Skillet Camp Rolls
No-knead yeast dough that rises in a warm spot and bakes in a covered pot. Bread at camp without an oven.
- calories
- 210
- weight
- 2.6 oz
- cal / oz
- 81
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 12, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 40 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.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All purpose flour | 3 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Instant dry yeast | 2 1/4 tsp | instant only; active dry needs a second rise |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/4 cup | stands in for the 1 cup of fresh milk |
| Honey | 2 tbsp | a squeeze packet or small bottle |
| Powdered whole egg | 1 tbsp | plus 2 tbsp water |
| Ghee or clarified butter | 4 tbsp | does not need a cooler |
| Kosher salt | 1 tsp |
Method
- Melt 3 tbsp of the ghee in the pot, pour it into a cup, and wipe the pot lightly so nothing sticks later.
- Heat 240 ml of water until it is warm on the wrist, not hot. Too hot kills the yeast. Stir in the milk powder, honey, and yeast and let it sit five minutes until it smells like bread.
- Add the melted ghee, the egg powder slurried with 2 tbsp water, and the salt. Stir in the flour with a spoon until there is no dry flour left. It stays sticky. Do not knead it.
- Grease your hands and pull the dough into 12 lumps. Crowd them into the pot so they touch.
- Cover and set the pot somewhere warm for 30 to 40 minutes, until the lumps have swollen into each other. On a cold day, put the lid on and set the pot near the fire, not on it.
- Bake with coals: 8 or 9 underneath, 14 or 15 on the lid, for 20 to 25 minutes. Rotate the pot a quarter turn every five minutes and the lid the other way, or one side burns.
- They are done when the tops are brown and a roll sounds hollow when tapped. Brush the last tablespoon of ghee over them.
This is home bread dragged outdoors. The original relies on fresh milk, a whole egg, and salted butter, none of which travel. Milk powder, egg powder, and ghee do the same jobs and sit in a pack for weeks. Ghee is the important swap: butter turns rancid in heat, clarified butter does not.
Instant yeast is what makes this a camp recipe instead of an afternoon. It rises once, not twice, so the whole thing fits in the gap between setting up and eating. The dough is deliberately too wet to knead. Wet dough handles the uneven heat of coals better than a stiff one, since the extra water buys time before the crust sets.
Packing
Combine the flour, yeast, milk powder, egg powder, and salt in one bag at home and label it with the water amount. Ghee goes in a screw-top jar, honey in a packet. At camp you are adding water to one bag.
Variations
- Stir a teaspoon of garlic powder and a tablespoon of dried herbs into the flour bag.
- No dutch oven: bake them in a covered skillet over very low coals, checking the bottoms at 12 minutes.
- Skip the egg powder for a chewier, leaner roll. The dough still works.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/dinner-rolls