I will be a chaperone at a girl’s camp this Wednesday through Saturday. We will be going to Lake Louise, which is different than anywhere else we’ve been, at least when I’ve been working with the young women groups.

A number of years ago when I went to a girls camp, I hit upon an idea for a treat that I thought might be fun. I brought almost 100 and ended up running out before everyone was done, so I think it was a hit!

Biscuit doughnuts. This is one of those super simple, very inexpensive treats, that everyone loves. They can be cooked over a campfire in a dutch oven, and then the toppings are endless. A few of the options we’ve tried:

• Plain sugar or cinnamon sugar. As soon as the donuts are out of the oil, put them in and roll them around. They are hot, so be careful or use a spoon, but they cool quickly.
• A simple glaze with powdered sugar and a little bit of water. These you want to let cool on paper towels and then dip or use a spoon to swirl on the top.
• If you’re doing s’mores and have extra chocolate or marshmallows, you can flatten out the biscuits a little bit and wrap the biscuit around the chocolate or marshmallows. Fry like normal. Just let them cool off because the center might be like lava.
• We have also added a variety of fruits, like raspberries and strawberries. They don’t cook, and if you use a hard fruit like apples, they will still be crunchy in the middle, but the fruit, with a sugar coating on the outside is delicious.

Recipe:

• Refrigerator biscuit dough. I use the ones that are less than $1 per tube. They have 10 biscuits in each. But whatever biscuit is your favorite works too. You can also make dough while you’re camping if you want.
• Oil for frying. I use 2 quarts of oil in a 12 inch dutch oven. You could probably do it with 1 quart if you weren’t doing very many. I just use inexpensive oil.
• Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot if you’re doing this over an open fire.
• Coating and filling ingredients based upon what you like or the above ideas.

Instructions:

Heat up the oil in the dutch oven over the fire. Pay attention to how hot the oil is getting. I like to stick a wooden spoon (or stick) in the oil. If it bubbles around the stick it’s ready. Drop in several biscuits and use a large spoon or spatula to turn when golden. You don’t want them to cook too fast or they’ll be doughy inside, so adjust the dutch oven over the fire to find the right spot. Be care reaching out over the fire as it’s hot. you may need to wear gloves if it’s not pretty close to the edge. Cook on both sides until golden and the center is done. It usually takes just 3-4 minutes per side. But if you have something stuffed inside it’ll take a bit longer. Remove and coat in your coating of choice and enjoy!

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