Campfire Desserts You Need to Try This Summer

By Deb Palzewicz

Campfire Desserts You Need to Try This Summer thegearhunt.com

Camping is something that everyone wants to do during the summer months, however, the thought of cooking meals for everyone can be daunting. Many families today live on food that they can microwave or easily make ahead of time due to today’s constant rush of life. There just never seems to be enough time in one day to make meals like your grandmother used to. Dessert is not even considered a meal to some, but at the end of the night, it is nice to have something sweet. When camping, who would imagine that making dessert could be so easy for everyone? At many campsites, you will find the usual treats, like chips, snack packs, or even Chex Mix, and this is because they are easy to travel with and everyone loves them. The problem can sometimes be, that you must buy enough to feed everyone and then not everyone will like the flavors you have, and you end up buying many different types.

In this blog, you will get some easy and simple ideas for desserts that can be easily brought with and made. There are also some that you could prep at home and then just cook when you get to where you are going. Most people do not bring dessert, so for you to show up with a nice and tasty dessert, you will be the star of your campsite.

Most of the following desserts will consist of the same items to cook with. However, you want to make sure that you have all your ingredients with you before starting any of the recipes below. We will focus on desserts that you can cook using a fire stick, wrapped in foil, or using a pot or pan if you have them available.

Fire Stick Desserts

S’mores

This is by far the most popular camping dessert at the end of the night. You are going to be roasting the marshmallows, which is the most cooking that you would have to do with this dessert. Once you get the marshmallow to the right toasted consistency, you are going to sandwich it between two graham crackers along with a piece of chocolate. Now you can switch this up to be a little more exciting if you don’t want just the regular s’mores. You could use Nutella instead of chocolate, and if you like you could put nuts or caramel on them instead.

Rice Crispy Treats

These are along the same line as the S’mores, however, instead of squishing the marshmallow between the graham crackers, you would smoosh on a foil full of rice crispy. Once you start to roll the marshmallow into the rice crispys, they will attach themselves to it, and there you go, a mini rice crispy treat.

Grilled Shortcake Skewers

Most people think of strawberry shortcake as something you serve on a dish with strawberry preserves, however, this is a simple way to have the same dish at the campfire. Cut the strawberries into small servings. Cut the pound cake into squares and put them on the fire stick along with the strawberry. Hold over the fire for a short amount of time to just get it all warm, and the pound cake to be light brown. When you’re done you can pull them off and put some whipped topping on them if you want.

Marshmallow Strawberry Kabobs

Another sweet and simple idea is to put marshmallows and strawberries on the fire stick like you would a kabob. I know most of you think of meat and vegetables when you think of kabobs, but in this case using fruit and marshmallows make it a sweet alternative. Hold them over the fire until a golden brown and then take off together and eat. If you like you can put whipped topping on these as well. Also, if you like, you can use a different fruit if you don’t like strawberries.

Campfire Churros or Roasted Cinnamon Rolls

Each of these could be used for breakfast or sweet dessert at the end of the night. For these, you would want to buy a can of Pillsbury biscuits or Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Both recipes require sugar and butter, and then depending on if you make the churros or rolls, you would need the cinnamon. Each requires you to cut the rolls or biscuits into triangles, and then wrap them up the fire stick starting at the bottom. When you make the churros, once browned you will dunk them into the melted butter and then pour cinnamon over them. Same with the rolls, but if you want to set them aside you could wrap the foil around them and place near the fire, set it and forget it for about five minutes. Make sure you check the consistency of the dough because you don’t want too gooey in the middle. Viola! Done! The cinnamon rolls will be toasted over the fire until golden brown and then you put the butter on them as well as some sugar. One of the favorites is the powdered sugar, and in all actuality, you could use the powder sugar on both if you would like something a little sweeter.

Foil Wrapped Deserts

The following recipes are ones that you would set up and wrap in foil. Once they are wrapped in foil, you will be placing them next to the fire, on the coals or embers, and will have to be patient. You will need to check on them often to make sure that you don’t burn or leave them there too long. Spraying the foil will keep the items from sticking to the foil and make them easy to separate later.

