Dutch Oven Cobbler
Backpacking Style

by Amanda Poole
(Louisiana)

One of my favorite recipes requires a little extra equipment, but is well worth it!! I used to do a lot of car camping and really enjoyed the comfort and aroma of a hot, fresh baked, cobbler. When I started backpacking, I really missed the comfort of Dutch oven cooking… although not quite enough to pack my large cast iron oven.

A hiking buddy of mine gave me this recipe and instructions for a backpacking Dutch oven. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Build a Lightweight Dutch Oven

To make the Dutch oven you will need:

• two inexpensive metal pie pans (not the kind that comes off of a ready to use pie crust)
  
• two screws
  
• two wing nuts
  
• a drill
  

(1) Turn one pie pan upside down and stack on top of the second pan.
(2) Drill one hole big enough to thread your screw down into in the middle of each handle.
(3) Next thread your screw from the bottom, up through each of your holes.
(4) Attach the wing nuts to each screw and viola; you have a lightweight Dutch oven.

To pack, unscrew your wing nuts, stack pie plates inside each other, and place hardware into a small zip top bag.

Make Your Cobbler

Now on to the yummy part! To make a cobbler you will need:

• one boxed cake mix (the just-add-water kind)
  
• 1 can of pie filling of your choice.
  
  To cut down on weight, I like to open my can of pie filling and transfer to a zip top bag (double bagged of course) before packing. I also take the cake mix out of the box, write amount of water needed on a gallon size zip top bag with a permanent marker, and put the cake mix in the gallon bag… instant “mixing bowl.”
  
  Once you have your fire started and some coals going:
  
  (1) gather three stones to sit your oven on top of
  (2) mix your cake according to box directions, dump in your pie filling, give it a good mashing
  (3) pour into your lightweight Dutch oven.
  (4) Put some coals into the center of your stones (stones sitting in triangular shape), place filled Dutch oven on top,
  (5) transfer some more coals to the top of the oven.
  (6) Bake until done, serve, and enjoy!
  
  I hope you enjoy this as much as I have. Soon you will find many uses for your lightweight Dutch oven!!
  
  Happy Hiking!
  
  

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