Freshly baked bread is one of the best things to wake up to in the morning. There isn’t much that can beat that fresh smell wafting through the kitchen. But did you know that with the help of a Dutch oven, you can bake delicious bread when you’re out camping, too?

That’s right! Cooking bread in a Dutch oven is entirely possible (we would even go as far as to say easy) when you have red hot embers in the firepit and a ball of fresh dough ready to bake. Our camping bread only needs 4 ingredients, too, making this a quick Dutch oven bread recipe that requires little equipment, space, or planning to prepare – perfect for while you’re setting up camp!

All you need is a camping Dutch oven, yeast, flour, salt, and water for this camp bread recipe. Keep reading to find out how to make campfire bread! 

Campfire Bread: Dutch Oven Campfire Bread Recipe

Rated 4 stars by 104 users

• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Share on Pinterest

Servings

1

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 ¼ cups of unbleached bread flour

• 1 packet of active dry yeast

• 1 tsp of salt

• 1 ½ cups of warm water

• Cooking oil

Directions

1. Start preparing campfire Dutch oven bread by measuring out flour, yeast, and salt into a mixing bowl. Combine the ingredients together, then start slowly pouring in warm water.

2. As you pour in warm water, use your hands to mix the liquid into the dry ingredients. Keep pouring and mixing, and you’ll find that the dough starts to form.

3. You need your dough to have an elastic texture, and if it’s too sticky, you can add more flour. If it’s too dry, you can pour in more warm water until you have the desired consistency.

4. When you have an elastic dough, remove it from the mixing bowl and place it onto a firm, floured surface. Spend the next 10 minutes kneading your dough into shape.

5. Clean out your mixing bowl, dry it off, then grease the sides lightly with oil. Leave your ball of dough in the mixing bowl and then leave it to rise. It should take at least an hour for the dough to rise properly. When it has risen, you can cover your mixing bowl, or you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap to stop it from drying out.

6. While you wait for the dough to rise, make sure you’ve got your campfire going. You’ll need a pile of hot embers or coals to bake the bread in. You should not cook over open flames (after all, you don’t want to set your bread on fire!).

7. You should preheat your Dutch oven for the best results, so leave it buried in the embers before you put your dough inside. You can also grease the interior sides of the oven with oil to stop the bread from sticking later on.

8. You can leave your Dutch oven preheating for a half-hour, then line the inside with parchment paper. Place your ball of dough inside the Dutch oven, and give the dough a few cuts on top with a knife so the bread can breathe as it bakes.

9. Close the lid, then place your campfire Dutch oven in the coals. Make sure it’s surrounded as evenly as possible with campfire coals, using tongs to place hot coals on top of the lid.

10. Now, you just have to wait for your Dutch oven bread camping to bake. This part of the process can take up to 1 ½ hours, depending on how hot your coals are.

11. For the best results, you should check the bread every quarter of an hour. It’s also good practice to rotate the bread inside the Dutch oven every 15 minutes. Keep adding extra coals from the fire when you need to keep the heat going.

12. When your bread is cooked through (if you have a thermometer, it should be 200 degrees Fahrenheit), you can remove it from the Dutch oven and leave it to cool.

13. Lastly, enjoy your fresh campfire bread!

Campfire Bread Recipe FAQ

Making bread in a Dutch oven isn’t all that difficult, as long as you have the right ingredients and some spare time to kill around the campfire! Keep reading, though, to find out our top baking tips in this campfire bread FAQ. 

Which Dutch oven is best for campfire bread?

There are lots of different types of Dutch ovens on the market, but you need to be careful about which style you take camping with you. Dutch ovens have been around for centuries, if not thousands of years, in some shape or form – and at their most basic, they consist of a large cast iron pot with a removable lid.

These traditional Dutch ovens are heavy-duty and able to withstand the rigors of the outdoors, but they are heavy and hefty to carry around. We suggest a lighter camping Dutch oven, which, while smaller in size, is still perfect for baking. 

Camping Dutch ovens often have a number of added features, including cast iron legs that allow you to stand them directly in the fire, and a dedicated lid lifter to help you to check if your bread is baking!

We don’t suggest taking your shiny enameled cast iron Dutch oven camping, as it’s not designed to be used in an open fire. The enamel can easily chip off, as these modern Dutch ovens aren’t as durable as traditional cast iron Dutch ovens. 

How do I clean my Dutch oven after baking campfire bread?

Dutch ovens don’t need much cleaning or attention, which is why they are great for camping trips. After baking your campfire bread, you can remove any stuck-on dough or parchment paper then wipe out the excess grease with a paper towel or a cloth. 

If you’ve got stubborn stains, which we doubt after baking bread, then you can leave your pot to soak in warm water. This should loosen up the stains, and you can scrape them off. 

Cast iron Dutch ovens also have a layer of seasoning, which you’ll need to keep topped up every few months to keep it non-stick and to stop it from rusting. After cleaning the Dutch oven, you’ll need to add a layer of vegetable oil to the cooking surface, then bake it in the oven for 20 minutes. 

What else can I cook with my campfire bread? 

You can prepare your camp fire bread in the morning for breakfast or in the afternoon to go with your lunch or dinner. You can use your Dutch oven for cooking up a mountain man breakfast, complete with baked eggs, hash browns, sausages, bacon, and a few vegetables, then serve a feast on top of sliced camping bread. 

You can cook up a fried breakfast in a cast iron skillet before serving on toasted bread. You could make brunch sandwiches with egg and avocado, bring along tasty sandwich fillings for lunch, or cook up a campfire dessert using cherry pie filling and a pie iron. 

There are countless options – and with a Dutch oven, you can not only bake bread, but also cook up a scrumptious feast to go with your fresh camping bread. 

Dutch Oven Campfire Bread Summary

Our bread is a fantastic recipe to bake up in a camping Dutch oven as you’re sitting around the campfire. It’s easy to prepare; you just need some time to let the bread rise and bake! 

Why not save our Dutch oven campfire bread recipe for your next camping trip?

If you're looking for more easy-to prepare meals while camping, this camping pizza recipe is a real winner. Also, you can check out other dutch oven camping recipes.