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These hearty pancakes loaded with fruit and nuts are the perfect pancake recipe for camping to fuel your adventure. You can mix all of the dry ingredients ahead of time, then just shake them up with a few additional ingredients and pour the batter over a warm skillet. And what food doesn’t taste better when its cooked and enjoyed in the outdoors?!
I must start this post by stating we are not a ‘camping family.’ We didn’t grow up camping, never been back-packing, and barely even know the boy scout skills of setting up a tent or starting a fire. Yes, we’re pretty much city folk. BUT, I wanted to give it a shot. With two kids now, and living in one of the most beautiful states to explore the outdoors, I wanted to spend the night under the stars and let my kids know the importance of getting a little dirty and experiencing something with all of your senses.
Josh, my husband, was especially averse to the idea of camping. Put him in a plush robe at a nice hotel with all the amenities and he’s one happy guy. So, we went though a list of things that he thought would make the experience more enjoyable to him… a comfortable sleeping arrangement, a large tent, really good food, wine, time to himself etc. Once I was able to check most of those off then we had the green light to start planning our first weekend camping trip.
So, how does one start camping, from nothing… (literally, we owned one sleeping bag)? Well we started with a tent. We bought a Highline Springbar Canvas Tent locally, which gives plenty of room to stand up, put an air mattress in, and I could even put my little rocking chair inside so I could sit with baby Ruth as needed (9 months old now).
As you could expect our first trip wasn’t exempt from kinks. We arrived at our location a bit later than expected (traveling with two kids always takes longer). I may have roasted our brats for dinner on skewers (the only thing I could find around the house).. yes picture me with two kids sitting too close to the fire with brats on skewers for 30 minutes or so. There might have been a few curse words putting up the tent (not the tents fault) as we picked a spot a little too rocky to get our tent stakes into the ground securely. But once we got settled with a little food in our tummies we were so happy. Giddy even.
The first morning, we woke up and I got to cook these hearty pancakes while overlooking a jaw dropping canyon. It was glorious.
About the recipe
• Mix up the dry ingredients in advance then bring them in a labeled plastic bag. Bring the wet ingredients separately and also a quart size plastic container to shake them all up together. Add wet ingredients to the container first and shake then add the dry so that the flour mixture doesn’t get stuck to the bottom of the container and not mix in.
• Frozen fruit or fresh works great just make sure to remove any excess liquid before mixing the fruit in. Cut the fruit up in advance so all you have to do is mix the ingredients before cooking.
• Make sure your skillet is hot and greased before adding the batter.
• Don’t forget a spatula for flipping 🙂
• We serve our pancakes simply with maple syrup and fresh fruit.
We, the most unlikely campers, did it and enjoyed ourselves! Yes, there was wine. And yes, a few arguments but we got outdoors and experienced the joys of nature, sounds, sights, smells… all of it! This is the beginning of our family camping adventure and I hope you’ll follow along and maybe even take on an clamping adventure for yourself! See below for links to our favorite camping equipment and more camping recipe ideas.
Hearty Camping Pancakes
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup nuts, I used roasted hazelnuts, chopped
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons organic canola or avocado oil or melted butter
Toppings
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons roasted hazelnuts
- 1 cup fresh cherries*
Instructions
- Before you leave home, mix together the dry ingredients and dump into a plastic baggie.
- Turn on your camp stove and heat up a cast iron skillet. In a quart sized rigid plastic container shake up the wet ingredients. Add in the dry ingredients and shake up some more. It can be a little lumpy still.
- Add a little oil or butter to the hot skillet then pour the batter out in circles. About 2-3 pancakes at a time. Once the pancakes start to bubble then flip. Cook for another 30 seconds to a minute then remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve pancakes hot as they come off the skillet. Top with maple syrup, extra nuts and cherries.
Notes
Our Camping Essentials:
More Camping Friendly Recipes (made in one skillet with little to no prep):
Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash – make in advance and wrap in foil, heat over coals or over the fire on a wire rack
Turkey Chili with Kale – make in advance and reheat over a camp stove
Breakfast Tacos – cook in a cast iron skillet on a camp stove
Eggs in a Frame – cook in a cast iron skillet on a camp stove
What a beautiful post! You look right at home there. Thanks for sharing your adventure; it makes me excited for ours in a few weeks.
I definitely loved it! Now I need to dig through some of your posts for more fun food ideas!
Thanks for this post! Step 2 says “all the wet ingredients except.” Can you clarify – except what? I really want to use this recipe Father’s Day weekend on our first camping trip as a family of four!
Lisa, Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention. I just deleted the except in the instructions. I sometimes stir in a portion of the fruit at the end so maybe I was going to say except the fruit. But you can go either way and have some fruit, like chopped cherries or whole blueberries into the mix right before cooking or you can just use them to top the pancakes! Let me know if you have an other questions! Hope it make for a fun Fathers Day camp trip and enjoy your first camping trip together!! We are loving the experiences we’ve made camping!!