Banana Boats

Kids usually love bananas, and this would make a great dessert for the kids to make. you can load the bananas with whatever you think your kids would like, however, the most popular would be chocolate chips and marshmallows. You can give the kids a variety of ingredients to use, like caramel, strawberries, chocolate syrup, or smashed graham crackers. Whatever you decide for the kids to use, make sure that you think of a banana split only hot. You take the bananas, cut them the long way, but leaving the peel on them. Load up your banana with whatever ingredients you decide to use, and then wrap them in the foil, with the slit on top so that you can occasionally check on them. Place them next to the fire on the embers or coals for up to ten minutes or until the chocolate is melted. Make sure that you rotate them so that you do not burn them. Once done, you open them up and give everyone a fork to enjoy their banana boat.

Campfire Cones

Ice Cream cones are something that unless you have a freezer in an RV to take ice cream with you, that you would not imagine you could have. These are simple to make and are a healthy substitute to the ice cream and taste just as great. You will need waffle cones, and whatever you want to fill them with. Some examples could be; marshmallows, chocolate chips, Reese’s, Snickers, Milky Way, fruit, caramel, or even nuts. Take the waffle cone and add any of those ingredients into them and wrap them in the foil. Place next to the fire on the embers or coals for about five minutes. Unwrap them and put some whipped topping on them if you would like and serve. The kids and adults would love them.

Orange Peel Brownies

Here is a recipe that you would never have thought that you could make without using an oven. All you need are some medium to large oranges, brownie or cake mix, and foil. Slice off the top of the oranges and use a scoop or spoon to take out the insides. Once this is completely done, you will fill the cake or brownie mix about 2/3 full into the orange. Place the top back on the orange and wrap in the foil, as this will act like a mini oven. This also protects the mix from getting burned due to the direct heat of the fire. Wrap them up in the foil, and place them on the embers or coals, and check them every so often with a toothpick to make sure the mix is done. This should be close to when the batter is picking the top off the orange. Once they are down, put topping on them if you want, but they will have a slight orange taste to your batter or brownie as they were cooked in one, but it will taste extremely yummy.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is a simple recipe that you will need pineapple chunks, pound cake, butter, brown sugar, whipped cream, cinnamon or nutmeg. You can replace the pound cake with cake donuts or donut holes if you would like and you can used canned or fresh pineapple. Place the pineapple on the sheet of foil, then put the bits of pound cake on top. Add the melted butter and brown sugar mix on top of that and wrap well. Place near the fire and let cook until the mix is melted enough to form a glaze under the pineapple. Remove from the fire, open, and flip over onto a place. Then you can add the whipped cream, cinnamon or nutmeg to the top of it and enjoy.

Pan or Pot Deserts

Apple Pie French Toast Rolls

Who doesn’t like French toast? Well here is a simple recipe for those who like French toast with a twist. You know how to make French toast, however, cut the edges off the bread, and before you dip them into the egg mix, place apple pie filling in the middle and wrap the bread around it. You can put some cinnamon and sugar in the middle as well or put it in your mix. Once you dip the rolls into the mix, place them in the pan with your seam side down and cook until a golden brown, making sure that you turn them often so that they brown on all sides. Remove the cooked rolls and place into the cinnamon sugar mix again if you put some in the middle, and if you want to put some whipped topping on them. Serve to everyone for breakfast or dessert at the end of the night.

Monkey Bread

Now for those of us who have made monkey bread at home, it can be a process and the need for the oven seems like a big deal. This, however, is not the case when making at the campsite. The biggest part of this would be if you want to pack all your ingredients pre-measured beforehand, or if you will have them on hand at the campsite. One of those items would be the biscuit dough that needs to be refrigerated and your cinnamon sugar mix. If you have these all put together before, it will be simple at the campsite to make. You will take the biscuits and make into triangles, which work best, and mix into the cinnamon mix. Place the biscuits into foil and place in the pan. Melt butter and mix in brown sugar and pour this mix over the biscuits. Make sure you seal the foil up good if you are placing on the fire on a windy day, you don’t want ashes to enter the mix. Bake over the coals for about five to ten minutes or until you check, and the biscuits are puffed up and the center is cooked through. Careful not to have directly on the bottom so that you don’t scorch the bottom. Remove once done, open the foil and serve. It is a great dessert.

In conclusion, dessert should be something fun and simple when camping. Not something that takes too much time and should be tasty. These recipes should help make your summer camping trips extremely fun for all those that are with you and make you the talk of the campground. So, make sure you have enough, because people may come to visit once they learn that you are making these great recipes.