Who can resist the ooey, gooey goodness of a campfire s’more! Not many! Not me! S’mores are a classic and a staple campfire dessert for my family and I am sure many others. What is not to like about a roasted marshmallow squished between two graham crackers and a piece of chocolate!
A few summers ago our family signed up for a campfire dessert cooking course to try to broaden our repertoire. We had so much fun and these recipes have become family favourites. The course was offered along with other eco-adventures at the Fairmont Hot Springs Lodge and RV Park by environmental educators Andi Dzilums and Jocelyn McGregor. Andi and Jocelyn have eaten their fair share of s’mores over the years of guiding and teaching tourist about bear awareness, hiking, canoeing, camping and outdoor cooking. Not that they don’t like s’mores they just felt it was time to think outside the s’more box when it comes to campfire desserts.
It was a great evening full of fun, laughs and, of course, tasting of several new dessert ideas. All of the recipes could easily be made with small children as a family camping activity. My fussy daughter even tried cooked banana! I think the chocolate helped alot.
Andi and Jocelyn were great teachers and had several tips for successful campfire desserts including starting with a good fire and letting it burn down into coals before starting to cook. Fire will burn the desserts or any food for that matter while coals with provide even heat for cooking. They also recommended monitoring children closely around the fire and making sure to have tongs and fire proof oven mitts for removing items from the coals. Last but not least was to have fun, make it a family activity and experiment!
Here are several of Andi and Jocelyn’s recipes and a couple of more that I have tried at girl guide camp! Enjoy!
Canada Banana
Jocelyn and Andi’s version of the Banana Boat. They also insisted that we shake our shoulders in limbo style as we said the name of this campfire dessert.
Ingredients:
1 banana per person
Various toppings, such as: mini coloured marshmallows, chocolate chips, smarties, chocolate kisses, caramel bits.
Instructions:
With the skin on, slice down the inner curve of the banana through the skin and through most of the edible part of the banana. Do not slice all the way through the other side of the skin. Gently open the slice wide enough to stuff in your chosen toppings. The colored marshmallows look and taste great. So does anything chocolate. Wrap the banana in tinfoil and place in the coals of a fire about 2 ½ minutes per side. Remove from the coals using tongs. Unwrap and enjoy!
Orange you Glad it’s not a S’more
Large navel oranges work the best. We did try grapefruits but found that the peel gave a bitter taste during cooking.
Ingredients:
½ large navel orange per person
1 chocolate or lemon cake mix
1 egg
water as per cake mix instructions
Instructions:
Cut the orange in half and scoop out the fruit. Eat the fruit as a snack or reserve it for a fruit salad. Place the orange halves in a 9 x 13 inch (22 x 33cm) tinfoil pan open side up. Prepare cake mix as directed on the box but fill the orange halves about ¾ full with the cake batter. Cover the oranges with tinfoil and place in the coals of a fire. Allow to cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the coals using oven mitts. Unwrap, serve and enjoy. Note: you can make these individually by wrapping them in tinfoil. Also, reserve left over cake mix to make Painted Marshmallows.
Painted Marshmallows
Painting is the key to success in this recipe. We tried dipping the marshmallow in the batter but it was too thick and came off during cooking.
Ingredients:
20 marshmallows
Leftover cake mix batter (from Orange you Glad it’s not a S’more recipe)
½ cup (125 mL) coconut flakes
Instructions:
Place marshmallow on the end of a wooden or medal marshmallow/wiener stick. Paint the marshmallow with left over cake batter using a pastry brush. Then roll in coconut flakes and roast over the coals of a fire until browned. Remove from stick and enjoy!
Rocky Mountain Trench Wraps
You can also try this recipe with egg roll wrappers instead of tortillas.
Ingredients:
3 - 4 flour tortillas
½ cup (125 mL) spreadable cream cheese
Various Toppings, such as: peaches, apples or other fruit with cinnamon or chocolate chips, marshmallows, chocolate kisses, caramel bits…
Instructions:
Spread cream cheese over one side of the tortilla. Then add fruit and sprinkle with cinnamon OR add chocolate chips and marshmallows or other toppings. Roll up the wrap and then wrap it in tinfoil. Place in the coals of a fire for about 2 ½ minutes per side. Remove from coals using tongs. Unwrap and enjoy.
Cinnamon Snakes
This recipe was my kids favourite!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup (50 mL) brown sugar
cinnamon to taste
1 tube of bread or croissant dough mix
½ cup (125 mL) butter or margarine, melted
Instructions:
Cover the end of a wooden marshmallow/wiener stick with tinfoil. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and place on a flat plate. Cut the dough mix into strips. Roll each strip into long snakes and wrap around the end of the tinfoiled stick and roast over the coals of a fire until golden brown. Remove cooked snake from stick and dip into the melted butter or margarine and then roll in the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!
Baked Apples
Ingredients:
4 apples, cored
2 Tbsp (25 mL) butter or margarine
2 Tbsp brown sugar
cinnamon to taste
Instructions:
Divide butter and brown sugar between the apples and stuff into the cored out center. Sprinkle each apple with cinnamon. Wrap in tinfoil and place in the coals of a fire for about 10 minutes. Unwrap and enjoy.
Wacky Taffy
Ingredients:
20 Ritz crackers
10 carmel squares
Instructions:
Unwrap the caramel squares in toast them like you would marshmallows only not as long just heat them up a little. Place the Carmel in between two Ritz Crackers and enjoy eating them.
Instant Cheesecake
We sometimes make this at home for a kick dessert or snack.
Ingredients:
20 graham crackers
½ cup (125 mL) spreadable cream cheese
Your favourite jelly
Instructions:
Spread cream cheese on graham cracker, add your favorite jelly on top and voila....instant cheese cake!
Ice Cream in a Baggie
You can also make instant pudding in a baggie - just add pudding powder and milk to the baggie and then shake, turn and toss!
Ingredients:
½ cup (125 mL) milk
1 Tbsp (15 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1 mL) vanilla
ice
6 Tbsp (90 mL) salt
Instructions:
Add milk, sugar and vanilla to a pint size resealable freezer bag and zip shut. Place that bag in a larger (quart or bigger) resealable plastic bag. Add ice to fill bag 1/2 way, plus salt. Zip that bag shut and shake, turn, toss and mix the bag. In about 5-10 minutes you will have cold hands and yummy ice cream! Note: Don't try to double this, as it doesn't seem to work. Be sure you get all of the salt off of the small bag before you open it.
No comments:
Post a Comment