The easiest campfire desserts are foil packets: a banana split, a cinnamon-sugar apple or a packet of monkey bread. Most foil packets cook in roughly 5 to 20 minutes depending on the recipe and heat, so check early. If you have a Dutch oven, a cobbler or dump cake feeds a whole site. Stick desserts and no-bake options cover the nights when you don’t want to tend a fire. For the rest of your trip menu, see the camping recipes and meal ideas hub.
Heat, foil and cleanup
Flames scorch the bottom of a foil packet long before the middle warms. Cook over a bed of glowing coals with a grate above it, or on a camp stove set to medium-low. A fire takes a while to burn down to that stage, so light it before you start dinner.
Use heavy-duty foil, or double a regular sheet. Grease the inside with butter or cooking spray, fold the seams over twice and leave a little air space on top for steam. A torn packet leaks sugar onto the coals. Move hot packets with tongs, and open them away from your face because the steam burns.
Eat from the packet or tip it onto a plate, then fold the foil up and pack it out with your trash.
Foil packet campfire desserts
1. Campfire banana split
Slice a ripe banana lengthwise through the peel without cutting all the way through, then squeeze the ends to open a pocket. Fill it with pieces of a milk chocolate bar and mini marshmallows, wrap it in foil and set it on hot coals or a grate for about 5 minutes. Peanut butter or caramel syrup can go in too, and canned whipped cream goes on after. Pick bananas with brown spots, since underripe ones stay firm and starchy.
2. Cinnamon-sugar baked apples
Take three whole apples and cut out the stem end and core, leaving the bottoms intact so the filling stays put. Granny Smith and Honeycrisp are good choices. Stir together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 tsp cinnamon and 6 Tbsp cold salted butter cut into small cubes, then divide it among the three cavities. Each apple gets its own big sheet of foil. Put them over a fire or stove for about 10 to 20 minutes, then open one packet carefully, away from your face, and see whether a fork or knife slides in easily. If it doesn’t, reseal and give it a few more minutes.
3. Apple crisp packets
Slice the apples instead of coring them whole, and add a crumbly topping. Stir chopped walnuts, quick oats or crushed graham crackers into the sugar-butter mix, spoon it over the slices and seal the packet. Cook about 10 to 20 minutes and check early, because sliced apples cook faster than whole ones. Finish with canned whipped cream.
4. Monkey bread in foil
Cut one can of biscuits into quarters and toss them in 1/2 cup sugar (brown or white) mixed with 2 tsp cinnamon. Pile them on a large buttered sheet of foil, dot with 6 Tbsp cold salted butter cubes and close the packet. The s’mores version of this recipe is timed at roughly 10 minutes on a grate over a hot fire or 15 on a camp stove, turning the foil once or twice. To avoid scorching the bottom, cook over glowing coals or a stove and check early. The bread is done when the biscuits are golden.
5. Monkey bread with s’mores toppings
A few minutes before the bread is finished, peel the packet open and spread mini marshmallows, chocolate chips and broken graham crackers over the top. Fold the foil back loosely and leave it a couple more minutes, just long enough for the marshmallows to slump. The whole thing gets passed around and picked apart by hand, which is why it works for a group. Both the crackers and the biscuit dough contain gluten, so anyone avoiding it needs different ingredients.
Dutch oven desserts
Use a camp Dutch oven with a lipped lid, and put coals on the lid as well as under the pot. Many cooks use charcoal briquettes because they are uniform and easy to count. Cast iron holds heat, so it keeps cooking after you remove it. Wear heat-resistant gloves, use a lid lifter, and take the pot off when the dessert is nearly done.
6. Camping cobbler in a Dutch oven
Line the pot with parchment or grease it well, pour in canned pie filling or sweetened fruit, and spread a biscuit or cake-style topping over the fruit. Put the lid on, set the pot over medium coals with some coals on the lid, and bake until the topping is golden and the fruit bubbles at the edges. Lift the lid sparingly. Every peek lets heat out and adds time.
