no rising to wait on. The soda and powder do their work the moment the wet and dry meet, so the clock starts when you stir. Get the coals ready first, then mix.
Heat placement is the whole game. Most of the coals go on the lid, not underneath, or the bottom scorches while the middle stays raw. The pumpkin puree carries a lot of water, which keeps the crumb from drying out over a long bake, and it doubles as most of the fat’s counterweight. Honey and syrup brown faster than sugar does, so pull it as soon as the center sets.
Packing
Combine the flour, leaveners, salt, and spices in a zip bag at home and label it. Butter, eggs, and the can ride in the cooler; the can does not care but the butter does. Bring a lid lifter and leather gloves.
Variations
- Powdered egg and a stick of shortening make the whole thing shelf-stable for a longer trip.
- Swap the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for 3 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.
- Drop in a handful of chocolate chips or raisins before the batter goes flat in the pan.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/pumpkin-bread-recipe