Sweet Potato Camp Biscuits
Dutch oven biscuits built on dried sweet potato and shelf-stable butter. No fridge involved.
- calories
- 250
- weight
- 2.6 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 180 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
- Vegetarian
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 2 cups | einkorn works and browns faster |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Sweet potato powder | 1/2 cup | dehydrated flakes ground fine, or freeze-dried sweet potato crushed |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | or powdered coconut milk to keep it dairy-free |
| Ghee or canned butter | 6 tbsp | cold overnight in the cooler if you have one |
| Apple cider vinegar | 1 tsp | a dropper bottle is plenty |
| Water | about 180 ml |
Method
- Get 20 coals going, or burn a fire down to a solid bed. You want steady heat, not flame.
- Dump the dry mix into the pot or a bag. Cut the ghee in with a spoon or your fingers until the pieces are pea-sized. Work fast so it stays firm.
- Add the vinegar to the water, then pour it in a splash at a time, stirring until the dough just holds together. Stop early; a wet dough bakes dense.
- Pat the dough out about an inch thick on a clean lid and cut eight squares. Squares mean no scraps to re-roll.
- Grease the dutch oven, set the biscuits in with a little space between them, and lid it. Eight coals under, twelve on top.
- Bake 18 to 22 minutes. Rotate the pot and the lid a quarter turn every five minutes or one side burns.
- Done when the tops are set and dry and the bottoms release without sticking.
The original wants cold roasted sweet potato and cold milk, which is a fridge recipe. Dried sweet potato powder does the same two jobs without the cold chain: it brings the starch and moisture-holding that keeps the crumb soft, and it hydrates in the dough itself. Ghee replaces butter because it sits in a pack at 85 degrees and does not go rancid or weep.
The vinegar is not a flavor. It reacts with the baking powder for a second push of lift, which matters when your oven is a cast iron pot with uneven coals. Keep the fat in visible pieces and keep the dough on the dry side. Melted fat and wet dough both give you hockey pucks, and there is no second batch out here.
Packing
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sweet potato powder, and milk powder at home in one bag. Ghee travels in a screw-top jar and does not need a cooler. Vinegar in a 15 ml dropper.
Variations
- Add a teaspoon of cinnamon and two tablespoons of sugar to the dry mix and eat them as breakfast.
- No dutch oven: fry the same dough as thick pancakes in a covered skillet, low heat, five minutes a side.
- Grated hard cheese and black pepper folded into the dry mix makes them a soup partner.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/sweet-potato-biscuit-recipe