11 Desserts to Eat Under the Stars

Published on 04/13/2023 · 4 min readTo help mix up your dessert recipe book, Camping & Hiking Expert Hannah K. shares her list of easy camp desserts to make other than s’mores.
Hannah K, Camping Expert
By Camping Expert Hannah K

Photo By Alex Holt

Raise your hand if you have a sweet tooth. Raise your hand if you like camping. Raise your hand if you want to satisfy that sweet tooth while camping! There is nothing better than eating dessert under the stars, next to a campfire, on a warm summer night after hiking, swimming, or whatever else you do in the great outdoors. To help mix up your dessert recipe book, here is a list of easy camp desserts to make other than s’mores.

Photo by Sheri Silver

Banana Boats

Banana boats are one of my all-time favorite camp desserts. If you don’t know what it is, a banana boat is basically a banana filled with chocolate and peanut butter and whatever other toppings you want—marshmallows are a fan favorite. Cut the banana lengthwise and fill it up with your favorite toppings. Wrap the entire thing in tin foil and let it cook on the campfire for five to ten minutes. Unwrap, let it cool, and enjoy!

Grilled Peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream

Peaches are already magical, but when you cut them in half and throw them on the grill something truly beautiful happens. Let them grill until you get a nice caramelized color and top with vanilla ice cream and some cinnamon. The Biolite Portable Grill is a nice portable grill I like to bring when I go camping and would be perfect for making this dessert.

Cinnamon Roll-Ups

To make a cinnamon roll-up, bring along your marshmallow skewers. Instead of marshmallows, wrap dough around them and cover with cinnamon. Roast it on the open flame. You can even melt some chocolate and dip the dough in chocolate first. Yum.

Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

This is very similar to the cinnamon roll-up recipe. Basically, bring pretzels and dip them in melted chocolate. Roast it over the open flame! This GSI Pot is a great one to bring along for melting chocolate. Bring some cinnamon sugar mix and roll the pretzel in it once the chocolate has been placed on the pretzel. Feel free to add some ground hazelnut or cardamom to elevate the flavor.

Dessert Pizza

If pizza can be for dinner, why not dessert too? Instead of cheese and tomatoes, add some Nutella or melted chocolate, bananas, strawberries, drizzled peanut butter, and whatever else you like. I am a huge fan of blueberries, cacao nibs, and drizzled peanut butter on top. Whipped cream and cherries are also great additions. Just be sure to bring some extra napkins.

Apple Crisp

For an easy apple crisp, bring some pre-made or homemade dough and your pre-made crisp (i.e. oats, sugar, and nuts). Then, at camp, all you have to do is slice up your apples, assemble, and cook. This recipe calls for a dutch oven. However, if you don’t have one, a cast-iron skillet and tin foil will do the trick! This Camp Chef skillet is budget-friendly and a great size for camping. Don’t forget to bring cinnamon, hazelnut, cardamom, and whatever other spice you like. Top with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and fresh mint.

Autumn Plum Skillet Tart

Similar to the apple crisp recipe, this is best cooked in a dutch oven. However, a cast-iron skillet and tin foil will work. Before you leave home, prep your dough—you will want the crust for the bottom to be thick enough to support the plums but not too thick that you don’t taste anything else. At camp, cut the plums and assemble them on top of the crust. For an aesthetic look, lay the plum slices flat around the edges to make circles within circles. If you aren’t interested in the aesthetic aspect, chuck the plums in any old way. Add your favorite spices and let cook until the crust has a nice color and the plums are warm and gooey.

Apple Crumble

Instead of a traditional pie crust, spoon out a hole in the apple where the seeds are. Fill with granola and sugar and whatever else you like, wrap in foil, and let it cook for ten minutes over the campfire. The apple should be soft, warm, and filled with sugary goodness.

Popcorn Deluxe

Popcorn is an easy bring-along snack. To turn this snack into dessert, drizzle melted chocolate and peanut butter on top and let it cool so the chocolate-peanut-butter combo hardens. Then add whipped cream, coconut flakes, sprinkles, and Nutella.

Skillet Brownies with Melted Marshmallows

Skillet brownies are great year-round, but especially when you eat them from the luxury of a camp chair or log on the ground around a campfire. Bring the mix from home so all you need to do is add some liquids and cook it over the flame. Add some marshmallows on top for an added level of sugary deliciousness.

Photo by Andrea Davis

S’mores

What would this list be if s’mores were not included. Traditional, delicious, and fun to make. What could be wrong with any of that? Nothing! To mix it up, add some peanut butter, fried banana, Oreos, candied bacon, cookie butter, roasted strawberries, coconut flakes, the list goes on and on.

Did I miss your favorite camp dessert? Hit me up through my profile and send me all your recipes.

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