These buttermilk camping pancakes are easy to make while camping or at home, whether on your griddle, in a skillet over your campfire, or on your stovetop. Top them with maple syrup or huckleberry sauce for the ultimate breakfast treat.
Recipe at a Glance: Camping Pancakes
- DETAILS
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Preparation method: Cast iron skillet on camp stove or campfire, or griddle
- HIGHLIGHTS
- Enjoy these soft and fluffy buttermilk pancakes on your next camping trip. This easy camping pancakes recipe is a kid-friendly camping breakfast that you can make in your cast iron skillet or griddle on your camp stove or over the campfire.
- You can prepare and mix your dry ingredients before heading to camp so that this meal comes together quickly and requires minimal storage space.
- Offer crispy bacon alongside this cast iron skillet breakfast for a classic camping meal.
Most camping pancake recipes will tell you that you "just need to add water". Technically this is true, but if you want truly amazing pancakes, make a little space in your cooler for a carton of buttermilk. It makes the difference between gloriously fluffy pancakes and a thin (but still tasty) flapjacks. The eggs are pretty important too, but I'm willing to bet you're taking some anyway. I mean, what's a hearty camping breakfast without scrambled eggs?
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Ingredients and Substitutions
- Buttermilk--The acid in the buttermilk reacts with baking soda to create fluffy pancakes. You can substitute regular milk, but your pancakes will not be as fluffy.
- Sugar--This adds just a little bit of sweetness.
- Eggs--The eggs allow the pancakes to hold their shape as they rise, and add fat and richness. You can substitute a flax egg, if necessary.
How to Make Pancakes for Camping
1. Whisk the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls.
2. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently to combine.
3. Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle until warm and melt 1 tablespoon of butter in it. Drop ¼ cup scoops of batter onto the skillet. Cook until bubbles begin to appear on top of the pancakes.
4. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown and set on the bottom. Repeat with the remaining batter and more butter.
Making Pancakes Over the Campfire
When making campfire pancakes, it's important to have even heat. Build a bed of hot coals on one side of your fire pit, and set a grate above it. Don't attempt to cook the pancakes over strong flame as they may burn. It takes about 20 minutes for wood to burn down to hot coals suitable for cooking.
Set your cast iron skillet or griddle on the grate and let it heat up fully before adding the butter and pancake batter to it. Proceed with the recipe as written, adding more coals beneath the skillet if necessary to maintain the heat. If the pancakes are browning too quickly, move the skillet or griddle to a cooler part of the grate or move some of the coals away.
Camping Pancake FAQs
I don't recommend pre-mixing pancake batter. Once you mix the wet and dry ingredients together, the buttermilk will react with the baking soda to create the gas bubbles that make the pancakes light, fluffy, and tall. As the mixture sits, the gas bubbles will dissipate, and while your batter will still be safe to eat, it won't produce fluffy pancakes.
Always use a well-seasoned cast iron pan or griddle, and add some fat, such as butter or oil, to the skillet before cooking your pancakes. If the skillet appears dry between batches, add a little extra fat. Always let your skillet heat up before adding batter to the pan.
When you see bubbles appearing on the surface of your pancake, and the bottom of your pancake is golden brown and releases easily from the skillet, it's ready to flip.
Yes. After pouring your pancake batter onto the cast iron skillet, sprinkle your favorite mix-in, such as blueberries or chocolate chips over the batter. Want to spice them up and make them festive? Try gingerbread spice pancake mix, which is a variation on this recipe. Looking for extra protein? Give these sausage pancakes a try.
Tips and Troubleshooting
- To get ahead, mix your dry ingredients in a resealable plastic bag before heading out on your camping trip.
- Let your skillet or griddle heat up completely before cooking your pancakes.
- For the fluffiest pancakes, keep your wet and dry ingredients separate until just before cooking. After mixing the wet and dry ingredients, let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, to allow the buttermilk and baking soda to react.
- Only flip your pancakes once during cooking.
More Camping Breakfast Recipes You'll Love
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Recipe
Easy Camping Pancakes
Equipment
- Cast iron skillet (or griddle)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla optional
- 1 cup buttermilk plus more if needed
- Butter for the pan
- Maple syrup for serving
Instructions
- If you'll be cooking over a campfire, prepare a fire and let it burn down to hot coals.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk the eggs, 1 cup buttermilk, and vanilla, if using.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until combined. Don't overbeat the mixture; a few lumps in your batter is ok. The batter should be thick but pourable. Drizzle in extra buttermilk, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time if the batter is dry or too thick to pour.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat. You can do this on your camp stove, grill, or over hot coals.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add ¼-cup scoops of pancake batter to the skillet.
- Let the pancakes cook until bubbles begin to form on the top of each pancake, about 4 minutes. Flip and cook until set, about 2 minutes more. Transfer the pancakes to a plate.
- Repeat with the remaining batter, adding a little more butter to the skillet each time.
- Serve the pancakes warm, drizzled with maple syrup.
Video
Notes
- To get ahead, mix your dry ingredients in a resealable plastic bag before heading out on your camping trip.
- Let your skillet or griddle heat up completely before cooking your pancakes.
- For the fluffiest pancakes, keep your wet and dry ingredients separate until just before cooking. After mixing the wet and dry ingredients, let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, to allow the buttermilk and baking soda to react.
- Only flip your pancakes once during cooking.
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