Easy make-ahead camping pancakes

A chilly morning in camp is only made better by a warm and filling breakfast. Hot coffee, bacon, and pancakes are a good way to start an action-packed day. 

If you’re wanting to find a good camp pancake recipe, many people start with a store-bought mix. These have a lot of additives we can’t pronounce, or they require whisks and bowls, making clean-up a chore. They can also lack taste, leaving you to drench them with syrup, which makes a sticky clean-up and more stuff to pack-in. But, we’ve found a from-scratch recipe that has become our go-to way to make camp pancakes.

Why has this recipe become a favorite among Option Gray Staff? Using a wide-mouth water bottle (like a standard Nalgene or similar bottle) you minimize clean-up. The recipe also tastes best when the batter is just barely mixed (with lots of lumps), as it is what gives the pancakes the light and fluffy texture. It’s a minimal effort but maximum taste, so you don’t even need to bring syrup.

Give it a try the next time you’re in camp (or even at home) and we promise it’ll be a keeper.

1. Premix the essentials at home

Milk mixture (Wet)

In a wide-mouth Nalgene or similar water bottle, mix:

• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 to 1/2 of water, depending on the thickness you prefer

Flour mixture (Dry)

In a quart-size Ziploc bag, mix:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 4 tsps of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 3 tbspns of sugar
• 1 tsp of salt

Two eggs

Grab two eggs, which you’ll add to the milk mixture before cooking.

2. Add the eggs to the wet milk mixture

Tip: If you are prepping ingredients at home and you’ll be cooking the pancakes within 4 days (or 96 hours), you can go ahead and add the eggs to the wet mixture ahead of time, making it even faster.

3. Combine the dry and wet mixtures

4. Pour the pancake batter

5. Flip the pancake

Tip: Notice how lumpy the batter is? You will have lumps of the dry mix visible throughout the pancake. This is good and is what you want to see. Over-mixed batter creates flat pancakes. We promise you won’t be able to taste those lumps once it’s done cooking!

6. Eat and enjoy

7. Clean-up

Easy, scratch, make-ahead camping pancakes

Makes 16, 4″ pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of milk 
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla 
• 1/2 cup oil 
• 1/4 to 1/2 of water, depending on the thickness you prefer 
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour 
• 4 tsp of baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda 
• 3 tbsp of sugar 
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2 eggs

Make ahead

1. Combine milk, oil, vanilla, and water in a wide-mouth water bottle. (Eggs can be added at this step if the pancakes will be made within the next 4 days or 96 hours.) Secure tightly and refrigerate.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a quart-size bag. Secure tightly and store in a cool, dry place.

The morning of

1. Preheat a non-stick skillet on medium or slightly less than medium heat, depending on your heat source.
2. Add eggs to wet milk mixture and shake to combine. Use a camp fork as a makeshift whisk, if necessary, to ensure the yolks are broken and thoroughly mixed.
3. Add dry flour mixture to wet milk mixture and shake to combine. There will still be numerous dry lumps in the batter, which is good. Do not overmix.
4. Pour batter directly onto the non-stick skillet. Oil is not needed.
5. Wait until bubbles begin to form on the top of the pancake and the pancake top starts to look more matte than shiny.
6. Use a spatula to flip the pancake, cooking it only about half the time as the first side.
7. Serve immediately.