Top 10 Camp Recipes
Looking for some new delectable dishes to tempt your campers? Try these favorites—some are meals, some are treats, but all of them have been tried and tested and they are delicious!
1. Chicken Diablo
This is probably the absolute all-time favorite of both staff and campers for a main course. We also use it with our weekend retreat groups. It's almost like having candy for supper!
6-8 Chicken legs or breasts
Sauce:
3 tablespoons melted butter/margarine
½ cup honey (alternative: 1 cup honey = 1 ¼ cups brown sugar plus ¼ cup water)
¼ cup prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon corn starch
Cooked rice
Melt butter and stir in honey, mustard, salt, curry powder and water. Arrange chicken skin-side-up (if you leave skin on) in roaster. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1½ hours, basting frequently. Drain the sauce into another pot and thicken with water/corn starch mixture. Serve with rice.
Patti Chapman
Rocky Ridge Ranch
Rockwood, Ontario
2. Ice Cream Kickball
Most camp outfitters now sell "ice cream balls" that you can fill with ingredients and pass around the campfire to make some great-tasting homemade ice cream. But you don't have to buy these gadgets. All you need are two coffee cans, a small one (1 pound) and a large one (3 pound), and duct tape.
½ cup half and half or milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
Rock salt
Crushed ice
Ice cream flavor (chocolate syrup, peanut butter, or strawberry sauce)
Strip the paper label off of the smaller coffee can (for better temperature transfer). Mix the milk, sugar, vanilla and any added flavor you want into the small coffee can. Close the lid and tape it firmly shut with duct tape. Place the small coffee can into the larger one and surround it with crushed ice. Sprinkle about 7 to 9 tablespoons of rock salt over the ice. Close the lid of the larger can and duct tape the lid closed. Pass the can around, or roll it back and forth along the ground for 10 minutes. Check the ice cream; if it isn't ready, shake it around for 10 more minutes.
3. Pizza Rolls
¼ ounce yeast
3 ¾ tablespoons warm water
2 dashes of sugar
2 ½ teaspoons sugar
2 ½ teaspoons oil or butter
¾ teaspoon salt
7/8 cup water
1 5/8 pint flour
Dough: Dissolve yeast, water and sugar. Combine sugar, melted butter or oil, salt and warm water. Cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture. Stir in flour until you can handle dough easily. Knead 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turning once. Let rise to double. Punch down and let rest 10 minutes. Roll dough into a 14- x 24-inch rectangle about ¼-inch thick.
Mix cheese and spices and spoon onto dough. Press slightly into dough. Roll dough lengthwise like a jelly roll and cut into 1-inch slices.
Line baking sheets with baker’s paper. Place roll-ups on baking sheets and let sit 10 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with tomato or pizza sauce separately.
Note: This is for a serving size of 6 (enough for 2 per person, or a little more) … we usually make about 200-300 depending on the size of the camp!
Brenda Kauffman
Drift Creek Camp
Lincoln City, Ore.
4. Breakfast Pigs In A Blanket
1 package sausage links
2 cups pancake mix
1½ cups milk
Powdered sugar for garnish
Maple syrup for dipping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook sausage according to package directions.
Meanwhile, make pancake mix using 2 cups of pancake mix and 1½ cups of milk. You want the pancakes to be thinner than normal. They are easier to wrap around the sausage when they are thinner.
Heat a non-stick griddle.
Pour a scant ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle. Make 12 pancakes or however many sausages you have.
Cook pancakes until golden brown.
Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Wrap a pancake around a sausage and place seam side down in a greased baking dish.
Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees or just until heated through.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Serve with syrup.
Makes 12 servings.
5. 'Smore Dip
1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed (not evaporated) milk
½ cup marshmallow creme/fluff
1 box graham cracker honey sticks
In small microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and condensed milk. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until chips are melted. Stir well. Pour into 9-inch glass pie pan, spreading mixture evenly.
Drop marshmallow creme by tablespoonfuls randomly over chocolate mixture. Microwave on high for about 30 seconds or until marshmallow creme is softened. With knife, make several small swirls through marshmallow and chocolate creating a marbled appearance.
Serve immediately with graham sticks for dipping.
Leftover dip can be stored, covered, in the fridge. To reheat, uncover and microwave on high for 30 seconds to 2 minutes until chocolate is softened.
Cindy Lee
Activity Coordinator
De Pere Summer Day Camp
6. Mountain Pies
1 loaf of bread
Butter
Pie filling (cherry, strawberry, blueberry, apple, etc.)
Sugar
Butter two slices of bread laying the buttered side against the pie iron. Pick a side and spoon out the filling evenly onto the piece of bread. If you're using the apple or strawberry filling, be careful not to overload it with the big chunks. Close the pie iron and put it into the hot coals, not the flame. Make sure to check it often, they cook quickly! When one side is finished, flip the pie iron until the second side is cooked.
7. Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine in a medium bowl flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and beat until combined. Stir in oats and cranberries. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop dough on cookie sheet.
Bake 20 minutes or until edges are just turning brown. Makes 4 dozen cookies.
Rhonda R. DuBord
Associate Director
Department of Wellness and Recreation
University of Miami
8. Homemade Granola
10 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
2 cups shredded coconut
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups butter or margarine, melted
1 cup peanut butter chips (optional)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional
In large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add melted butter, and mix well.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Pour onto large baking pan(s).
Bake for 45 minutes. During the first half hour of baking, stir every 15 minutes. For the last 15 minutes of baking, stir every 5 minutes.
After baking is finished, mix in peanut butter and chocolate chips and put the pan back into the hot oven for 2 minutes to allow the chips to melt slightly.
Let the mixture cool completely, then store in an airtight container.
This recipe is very versatile. You can add anything else you desire. Dried fruits are delicious! This is by no means low-fat.
9. Eggs In A Basket
Dozen eggs
Loaf of bread
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Butter both sides of the bread and cut a square hole in the middle of the bread. Heat up a frying pan to medium heat. Put bread into the pan to melt butter. Drop a small amount of butter into hole of bread and let it melt. Then drop an egg into the middle and break the yoke. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until the egg is done.
10. Toothpick S’mores
Most campers are used to roasting big, fluffy marshmallows over the flames of an outdoor campfire. Have you ever thought of roasting mini marshmallows over an indoor candle? Give everyone a toothpick and a mini marshmallow, and light several candles. Each person has a chance to skewer their toothpick into the marshmallow and hold it over a candle. For a s’mores experience, sandwich a marshmallow and a chocolate chip between a graham cracker stick broken in two.
Jessica Lippe
Central Point, Ore.
Other Top Ten Foods In The Dining Hall
1. Apple turnovers
2. Tater tots
3. Tacos
4. Biscuits
5. Broccoli-stuffed chicken
6. Spaghetti
7. Chocolate pudding
8. Mac & cheese
9. PB & J table
10. Salad bar
Kim Betts
Director of Administration
Camp Horizons
Harrisonburg, Va.