7. Apple Dutch oven cobbler
Swap the canned filling for sliced apples tossed with cinnamon and sugar, and keep the biscuit topping. Tart apples tend to hold their shape better when baked. Peel and slice at home, then carry the apples in a zip bag with a squeeze of lemon to slow browning, and keep the bag in the cooler. Fresh apples take longer than canned filling, so turn the pot a quarter turn now and then so one side doesn’t scorch.
8. Dutch oven apple crisp
Layer sliced apples in the greased pot and cover them with a crumble of oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and cold butter. Cook covered over medium coals with coals on the lid until the apples are tender and the topping browns. Use heat-resistant gloves and a lid lifter, and keep kids away from the hot pot and coals. If the coals on the lid run too hot, the top darkens before the apples soften.
9. Dutch oven dump cake
Spread canned fruit across the bottom of a lined pot, sprinkle dry cake mix over it without stirring, and dot with butter. Bake covered over medium coals. The dry mix absorbs fruit juice and butter and turns into a crust, so stirring ruins it. Dry spots mean not enough butter, so cover the surface evenly. Boxed cake mix packs easily and keeps well in a dry spot, though the butter still belongs in the cooler.
Skillet and stove desserts
10. Skillet fruit cobbler
A cast-iron skillet works when you don’t want to haul a Dutch oven. Cook sliced fruit with sugar until it softens, then drop spoonfuls of biscuit dough over it, cover with foil or a lid and cook until the dough is set. The bottom of a skillet on a grate runs hotter than the top, so slide it toward the edge of the coals if the fruit starts catching. It serves a small group.
11. Cinnamon rolls on a grate
Canned cinnamon rolls can go in a greased foil pan, loosely covered with foil. Follow the package directions as a guide, use low, indirect heat and check often. The outsides brown quickly and the centers stay doughy if the fire is too hot. Keep refrigerated dough in the cooler until you cook it.
Stick desserts
12. Stick-roasted treats
Use a long roasting fork or a clean, long stick, and use dead-and-down or purchased sticks where cutting live wood is not allowed. Hold marshmallows over coals rather than flames and turn them slowly for an even golden outside. For a variation, wrap canned biscuit dough around a clean, peeled stick, roast it above the coals and dip it in cinnamon sugar. Cook until the dough is baked through, not just browned outside.
No-bake and low-effort options
13. S’mores without a fire
Graham crackers, chocolate bars and marshmallows work as a sandwich without any roasting. Some fire bans also cover stoves and charcoal, so read the posted restrictions for your campground before you cook anything. If stoves are permitted and you want the chocolate to melt, warm it in a pan on a camp stove, never inside a tent or vehicle. Keep chocolate and marshmallows out of the heat, in the shade or cooler.
14. Snacks and cookout treats to bring
Trail mix, cookies, dried fruit, packaged pudding cups and pre-sliced fruit in a sealed container all survive a cooler or a pack. For a cookout, a dump cake or foil banana splits feed a group with little prep. A frozen water jug works as a cooler pack. Keep perishables at 40°F (4°C) or below, and don’t drink cooler meltwater.
Frequently asked questions
What are some simple campfire desserts you can make on a stick?
Marshmallows are the standard. Biscuit dough twisted around a clean, peeled stick is the other option: hold it above the coals, turning steadily, until it’s baked through, then roll it in cinnamon sugar. Where cutting wood is banned, bring a roasting fork or buy sticks.
What are some easy no-bake desserts I can make for camping?
A cold s’more is graham crackers, a chocolate bar and a marshmallow pressed together, no fire needed. Pudding cups, cookies and dried fruit also work. On a rainy evening or under a fire ban, any of them stands in for a roasted dessert.
What are some good snacks to bring to a campfire?
Trail mix, dried fruit, cookies, crackers with cheese, pre-sliced fruit in a sealed container and marshmallows all pack easily. Put anything perishable in the cooler, and keep chocolate in the shade so it doesn’t melt.
What is a good dessert to make for a cookout?
A Dutch oven dump cake feeds a group and needs only a few ingredients. Foil banana splits and monkey bread suit groups too: banana splits take about 5 minutes and monkey bread about 10 to 15. The packing checklist covers the foil and cookware.
