Gluten Free Camping Desserts – The Perfect End to a Perfect Day
There is nothing better than relaxing next to the fire after a full day of camping adventures. But just because you are roughing it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a sweet treat. These gluten free camping desserts are just the thing to end off the day of adventure and a delicious camping meal.
Smores
Smores are the traditional campfire dessert but what other options for gluten free camping desserts are there. You can still make smores but you will need to use gluten free graham crackers, which can be expensive and hard to find.
One gluten free campfire dessert alternative is to make a smores taco or quesadilla. Simply place some mini marshmallows and chocolate chips on half a corn tortilla fold in half and toast over the fire, be sure to flip partway through to get an even toast on both sides and a good melt to the chocolate and marshmallows. Simple, delicious and gluten free!
Apple Pie Tacos
Corn tortillas are an amazing backbone to many gluten free camping desserts and meals. Apple pie tacos are great made over the fire, see our recipe for apple pie tacos. Tortillas warmed over the fire make the perfect ‘crust’ for this tasty apple pie-like treat. The sweet smell of cinnamon, vanilla, and apples as the filling cooks will have the entire campground following their nose to your campsite.
Grilled Fruit
Continuing on the fruit path, grilled fruit makes a great gluten free camping dessert without adding tons of refined sugar. This can be done many ways. a grill over the campfire provides the perfect space for grilling fruit. Many different types of fruit can be grilled to bring out extra sweetness. Grilled fruit classics include:
- Rings of pineapple lightly charred over the fire
- Peaches cut in half and grilled over the fire with a side of ice cream
- Watermelon slices with seared grill marks puts a new take on this classic summer fruit.
Or make it a grilled fruit medley by creating skewers of your favorite fruits gilling right before serving. To make this gluten free camping dessert interactive, prepare several types of fruit by cutting into bite-size pieces. People can than use marshmallow sticks to grill their own individual fruit skewers. Add a small pot of melted chocolate for a campfire fondue.
Baked Apples
Baked apples are another classic gluten free camping dessert. Apples are great to take on a camping trip as they keep well without refrigeration and can be eaten raw or cooked in many ways. Campfire baked apples provide a wonderful warm treat for those cool nights by the fire.
Foil Pack Desserts
Foil packet dinners are the perfect camping food but do not need to be limited to just the main course. Try a foil pack apple crisp as your next gluten free camping dessert. One of the great things about foil pack dishes is the minimal clean up required after, no one wants to be on dish duty when they could be sitting by the fire.
The foil pack apple crisp recipe at “recipes from a pantry” has become one of our go-to favorites for a gluten free camping dessert. Depending on what we have packed for the camping trip we will substitute butter for the olive oil.
Freeze Dried Desserts
When you are hiking for your camping trip, freeze dried foods are a great option because they are lightweight and shelf stable. There are many gluten free camping desserts that are available from freeze dried food manufacturers that provide a great end to your meal even when you are packing light.
See the Ultimate Source – Gluten Free Freeze Dried Food for a listing gluten free freeze dried food producers.
Packaged freeze dried desserts can be quickly prepared following the directions on the package.
Pie Iron (Bush Pies)
Bush Pie makers or pie irons were a camp cooking essential in our pre gluten free days. Gluten free bread being crumbly is less suited for use in the pie irons. However, pie irons can still be used to make gluten free camping desserts. Corn tortillas trimmed to fit in the pie iron work well to make all your pie iron favorites.
Our favorite dessert filling to use in bush pies is canned cherry pie filling. Butter the outside of the tortillas before placing them in the pie iron, add a scoop of the cherry pie filling straight from the can and you are ready to bake. Can it get any easier? To avoid potential cross-contamination dedicate a pie iron for cooking your gluten free camping desserts.
Ice cream
When in doubt going to the campground store to buy a bowl of ice cream is always an option, cones are out for those of us that are gluten free but most places will serve your ice cream in a bowl. There is no simple way or a specific flavor of ice cream that is gluten free. The number of gluten free options will vary greatly with the brand of ice cream that is being sold. The only sure way is to ask to either read the label or if they are aware. One word of caution about buying ice cream is there is a risk of cross-contamination from bits of ice cream cones falling into the buckets of ice cream as the ice cream is being scooped.
Gluten Free Camping Desserts – What is Your Favorite?
Relaxing by a fire with a cup of cocoa or campfire coffee on a cool evening while enjoying your gluten free camping dessert is a wonderful way to end a day. What is your favorite gluten free camping dessert? We would love to hear about what it is let us know in the comments. For more gluten free camping meal ideas see – “Are There Any Gluten Free Camping Meals?”
[…] we began eating gluten free one of the things we struggled with the most was dessert. It was a bigger struggle for me than Josh as I have more of a sweet tooth. Eating out the one […]